Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters took a lot of guff after the release of a much-disliked first trailer, partly because the trailer wasn’t that great, but also for some predictably dumb reasons. Since then, Paul Feig has spoken out about some of the sexist vitriol he’s been getting, and Melissa McCarthy has expressed hope that some of those guys find a friend. But at least one person isn’t blaming the backlash primarily on sexism.
Ivan Reitman — director of 1984’s Ghostbusters and 1989’s Ghostbusters 2 and producer of this July’s Ghostbusters — spoke to The Hollywood Reporter during the unveiling of Madame Tussauds’ new Ghostbusters exhibit. Video of the entire, 16-minute interview is available over at The Hollywood Reporter, but here are some highlights.
Reitman said there may have been some gender bias, but he believes the main reason for the backlash is nostalgia. “It surprised me a little bit, but then I realized many of the people who are writing were about eight or nine years old when the 1984 Ghostbusters movie came out. It was kind of a seminal moment in their lives.” He went on to say, regarding the reaction to the first trailer, “There was no one-and-a-half-minute trailer that was going to stand up to that emotionality of what that experience was like.”
On the one hand, yeah, if you grew up watching and re-watching Ghostbusters, you might get irked at a reboot for not making you feel the same way (because you’re not a damn kid anymore). On the other hand, has any other reboot taken so much sh*t right out of the gate?
As for the new cast, they have at least one fan in Reitman, who told THR, “The most important thing is the four women are spectacular together.”
So there you go. The vitriol is about nostalgia, not sexism, so it’s totally okay for guys to say they’re into the new Ghostbusters if they can get past the nostalgic attachments. It’s totally in every dude’s wheelhouse…
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(Via The Hollywood Reporter and @theblowout)
