Because we’re getting a new Jason Reitman-directed “Ghostbusters” in 2021, one that will happily ignore director Paul Feig’s 2016 all-female cast version, there will no doubt be contentious, but unnecessary, debate as to whether or not the 2016 reboot warranted its negative reaction. I won’t delve into the nitty-gritty, but I will mention that Leslie Jones, who starred in Feig’s 2016 film, was none too happy hearing about the Reitman reboot last year, tweeting that it was unfair to ignore the 2016 edition and that it reminded her of something Donald Trump would do. Huh!?
Melissa McCarthy added to the choir, saying that misogyny was to blame for the movie's poor success. “I just don’t know why people are so afraid of women. It’s fascinating to me,” McCarthy told Yahoo in 2018.
Jones and McCarthy failed to mention that their “Ghostbusters” was also guilty of ignoring the previous installment(s) and that Sony lost close to $70+ million with that movie. Not too many people wanted a sequel with the same all-female cast, but that didn’t stop Jones and McCarthy from vocalizing their conspiracy theories, not to mention the insults targeted at the film’s detractors, who they call “fanboys,” on Twitter. And so, what else for Feig to do but to come out and not only defend his actresses, but to add to the pile of conspiracy theories meant as an excuse for the failure of a mediocre “Ghostbusters” movie.
In a new interview with The Jess Cagle Show on SiriusXM, Feig was asked about why he thinks the film was so ill-received. And, as you might expect, Feig decided to echo McCarthy and Jones in a politically fervent rant:
“I think some really brilliant author or researcher or sociologist needs to write a book about 2016 and how intertwined [‘Ghostbusters’ was] with Hillary [Clinton] and the anti-Hillary movement,” Feig said. “It was just this year where just everyone went to a boiling point. I don’t know if it was having an African-American president for eight years [that] teed them up or something, but they were just ready to explode… By the time, in 2014 or 2015, when I announced I was going to [make] it, it started.”
He continued, “There’s tape of Donald Trump going, ‘And the Ghostbusters are women, what’s going on?’ It’s crazy how people got nuts about women trying to be in power or trying to be in positions that they weren’t normally in. It was an ugly, ugly year.”
The 5.3 IMDb rating that Feig’s “Ghostbusters” currently has is unfair and part of the aforementioned pre-release campaign to destroy the film. It was harsh, and showcased the negative consequences that can arise from militant movie fandom. However, as much as Feig’s movie didn’t deserve the hateful backlash it received, it must be admitted that it was also not that good of a movie. The cast was fine, but there was nothing above-average about the finished product. Kristen Wiig was her usual awkward self, Leslie Jones did a decent job with what was essentially a thinly written part, and Kate McKinnon basically stole the show as weirdo Jillian Holtzmann.
The fact that McKinnon barely had any lines and still ended up being the funniest, most inventive character, spoke volumes about not just her talent but the movie itself, which felt like a missed opportunity from Feig and company. Blaming the film’s failures on Donald Trump and sexism makes Feig and company look like sore losers.
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