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Today will go down in history as a dark day for manbabykind. For today, the lady Ghostbusters trailer dropped. And there was much wailing and tweeting of tweets.
Let’s take a stroll amongst the wailing manbabies on Twitter, indulging their ridiculous rants.
And then let’s talk about what’s really wrong with the Ghostbusters trailer, which has nothing to do with gender and everything to do with race.
First, the manbabies:
There were those who pulled out the old “my childhood has been raped” nonsense.
https://twitter.com/M_Stewarr/status/705445173568868352
So my childhood has been officially raped now… #Ghostbustershttps://t.co/vrQ2jmwDc4
— Dat Dragons Dude (@dragonsfan1988) March 3, 2016
There were those who strenuously insisted that their anger at the female Ghostbusters had nothing whatsoever to do with misogyny, nuh-uh, but was rather a reaction to the trailer’s objective terribleness.
Anyone else not impressed with the new #Ghostbusters trailer? (No feminazi's its not because i hate women)
— Ryan (@DeeTownn) March 3, 2016
https://twitter.com/katmereMUFC/status/705463502278959108
There were the fat-shamers, because at no point in history has a fat person ever been funny.
New ghostbusters movie has that annoying white fat lady. Not interested, I'm shitting all over it! #Ghostbusters
— 8Bit (@The8BitVillain) March 3, 2016
https://twitter.com/NerdzurK1/status/705500568035397636
@voxday gender aside, original Ghostbusters at least weren't fat
— Константин Мокин (@goga002) March 3, 2016
My Ghostbusters have dicks. Long, swinging, dicks. They're also funny. These Ghostbusters have big fat sweaty vaginas and are not funny.
— Matty Almeida (@MattyCat24) March 3, 2016
There were Trump fans:
https://twitter.com/easternmney/status/705506566758383618
https://twitter.com/jaesex23/status/705499814415486977
Hell, there were so many Trump fans that one observer made a helpful Venn diagram:
https://twitter.com/BCDreyer/status/705475020076785665
There were even a few Knights Who Say Cuck:
https://twitter.com/kcD___/status/705472132185202688
Some raised the specter of WHITE GENOCIDE:
https://twitter.com/TheSamGrady/status/705434158152224772
https://twitter.com/TheSamGrady/status/705496761662578689
Some worried where the evil feminazis would strike next:
https://twitter.com/garmonbozia/status/705427963789979648
Others offered somewhat less comprehensible critiques:
#Ghostbusters, a new scapegoat for idiot hipster trash and feminazi garbage, fuck this obvious PC toilet fest.
— Rob Grundy (@Officer_Grundy) March 3, 2016
One Tweeter summed up the day on Twitter with a little haiku:
https://twitter.com/luketunderwood/status/705500826580594688
And another Tweeter left us with this existential question:
https://twitter.com/cleotrav/status/705505847129022464
Still another raised the possibility of a second reboot with a rather different cast:
Already working on a new new Ghostbusters that is played entirely by my favorite versions of Kurt Russell from every decade.
— ozempic godskin noble (@hamsandcastle) March 3, 2016
And this guy helped us put it all in perspective:
https://twitter.com/GregorySantos/status/705462910714183680
So what happens once we step back from all the manbaby whining, and the jokes about the manbaby whining. and actually watch the trailer? Well, be my guest:
I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit underwhelmed.
There are a few funny moments, but the trailer sort of steps on them. It’s hard to tell if this is a terrible trailer for a good film, or if the Ghostbusters reboot will end up being, well, basically a female version of Adam Sandler’s godwful Pixels.
But the really distressing thing that the trailer reveals is that the three white gals in the movie are the scientists, while Leslie Jones’ Patty is relegated — or so it seems from the trailer — to the tired, stereotypical role of sassy black sidekick who may not be educated but who “knows the streets.”
This racial/racist failure has not exactly gone unnoticed; it’s already inspired thinkpieces and polemics on sites ranging from The Root to The Inquisitr, as well as in innumerable Tweets.
The original Ghostbusters, however hallowed it has become, was infamous for a similar racial failure. That movie’s “black ghostbuster,” played by Ernie Hudson, was so forgettable, and so obviously a token, that the designer simply left him off of this recently reworked Ghostbusters poster featuring his three white comrades.
Despite all the complaints by angry manbabies about the gender-swap of the main characters, it may well turn out that the real problem with the film isn’t that it’s too radically different from the original, but rather that it is too similar — at least in its inability to imagine a black character as more than a token or a stereotype.
The one thing that gives me some hope is Jones herself, an amazing comedian who may have been able to transform her character into something more nuanced and less stereotypical than what we see in the trailer.
I guess we’ll see.
