Ghostbusters!
Sunday, 17 July 2016 13:10![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
usuallyhats
Saw Ghostbusters last night in the swanky new cinema that's just opened near me! I was a bit worried going in, as Paul Feig's films haven't previously clicked for me the way I want them to, but I needn't have been: I really really enjoyed it! More thoughts under the cut:
- OK, first of all, I definitely agree that the one black woman in the main cast also being the only one of the main four who wasn't a scientist was a mistake, especially as this meant that she was introduced later than the others, had to make an effort (albeit not a huge one) to be included in the group, and in one scene, had to be the one who asked the "but what does that mean?" question on the audience's behalf - it's the film's biggest flaw. I do think that the film did a good job of actively demonstrating that her contribution and skills are equally valuable as the other three's, and making her a local history nerd was an excellent choice for lots of reasons, including the fact that it emphasises that not being a scientific genius doesn't make her stupid, but... it still doesn't quite make up for it, you know? If she hadn't been the only black woman, it wouldn't have been an issue at all, but she was and it is.
- I did really love Patty, though! I felt like her character did slide into the "sassy black woman" stereotype from time to time, but mostly she was just GREAT. (I laughed a lot at her comment that at least when she worked for the MTA, the people she had to deal with were all ALIVE. <3) Definitely my second favourite character, after...
- HOLTZMANN. She was SO WEIRD, I was SO HAPPY. SALTY PARABOLAS. I loved her, I loved getting to see a woman in the "eccentric scientist" role, I loved everything about McKinnon's performance. And her speech in the bar at the end! She's not just weird and awesome, she's also bad at feelings! HEARTS IN MY EYES. Also I ship her and Patty quite a lot.
- Ugh, it was just so hugely powerful to see four women getting to be heroes, to see them all getting cool heroic moments, rather than one woman who occasionally gets something heroic to do, but has to take turns with a whole load of men. I walked out of the cinema feeling amazing.
- I haven't seen the original Ghostbusters, so I probably missed loads of references to it (everyone in the cinema started laughing when Bill Murray turned up, but it took me a moment to work out who he was and why it was funny. /o\ (I am also not great at faces.)), but the ones I did catch were great.
- As I said on Twitter, I loved all the shots of New York, because I went there a couple of weeks ago and still haven't quite processed the fact that it's a REAL PLACE that I WENT TO, LOOK AT THAT SHOT, I WAS RIGHT THERE, FRIENDS, RIGHT THERE.
- The balance between comedy and action was just right and that's something I'm really here for.
- I really liked the way the film clearly takes place in a sexist world, and depicts that, but also isn't a narrative about Plucky Girls Overcoming Sexism and Earning The Patriarchy's Approval.
- I would like to see it again please, thank you.
I impatiently await all the vids and, in the mean time, commend to your attention the Doubleclicks' efforts in that department.
- OK, first of all, I definitely agree that the one black woman in the main cast also being the only one of the main four who wasn't a scientist was a mistake, especially as this meant that she was introduced later than the others, had to make an effort (albeit not a huge one) to be included in the group, and in one scene, had to be the one who asked the "but what does that mean?" question on the audience's behalf - it's the film's biggest flaw. I do think that the film did a good job of actively demonstrating that her contribution and skills are equally valuable as the other three's, and making her a local history nerd was an excellent choice for lots of reasons, including the fact that it emphasises that not being a scientific genius doesn't make her stupid, but... it still doesn't quite make up for it, you know? If she hadn't been the only black woman, it wouldn't have been an issue at all, but she was and it is.
- I did really love Patty, though! I felt like her character did slide into the "sassy black woman" stereotype from time to time, but mostly she was just GREAT. (I laughed a lot at her comment that at least when she worked for the MTA, the people she had to deal with were all ALIVE. <3) Definitely my second favourite character, after...
- HOLTZMANN. She was SO WEIRD, I was SO HAPPY. SALTY PARABOLAS. I loved her, I loved getting to see a woman in the "eccentric scientist" role, I loved everything about McKinnon's performance. And her speech in the bar at the end! She's not just weird and awesome, she's also bad at feelings! HEARTS IN MY EYES. Also I ship her and Patty quite a lot.
- Ugh, it was just so hugely powerful to see four women getting to be heroes, to see them all getting cool heroic moments, rather than one woman who occasionally gets something heroic to do, but has to take turns with a whole load of men. I walked out of the cinema feeling amazing.
- I haven't seen the original Ghostbusters, so I probably missed loads of references to it (everyone in the cinema started laughing when Bill Murray turned up, but it took me a moment to work out who he was and why it was funny. /o\ (I am also not great at faces.)), but the ones I did catch were great.
- As I said on Twitter, I loved all the shots of New York, because I went there a couple of weeks ago and still haven't quite processed the fact that it's a REAL PLACE that I WENT TO, LOOK AT THAT SHOT, I WAS RIGHT THERE, FRIENDS, RIGHT THERE.
- The balance between comedy and action was just right and that's something I'm really here for.
- I really liked the way the film clearly takes place in a sexist world, and depicts that, but also isn't a narrative about Plucky Girls Overcoming Sexism and Earning The Patriarchy's Approval.
- I would like to see it again please, thank you.
I impatiently await all the vids and, in the mean time, commend to your attention the Doubleclicks' efforts in that department.
no subject
Date: 17 Jul 2016 12:51 (UTC)Friend, I am here with you. I have already started plotting out the fic.
Ugh, it was just so hugely powerful to see four women getting to be heroes, to see them all getting cool heroic moments
<3<3<3
no subject
Date: 17 Jul 2016 15:38 (UTC)Intellectually I'd grasped what a great thing that was going to be, but I wasn't quite prepared for how hard it would hit me emotionally. <3
no subject
Date: 19 Jul 2016 01:57 (UTC)The rest of the time, she's proving that she's as knowledgeable in *her* preferred subject as the others are in theirs.
Also, I'm putting a lot of credit into what Patty's doing in the post-credits scene. Yeah, it was there for the joke and to set up the sequel, but the "non-scientist" is doing research analysis and that's a really important scientific job.
Winston Zeddemore, in comparison, became a Ghostbuster because he was so desperate for a job he'd "believe anything if there was a steady paycheck in it" and in the cartoon (there were almost as many homages to the cartoon as the original movies) he was the mechanic who worked on the various Ectos. He never showed any interest or capacity beyond "blue collar guy working with his hands."
no subject
Date: 19 Jul 2016 07:53 (UTC)I wish she'd been able to use her expertise a little bit more! The film definitely shows that she has it, but I don't think it impacted on the plot as much as I wanted it to - I wish the trigger for plotting the locations in the ley lines scene had been Patty going "hey, why did they hit location X when there's a much more obvious target just down the road?". But that's something they can do in the sequel. :D
That's true! I kind of forgot about that part of it because my main takeaway from that scene was not getting the joke thanks to not knowing enough about Ghostbusters... /o\
Yeah, I'm glad that they seem to have done better than the original! Overall, I really loved Patty's portrayal, it was just that initial set up that made me go "...are you sure that's the right way to go?".