It strikes me that there has been a deliberate attempt to make this team of Ghostbusters visually reminiscent of the original team, for homage's sake (with at least some influence from the animated version - an overthinker could get into all sorts of speculation about why there
has to be a blonde, but hey
), whilst keeping names and continuity and such far enough removed to be its own thing. I find both of those phenomena (if I'm right) very unsurprising.
Recently Jake (my sidecar in all GB activity these days, it seems) got me to say maybe we'd watch the film when it becomes available via our cable service i.e.
pay for it (about half the price of one cinema ticket, so a quarter the price of two). In spite of myself, I'm getting interested in seeing it, though I am completely open-minded about whether or not I'll enjoy it. There's a part of me, also in spite of myself, that wonders if they'll do things like have a male secretary and such, y'know?
I mean, I didn't want to start getting into gender politics before I've even seen the movie, but it occurs to me that there are three possible attempts that might be made on these characters: to have them be like women (because they are and it must be shoved in our faces), be like men (in an attempt to show that female Ghostbusters are no different from males), or be like people. I very much hope the latter. (By the way, the
Supergirl trailer annoyed the bejesus out of me, if you can see the connection.)
It's a long time since Ripley of
Alien was mentioned, isn't it? Well, my A level media studies teacher told us that the part was originally written for a man. Now, A level teachers aren't always right about everything, but that sounds highly plausible to me - and a little sad, if it's true, that this is the reason why she wasn't consciously written as 'female'. The movie is a classic, of course, and provided a good foundation for the continuation of Ripley's characterisation
but once we get into
Aliens, aspects of her character at least are defined by her gender. She suddenly has a daughter who grew up and died in the interim, which is why she forms such a close attachment to Newt (she couldn't have done that anyway?). Now, it's a while since I've seen the series, but isn't her female reproductive system a pretty big plot point in
Alien: Resurrection? Just sayin'...
So, I've fallen into the trap of getting onto the gender issue. Wait and see, girl, just wait and see...
_________________
'
Extreme Ghostbusters was the best-written show, because it wasn't just about the ghostbusting, it was about the characters.' -
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