Ghostbusters: I Ain't Afraid of No Girls.


This summer's blockbuster season is well under way with titles like Captain America: Civil War and Finding Dory already in theaters, but that's just the beginning of this year's great summer lineup. The Ghostbusters reboot is set to hit the big screen July 15th and I, for one, am super pumped!

But before we get down to the finer details I want to backtrack just a little. When the first rumblings of a Ghostbusters remake started making the rounds on the Internet, it apparently wasn't going to be a remake at all. The original cast was approached to reprise their roles, as was the original director. Most were on board except for Bill Murray who, rumor has it, wasn't impressed with the scripts he was given.

I wasn't particularly excited about that idea. The original movie still holds its own and I felt like doing a straight sequel was, well, boring. There was already a Ghostbusters II (that no one likes to talk about), we didn't need a third. Then when the reins where handed to Paul Feig and they made the announcement of a female-centric cast, I was overjoyed. I thought, finally here's a fresh start for a beloved cult classic with some super cool and funny ladies!

While I was not alone in my excitement there was some, let's say, resistance.


I don't usually put a great deal of stock in the world of internet comments. I feel like it's a rabbit hole I'd rather not venture into; but the tone of these particular comments struck a cord. The mere mention of a female Ghostbusters caused men around the world to burst into tears as they were forced to mourn the death of their childhood.

This was before a trailer or any promotion for the movie. All we knew was that the main cast would be women. Then they released the first trailer which turned out to be the most disliked movie trailer in YouTube history (big surprise there) and plenty of complainers suddenly thought they had evidence of their childhood ruination, stating that it had nothing that do with gender (uh huh); the movie is just not funny enough to stand up to the original. Or my personal favourite: a "reboot" is disrespectful to the Ghostbusters legacy (eye roll) especially since Remis, aka Spengler, passed away last year.

Both these complaints really don't cut the mustard since a good trailer never gives away the best jokes and most of the original cast members are thrilled about the reboot (and making cameos). Even Ivan Reitman, who directed both Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, is back as a producer.

Seems to me like these excuses are just a thinly-veiled way of saying "Girls! Oh the horror! Girls are ruining our movie!" Other trolls weren't so cryptic about their unhappiness regarding casting and their reactions ranged from laughable to downright disgusting—even Trump (the biggest troll of them all) put in his two cents on Instagram back in May declaring: "They are remaking Indiana Jones without Harrison Ford—you can't do that.  And now they're remaking Ghostbusters with only women. What's going on!?" Yup,  that happened.

That isn't to say that everyone who isn't thrilled about the reboot is sexist but I think we would be remiss if we failed to acknowledge the misogynist undertones of much of the negative criticism surrounding this movie.


Here's the thing, it's a stellar cast: Mellisa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones are are all funny in their own right and together they are poised to make a really great movie. Paul Feig also has his eye on the ball when it comes to funny and his resume to prove it. A resume, by the way, which includes Bridesmaids, Spy and even Freaks and Geeks.

So why is everyone so worried? Ghostbusters is supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be a good old fashioned—don't take yourself  too seriously—excellent time.  It's a movie about ghosts and slime.  It's time everyone remembered why we liked it in the first place and stopped acting like they just announced a Breakfast Club reboot starring talking cats.

Lacey Carew is a self proclaimed geek and mom who wants to make sure she passes down all her nerdy knowledge to the next generation.