I don’t think she does, actually. And even if she does, is that a problem? Should women be more gentle to you, would that make you feel better?
@Mish
Well, really Aramaki is in the classic police department chief role, though more of his bureaucratic work is on screen. Except for that one time in Britain, his role in the actual doing of things is mostly telling them to focus on investigating something, telling them how much they’re authorized to do at the moment, talking to other departments and the prime minister to convince them to authorize Section 9 to do more things, and showing up to tell high officials they’re under arrest and their connections cannot help them.
Don’t get me wrong; he’s a great character and I like all his scenes, but in terms of overall plot structure his role is a bit part in many police series. If I were told that the runtime needed to be drastically shortened, I would be highly inclined to start by trimming his role to just the parts where he’s talking to Kusunagi; they’re certainly good scenes but the rest of the plot mostly advances when he calls to tell her that he’s managed to get the authorization/information they needed. It’s important to the story that he exists and his scenes happen, mostly not so important that we see them.
And yeah, Togusa is pretty much unmodified and as such should definitely have a Japanese actor, especially since they’ve already got an established celebrity for their lead role. My previous leniency was mostly on the grounds that they’re taking a risk with the movie and have good reason to want someone very famous headlining, and at the moment that means someone white and they aren’t going to change that by casting a Japanese lead in a movie that doesn’t sell well. Still, I’d been hoping that they’d take the opportunity to fill out the rest of the cast with Japanese actors.
I’m mostly just annoyed by the people who claim having a white actress play someone named Motoko Kusunagi strains credulity; she’s like 3% biological by mass and her skin tone is an entirely arbitrary decision. SAC’s CGI opening does indicate that her prosthetic body happens to look Asian, but it could just as easily not have. This is entirely a real-world actor opportunity issue and trying to criticize it on in-universe plausibility grounds just makes it look like the writer hasn’t watched the show.
Pants forecast is mixed. At least some skintight full-body suit scenes are basically guaranteed, but Arise and the most recent movie at least had reasonable casual-wear.
I, personally, would love to see an all female cast of Grease. Lady greasers, the lovely Pink Ladies, and even lady Scorpions! It would be fantastic. The romance between Sandy and Dani would be adorable.
Just cut out the ‘did she put up a fight’ line from the song please.
Hollywood execs, please take notes.
Here’s some interesting fan speculation about the new Ghostbusters movie: the possibility of a gay romance between two of the four leads.
“Is There A Lesbian Ghostbuster In The New Film? We Hope So!”
and
“Ghostbusters Trailer Sparks Hope for Long-Overdue Gay Blockbuster Couple“:
About the ghost in the Shell discussion I just want to add that while the major always got the same body type this was considered weird and the main protect guy (I Forget his name right now, he served in the special forces beforehand) even commented that it was normal to completely change body types every few years of you could afford to or worked undercover like them, so changing race and build for the more prosthetic characters makes since in universe.
On Ghost in the Shell
To me, honestly, it’s just more white washing. They’ve been doing it forever and they’re gonna keep on doing it.
There’s a couple things that make me lenient here. First, in isolation from the larger trends it’s an excellent casting choice. Obviously the larger trends exist. But second, financially the film is on thin ice and there just isn’t an Asian actress in the US as famous as Scarlett Johansson and the filmmakers really need someone that famous to help sell tickets; it’s no Star Wars and can’t count on high sales with someone talented but unknown in the lead role. Realistically, if they tried to break the trend odds are very good they’d just reinforce it; accepted wisdom is that films with minority leads don’t sell and a film with a minority lead that doesn’t sell won’t challenge that.
That said, I was hoping that they’d fill most of the other major roles with Japanese actors; careers have to start somewhere and with their major celebrity slot filled they had an opportunity to give people fairly prominent roles in the ensemble cast to hopefully start them on the path to lead roles of their own in the future so that eventually when an adaption asks if there’s an Asian actor famous enough to sell their niche movie, the answer will be yes. Togusa would make a pretty good launchpad role, for instance. He could very easily be the main character if the story were framed differently.
I, admittedly much more cynically, just see it as the end result of the larger trend.
Yeah it totally is the end result of the larger trend. But matters stand as they are. The only thing they can realistically do to combat the trend in their position is to give remaining major roles to Asian actors so they’ll have a chance at building careers. Their casting of The Laughing Man is not a good sign but there’s still plenty of Section 9 left to go.
Basically, imagine hypothetical futures where someone is pitching a Fate/Stay Night adaption and suggests putting an Asian actor in for Shirou and for other characters as appropriate (about half the characters are actually European)
Hypothetical 1: “That didn’t exactly work out for Ghost In The Shell. Let’s get [white movie star] instead”
Hypothetical 2: “Fetch me the man who played Togusa!”
