Over the weekend, the contentious new Ghostbusters finally hit theaters. After months of pushback from vocal (mostly male) fans of the original franchise, Ghostbusters became the latest reluctant poster child for female-led comedies. In 2016, people were still asking “Are women funny? Can women bust ghosts?” The answer? Yes and yes. Taking in $46 million at the domestic box office (and additional $19 million from international markets), the all-female reboot hit right on target for the opening weekend forecast.
Personally, I loved the film. The dynamic between the main cast (Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, and Chris Hemsworth) fired on all cylinders. My theory about Patty from months ago panned out. And never once was the gender of the Ghostbusters used as the butt of a joke or as a “Gee golly” moment that women can be physicists, engineers, or historians. There was even an LGBT character in McKinnon”s portrayal of Jillian Holtzmann.
In the video above and below, Donna Dickens and Jill Pantozzi discuss how Holtzmann is clearly coded as a queer character and whether or not it”s a good thing that the movie never stopped to acknowledge her sexuality.