Ghostbusters

Believe it or not, this is the first time that I have ever seen Ghostbusters. I think I always wanted to see it, I just never got around to it. The theme song was recognizable enough, why see the movie?

Well when I saw it on Netflix, had a lot of free time on my hands, why not watch it?

Ghostbusters is the story of four men who lose their jobs and who pick up a pair of tan jumpsuits, proton packs and start calling themselves the Ghostbusters, exterminators of the paranormal variety.

The team and stars of the movie is made up of four members. Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman, a paranormal psychologist who is a little bit of a ladies man with a very skeptical view of the paranormal.

Then there's Dan Akroyd as Dr. Raymond Stantz. He seems to be most enthusiastic of the group leading his partners to follow his lead to fight ghosts.

Then there's Dr. Egon Spengler, played by Harold Ramis. He's the brainy analytical member of the group.

And then there's Winston Zeddemore, played by Ernie Hudson, who joins the team half way through the movie. He is more of the action man doing whatever the other guys need him to do. I'm guessin Hudson had a bigger part in the sequel which I hope cause he's just an all around badass.

Other cast members include Sigourny Weaver and Rick Moranis. Weaver plays a woman with an ancient spirit in her apartment and Moranis plays her obnoxious neighbor. Eventually they both get possessed by demons. Moranis is definitely one of the funniest parts of the movie creating a very iconic character. It's kind of a bummer that Moranis hasn't been in any live action movie since 1996 cause he's funny as hell.

What I did like about this movie was that the movie doesn't take itself too seriously. They know that the idea a team of scientists with the goal of capturing ghosts needs to be a comedy. It can't take itself too seriously but it can't be a shitty comedy like Scary Movie.

I think that is something the 80's did a good job at. Making good stories that can also be funny. The plot doesn't have to be totally ridiculous, the movie just doesn't have to take itself too seriously if it doesn't make sense to do so.

What's more is the amount of quotable lines in this movie. Like I said, I've never seen the movie until tonight and if someone quoted a line from it I wouldn't know it. But it was fun hearing lines that perhaps I had heard before but never made the connection. That's more of a personal thing for me, but if you're like me and you haven't seen Ghostbusters yet, chances are there is at least one line from this movie that will make you say, "Oh! so that's where that line is from"

I only have a few "criticisms" of the movie. The truth is, for what it was trying to accomplish: Make a movie about guys who fight ghosts, they did a good job. But there were a few things that were a little off for me.

The first is random romance throughout the film. Halfway through, suddenly Egon and the secretary are a thing. When did that happen? I don't know. And it didn't really seem like the randomness was intentional. It seemed like it was just thrown in there.

Furthermore, the romance between Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver was incredibly random. On a side note, you can tell this is an 80s movie when Murray goes to Weaver's apartment to check out the paranormal activity she claimed was there. But when its not, Murray immediately tries to make a move on Weaver. In the 80s it was totally fine to hit on a woman you barely knew and still be the protagonist of the movie. These days nobody does that.

But Weaver and Murray's romance never seemed very tangible because they really only share about 3 scenes with each other. They plan to go on a date Weaver is possessed by a demon too quickly for them to actually have a date. But then at the end, they kiss. Why? Cause it was the 80s!

In reality its a very outdated concept. For time's sake, I'll call it the Mario and Peach concept. Think about it, when you play Mario, they never show any type of relationship between Mario and Peach, but when Peach is saved, she either gives Mario a kiss (on the nose but still) or there's a heart above them. Its kind of a reward for rescuing the damsel in distress.

I'm not really criticizing this movie for being sexist because I don't think it was. I think it was just made in a movie where gender roles were different so it was normative for Sigourney Weaver to be a sort of damsel in distress. (Kind of a change of pace from Alien) Its just interesting to see how not just movies but all mediums of entertainment have changed. Lots of Mario games still have you rescue Peach, but even more allow the player to play as Peach as she joins in on the adventure.

Now there are people that would say we still have a ways to go and I won't disagree or agree either way. My point is more to observe things have changed since Ghostbusters. And kind of makes me wonder what it would be like if it was made in our day and age.

Going back to my main point though, the two barely have any screen time together and yet they get together in the end for no apparent reason. It was just a little confusing for me. Not just because of their lack of screen time but also for another reason.

Was Bill Murray ever a ladies man like they portray him in this movie. Again, I may be talking from my comfy 2013 perspective, but its hard for me to imagine Bill Murray playing the ladies man like he does in this movie.

The first scene is him testing a pair of students for ESP. He's intentionally discouraging the male student while trying to impress the female student. I don't know the exact age of these students but if a professor at Colombia did that today I'm pretty sure he'd be fired, at least he would be when he sleeps with that student which I think Murray was trying to do. Which is another testament to how this movie is a testament to norms in the 80s. Again I'm not calling Bill Murray a perv cause in 1984, his charm as a member of SNL and the fact this is a comedy made it not really a controversial issue at all.

The one last thing I was confused about with this movie was, did Dan Akroyd get a blowjob from a ghost or was that a dream?

Anyway, overall, the movie is pretty good. Any criticisms I have of it are more based in my perspective as someone watching in 2013. If you haven't seen Ghostbusters, you probably should. Its a fun movie that is such a social icon.

I won't say this is one of my favorite movies ever, its not. Personally I enjoyed Ghostbusters and I'm glad I have the cultural understanding now but I went a long time without seeing this movie and I survived. I say again, its a fun movie, very quotable, why not see it?

So what do you think of Ghostbusters? Also what is a movie that everybody loves that you haven't seen? Comment below and let me know.

I'll leave you with this. I am convinced Bill Murray is an absolutely solid human being. If you saw Zombieland he makes a cameo in a zombie infested world, its funny, there are Ghostbusters references so it connects.