I guess? Honestly, I don’t think it will change anything. According to a lot actors, oppertunities for PoC are shrinking more and more. Hence the Oscars so White controversy. The only way things are going to change is if people stop accepting the white washing on a larger scale. Sadly, until then I don’t see even filling out the cast with actual Asians doing jack all for Asian actors. it’s just too rigged against them in the first place.
@guy
We live in a world where Shredder was once lined up to be played by the whitest guy Michael Bay could find. It’s fine to enjoy problematic things, but don’t whitewash the whitewashing.
On the subject of the Hollywood Ghost ijn the Shell movie that I don’t think any one brought it up yet ; it looks like Daisuke Aramaki will be played by a Japanese actor named Beat Takeshi
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-03-03/beat-takeshi-joins-live-action-ghost-in-the-shell-film-as-daisuke-aramaki/.99347
At least its not going to be a total whitewash,we’ll have to see who else they’re casting
@Tragedy of the Commas
Actually I wouldn’t be too surprised. I got a bit of a vibe that two of the women in Spy had a bit of a romantic spark at the end. But that could just be me. I did not get an impression of a romantic spark between Poe and Finn, so I think maybe I interpret these things differently than others.
Yeah, mentioned that. Not overly convinced because it’s a role likely to be trimmed for adaption. I’m mostly waiting on Togusa.
@Robjec, the Major’s decision to stick with the one body type has always intrigued me; it’s one part of that whole GITS theme about body/mind/soul and their connections that’s just fascinating. And that’s without even bringing sexuality into the mix! (I haven’t read much of the manga, but it explores this in more detail).
@guy & Josh, I think you’re both right. I like the choice of Beat Takeshi for Aramaki; now please please please pick a good Togusa, people (not that he’s one of my favourite characters or anything …)
ETA there’s some really interesting discussion around the whitewashing problem in the comments section over at Kotaku
http://kotaku.com/hollywood-ghost-in-the-shell-movie-finally-gets-a-japan-1762583224
I think the implication with her using the one is that it’s just what she’s used to; when we see her pull old ones out of storage they’re just smaller versions, and in the 2nd gig flashback to her in the hospital we see that her very first one was in the same style. Presumably she didn’t request it because her injuries precluded speaking, but now it’s been her body since she was five. Might also be intentionally retaining a link to normal human experience; she sometimes feels disconnected from other people and artificially imitating growing up naturally is a way to share at least some common experience, and I suspect the doctors originally insisted on it. People who are more cavalier about it probably at least remember when they could taste food.
I’d disagree about Winston- he’s surely the most relatable, ‘real life’ character in the original film, and I’d say he’s very memorable.
I’m hoping the new film doesn’t treat the one black cast member as the token ‘sassy black character’ as it were- that’ll really annoy me- but we shall see (I’m excited to see it at any rate.)
@guy, yes, could be. I find it interesting precisely because it’s referred to every now and then but never fully explained, so one is free to speculate. Like the scene when Batou asks about her watch, which was a gift to her (from someone) when she took on her final adult version body. She’s very unsentimental in many ways, so hints of something else are intriguing.
I’m aware that I’m getting way off the actual post topic here, though – I could go on and on about this for HOURS – so prob. should stop 🙂
@Mish
I know the show never explained why the major never changed bodies but I’m not sure about the manga. I think it’s just how she viewed herself though, since she always kept the same body in cyberspace too, and was her way of holding on to her humanity.
On movie news that makes me happy, it looks like Gods of Egypt will likely be a tremendous flop.
DodoHunter: I trust you’ve seen this review of it? http://io9.gizmodo.com/murder-is-legal-and-torture-is-mandatory-because-gods-1761496886
Snarky. Sarcasm-y. Just like I enjoy ’em. 😀
Nope, I just saw news of it only making 12 million back on its opening weekend. That is welcome though. I have never hated a movie this much without seeing it. Whitewashing and fucking with mythology–two of my least favorite movie trends.
DodoHunter: Totally read the review, though… otherwise the mythocalypse may claim you too. 😀
Unfortunately I am conflicted about this movie – regardless of its actual merits as a movie.
On the one hand I want to go see it because… well… manbabies.
On the other hand I don’t because some of my money will go to Sony and I have sworn off everything Sony because #freekesha
However, since the imperative to support a real woman battling a real rapist outdoes my need to stick it to the (albeit real) manbabies – it seems I’ll not be able to go see.
Almost every sci-fi movie needs a “fish out of water” character for the audience to relate too. Guess what, most of the movies audience won’t be scientists either, we need a person to guide us through the world.