Is Ghostbusters 3 a feminist plot? After two successful films which centered mostly around men, it seems that the activists have used the death of Harold Ramis as an excuse to force a reboot of the film with an all female team.
This may be a complete coincidence, but it seems to be a trend these days to turn male characters into women just for the sake of “diversity.” It allegedly happened with a main villain in Star Wars 7 , when a role meant for Benedict Cumberbatch was apparently rewritten and given to Gwendoline Christie . This seemed to start after a major public outrage when the initial cast of the film was revealed to once again be mostly Caucasian men, and Mark Hamill ‘s infamous casting tweet was taken out of context.
It’s not just happening in movies either. Major video game publisher Ubisoft has come under fire several times this year over the lack of major female characters in their upcoming products. Watch Dogs began the wave of accusations when a major villain turned out to be a black man who played loud rap music in his headquarters. Then Far Cry 3 and Assassin’s Creed: Unity fell under the same racist and sexist media fire.
It seems that the cast of Ghostbusters 3 was feminist payback, possibly sparked by Paul Feig giving in to activist pressure. He denied it in a tweet, but we can’t deny the general coincidence.
Interesting how making a movie with men in the lead roles is normal but making a movie with women in the lead roles is a “gimmick.” #its2014
— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) August 3, 2014
Casting women in the lead roles hasn’t always been upsetting though. Thelma and Louise , Sucker Punch , and nearly every horror movie ever made has made women the heroes or at least lead characters. What I find strange is that instead of a sequel, the ghost hunters are being rewritten as women in a complete reboot. That is why I and probably hundreds of fans of the original movies are calling Ghostbusters 3 feminist.
We didn’t want a reboot. Much like so many other movies being planned these days, we don’t need a reboot. Rarely have reboots done well. Even Godzilla 2014 came under fire for barely even having the monster we paid to see, and some critics have claimed that the Matthew Broderick version was at least entertaining. Dredd was the last reboot that audiences actually liked more than the original.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ‘s general box office disappointment was a statement that even if the movie is one of the best we’ve seen about the superhero, it was a follow-up to a bad reboot. Some ideas are just better left on the drawing board or screenplay page.
Do you agree that the cast of Ghostbusters 3 is a feminist plot or are we all just over-thinking it because we didn’t want a reboot?
[image via atthemovies ]