You have all no doubt just experienced a spooky Halloween weekend, filled with all kinds of frightening events and costumes. You probably saw murderers and ghosts and other petrifying creatures, all meant to play on the things that scare us most. But now that it’s over, we can go back to lives free of fear and apprehension from the terrifying nightmares that haunt us. Well, most of us can anyway.
Spare a thought for the group of men I am about to tell you about. Their innermost anxieties and feelings of terror around an issue began well before Halloween, have no doubt surfaced throughout Halloween festivities, and are now being dragged out over several months. In fact, they have to wait until July next year for their feelings of despair to reach their peak and for recovery from the shock to commence.
That is because July next year is when….the new 'Ghostbusters' film will be released. Terrifying.
Now, you might not understand exactly why this is such a frightening prospect for a particular type of person, so let me explain. It’s very simple. The new 'Ghostbusters' movie is going to star WOMEN in roles that were previously played by MEN. Bone-chilling.
The announcement gave rise to a lot of backlash from certain groups of men (in particular) who were outraged that an old movie series they love was going to have an additional film (but mainly that it was being made with women in the starring roles). There was lots of talk of ‘ruining of childhoods’, as if the creation of the new movie will see all copies of the originals burnt in a huge misandrist bonfire lit by feminists who will dance and screech with joy around it as the memories of men past are burnt to nothingness. Or as if the new movie will cause some kind of tear in the fabric of time and cause you to never have existed at all (which might actually be a positive in some cases).
One of the stars of/terrifying woman-creatures in the new movie, Kristen Wiig, gave an interview last week responding to the outrage, saying: "The fact there was so much controversy because we were women was surprising to me… Some people said some really not nice things about the fact that there were women. It didn’t make me mad, it just really bummed me out. We’re really honouring those movies.”
The original Ghostbusters (1984). Source: Mary Evans Picture Library
Kristen Wiig may not be mad, but I certainly am. This is not people who are disappointed, like I am, that these women haven’t been given an original idea to work with. This is not being concerned, like I am, that if the movie is a failure, no other female-driven comedy will be given a chance to be made. This is men upset that movie roles they know as being played by men will now be played by women. This is a certain kind of man who is insecure, and petrified that women are out to take things from them. First it is the Ghostbusters, and then what, political power and structural equality?
So they are scared and outraged, and they lash out. The director of the new movie, Paul Feig, said the reaction was: “Some of the most vile, misogynistic s*** I’ve ever seen in my life.”
And that’s the point. It is quite possible to have the opinion that a new version of this movie is a bad idea, no matter the gender of the leads. It is possible to hate Hollywood’s unoriginality, and to despise remakes. You can believe all of these things, and say all of these things, and decide that you are not interested in seeing it. But the reaction is obviously heightened because the leads are women. It is more pointed, harsh, and vile because the leads are women. A lot of the outrage was misogynistic and sexist because someone dared to replace men with women.
So, I have decided to stop being mad, and instead enjoy the unhappiness of these types of men. The movie is happening, and it will probably be good, and it will no doubt bring many of us joy. There is nothing they can do to stop it, besides complain on the Internet and look completely foolish and have the rest of us make fun of them. If this is their constant-Halloween, I am going to treat is as my constant-Christmas.
