Around this time five years ago, I remember the backlash surrounding the 2016 Ghostbusters film. There had been off and on stuff regarding it. A lot of backlash on both sides that ultimately made it lose 70 million for Columbia Pictures due to a very expensive budget despite making 140 million domestically and nearly 300 mil overall. Now, I don't share the same feeling as most people regarding the two 80s films. The first is good, but massively overrated. I think there's better sci-fi films and better comedies. And the second was okay, but nothing noteworthy. And honestly, I don't have an intention to watch the reboot.
Recently, there was an interview that the 2016 director Paul Feig did. One thing I'll agree with is that it wouldn't feel right if you had two of the four actors back. But going the direction he went with his own script and stuff is where I see the problem. He is capable of directing great films. Being on a roll during the last decade beginning with Bridesmaids and his most recent at the time being Spy, he is one you want for comedies. But he's blaming his Ghostbusters take on Trump and the 2016 election. It screams to me a cop out excuse for why the movie failed as there are plenty of reasons.
First and foremost, this is a finicky thing to do. Ghostbusters is one of the most beloved franchises of the 80s and all time. There were plans for a third one that was in development hell. People wanted a true sequel and the 2009 video game was essentially the third film. This is also a geekdom. Anything nerdy that has drastic changes is going to see a hell of a lot more criticism. The all female stuff is an eye raiser, but it's the choices in who they got that's the issue, though I hear Kate McKinnon was highly praised the last I remembered. It's not the type of people that you think would headline a franchise reboot. Also, the humor not being as strong. My point is, there is more issue pertaining to the fanbase and what they thought was bad. Blaming it on Trump is brain dead stupid. Even if proof surfaced of him badmouthing the film, did he really make an impact on it failing? That's something that I don't think could be proven.
But one thing people forget about Feig is that he acted like a huge baby in terms of backlash. Social media is a great tool, but can show a darker side of Hollywood people. He did not show any restraint and went after many because of the backlash. It adds fuel to the fire of why it did not do as well. Both sides turned it into a full blown social media war. There are trolls. No doubt about it. But you also have people who have no interest, regardless of it being a female cast and the direction it went. And even if you genuinely had no interest, others could perceive you as sexist and misogynistic.
A big example was two months prior to its release involving comedian Patton Oswalt. He can be funny, but his mannerisms and actions on sites like Twitter are a bit on the dangerous side. Personally, I think his behavior is very unwarranted and I feel bad for his daughter. That being said, there was no reason to go after a huge YouTube personality (James Rolfe, Cinemassacre) because he had no interest and didn't say anything controversial. That caused a big uproar and both Rolfe and Oswalt were given shade and praise. If memory serves me, this was Oswalt's way of venting because of his first wife passing away not too long before he ranted. The trolls who made fun of him for losing her don't deserve any sympathy. But much like Feig, it adds more fuel to a fire that is out of control and makes people not go see it.
What I'll end on is this. Feig has no clue still of why he failed on this film. The backlash came well before Trump announced his presidency and the whole election. It ballooned over a year and a half to the point where it reached his breaking point and he caused even more issues. Even though he had no involvement with them, Oswalt's incident made it way worse. The way they responded to criticism probably influenced some who were on the fence to either see it or not. There is good female led stuff. It didn't translate well for something like Ghostbusters, which is funny because Mad Max had a female lead and the original creator of it working on Fury Road, which was a huge hit in 2015. The president did not make the movie fail. Bad choices, backlash, manchild antics, and poor responses to criticism killed it.
After this one, I will do a follow up and talk more about the Oswalt and Rolfe incident as that was blown up to the point of it being a center of attention for a short while.
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