Well, it is three years later and society is pretty much in the same place it was when the 2016 reboot of “Ghostbusters” was released amidst a frankly unnecessary storm of controversy. Now, as the world slowly spirals into the next ridiculous headline of the week, we as an audience are treated to the promise of yet another “Ghostbusters” film, the long rumored, or feared, “Ghostbusters 2020,” set to be directed by Jason Reitman (“Juno”). What does this mean? What is the appeal of Ghostbusters today? Is it outdated? Does it have anything left to offer? Let us take a look.
Put the first “Ghostbusters” under a microscope for a moment. Four broke men team up and use science guns to fight some fairly impressive, for the time, special effects while also creepily seducing Sigourney Weaver, we will get back to that later. If this sounds stupid, well, it is, but despite its flaws, the movie is solid. It is funny, but family friendly, has big names, is colorful, creative, a little spooky, quotable and incredibly toyetic. It works from a story perspective, but also from a marketing perspective. It was so successful at being the quintessential popular action-comedy of the time that it got a disappointing sequel, a spinoff cartoon, endless toy sales and a disgusting green drink that tens of thousands of yesterday’s kids are most surely suffering the effects of today. So it happened, but why does it keep coming back?
Look at the 2016 “Ghostbusters” (Paul Feig). That film is a mess, no two ways about it. Bad writing, bad pacing, bad effects and more. So why does it exist? Sure, nostalgia is a factor, but it isn’t just nostalgia for the film. Rather, it is nostalgia for the marketing campaign that never really ended. The Ghostbusters are heroes, in the movie and out of it, and that status has allowed them to stay relevant even when people say they are dead, much like superheroes and some musicians.
That is what the reboot is powered by, a huge marketing opportunity predicated on an idealized notion. Sure, it was powered by internet toxicity and halfwit criticism, but the point is that “Ghostbusters” is still able to create a successful and powerful marketing campaign based solely on its image. And that is where “Ghostbusters 2020” fits. This film is already powered by a movement that goes back to 1984. It is not revitalizing anything. Rather, it is telling its audience that something old is being made new again when the whole time, a carefully calculated system is simply being brought, once again, to the forefront. Of course, this is not just “Ghostbusters,” but the franchise is a prime example of how our idea of nostalgia as being overly sentimental and cheap can be misleading when it comes to deconstructing the mechanisms that power it and the products behind it.
Image from Sony Pictures Entertainment via YouTube
