Ghostbusters (2016) (Post-release)

Status
Not open for further replies.
huh....
coming from personal experience, I still say it comes across as people looking for something to complain about... the dumb character, male or female has been around forever.
when i do notice it these days, i tend to spot more dumb male characters. characters like Peter Griffin and Homer simpson being the two biggest offenders in my book.
you've also got a whole roster of dumb or crazy on shows like king of the hill on both sides.

but, again, I don't watch much new stuff... so it's entirely possible that i'm wrong. personally, I just happen to see plenty more smart and strong women than the dumb tv trope.
starting with penny from inspector gadget, moving on to Bonnie from Knight Rider, and going on from there.

But the way you hear people talk about it, the dumb blonde 'oh ma god' secretary is on every single show from 5PM-12 midnight. especially with that over reacting post from above....

- - - Updated - - -

firesprite said:
Click to expand...

And I meant your over reacting image post quote from the web above ;o).
from slightlypsychic
 
Maybe Neil can refer to women as "hysterical" in their "over reactions" they usually appreciate that...Or shrill, that's a good one, too.
 
Last edited:
NeilT said:
huh....
coming from personal experience, I still say it comes across as people looking for something to complain about... the dumb character, male or female has been around forever.
when i do notice it these days, i tend to spot more dumb male characters. characters like Peter Griffin and Homer simpson being the two biggest offenders in my book.
you've also got a whole roster of dumb or crazy on shows like king of the hill on both sides.

but, again, I don't watch much new stuff... so it's entirely possible that i'm wrong. personally, I just happen to see plenty more smart and strong women than the dumb tv trope.
starting with penny from inspector gadget, moving on to Bonnie from Knight Rider, and going on from there.

But the way you hear people talk about it, the dumb blonde 'oh ma god' secretary is on every single show from 5PM-12 midnight. especially with that over reacting post from above....

- - - Updated - - -



And I meant your over reacting image post quote from the web above ;o).
from slightlypsychic
Click to expand...
In horror movies the dumb person, male or female, is usually one of the first ones to die. Too bad the Kevin character didn't get killed off in Fiegbusters. It would have been an actual moment for everyone in the theater to cheer for.
 
Last edited:
To clarify, I find the image appeals to the the part of me that finds those complaints about Kevin's character perversely amusing.

The "dumb bimbo there just for eye-candy" is less prevalent than it used to be (thank **** for that, in the words of Gordon Ramsay), but it still comes around, especially in big action/adventure movies and comedies. It's far more likely in a movie like Ghostbusters that the one person who isn't useful is a woman and that she will be there mostly for one or more of the guys to drool over.
 
firesprite said:
To clarify, I find the image appeals to the the part of me that finds those complaints about Kevin's character perversely amusing.

The "dumb bimbo there just for eye-candy" is less prevalent than it used to be (thank **** for that, in the words of Gordon Ramsay), but it still comes around, especially in big action/adventure movies and comedies. It's far more likely in a movie like Ghostbusters that the one person who isn't useful is a woman and that she will be there mostly for one or more of the guys to drool over.
Click to expand...
Kevin was more stupid than Jar Jar Binks.m How Kevin lived through Feigbusters is beyond me. They should have killed off Kevin for just being stupid.
 
firesprite said:
To clarify, I find the image appeals to the the part of me that finds those complaints about Kevin's character perversely amusing.

The "dumb bimbo there just for eye-candy" is less prevalent than it used to be (thank **** for that, in the words of Gordon Ramsay), but it still comes around, especially in big action/adventure movies and comedies. It's far more likely in a movie like Ghostbusters that the one person who isn't useful is a woman and that she will be there mostly for one or more of the guys to drool over.
Click to expand...

Possibly. In the original there was the female student at the beginning, although I think that served the purpose of defining what a jerk Venkman could be. I don't remember any male candy at all, even among the leads.

But for the question "more" I've never seen anyone try to count em up on either side. No one has that much time on their hands, even on the internet. I would assume there have been more female overall, seems like a pretty safe assumption, but I could easily rattle hundreds of examples on both sides without even trying though. Useless eye candy is a stock character, both male and female. Usually as the dumb friend of the main character, but just as often the dumb friend of the love interest. Back in the 50's and 60's...I can really only think of female...Marilyn being the one that springs to mind: she played that character more than once. Maybe a couple Dean Martin roles on the male side. Nowadays, it's a staple on both sides. No high school movie in the last decade has been made without the dumb good looking guy. He's usually a jerk, but not always. As your link pointed out: when it's a man there's rarely hidden depth.

The irony is in the question "Does this trope bother you?"

For some it's yes, for some no, but for some...only when it's one sex, the other doesn't bother me. Which is an irony because that reaction is the only one driven by sexism, and yet purports to be in response to it.

For me...no the trope doesn't really bother me on either side. Even the Homer/Peter example is only annoying because Dumb fat guy with hot smarter wife is a combo thats been used more often than reckloose cop with by the book partner. Both were good the first 80 times, but not as much now. But in general, the dumb good looking character isn't annoying, nor is man candy.

Ultimately, it's like the Bridesmaids question for me...as in: HOW are we acting like this is the first time for something that's been going on for decades? It's like Paul Feig has a weird mutant ability that allows him to make people forget things that have been done before.
 
The dumb bimbo male is one of the numerous things in GB16 that wouldn't have been a sticking point - by itself.

Same with the all-female cast switch.
And shooting the bad guy in the nuts.
And all the other male characters in the movie being dubious.
And the director with a known gender issue.
And the director/etc taking some potshots at internet bashers.
Etc.

The problem is when you combine all these things into one movie. One that has a big heavily-male fanbase. And is expected to have an inclusive easygoing tone.
 
Last edited:
I don't mind dumb so long as the character is likeable, or you realize there might be a deeper level...
Casey Jones in 2k3 TMNT is pretty dumb, but he's likeable and intelligent at times.

Bebop and Rocksteady are rather dumb, but they have moments of brilliance in it.
Same goes for Beavis and Butthead.

When I start to care is when a character starts out semi normal, as is the case with homer simpson, or the dangermouse reboot... and THEN gets dumbed down over time to the point of, in homers case, why does anyone even go near him, related or otherwise? Same goes for Penny in the rare female reversal. she starts out a smart intelligent super spy in the old cartoon. that's all gone in the new one as they make her a sort of bumbling love struck teen heroine falling for the villain no less.

Jar Jar might be the rare exception where dumb and annoying was totally unlikable from the start.. just like kevin, he is so useless, why would anyone want to hang around him, except for the fact that the script calls for it?

dumb, no depth and unlikeable is not a good way to write a character on any side.
but, i guess, growing up in the 80s, i've seen my fair share of both, so i don't really see it as an issue. and i think it's gotten less and less these days.
 
Axlotl said:
Has this been posted yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORS3CqPTgDg
Click to expand...
I think it was pretty much spot-on and entertaining, except that it does not show that it was Sony's official stance to label critics as "misogynists".
I'm especially impressed by the girl who plays Kate McKinnon/McKinnon's character.

Of all the things that are bad about this movie, it is the conduct of Sony, Paul Feig and his misguided buddies (that rallied to his cause) that have upset me the most. They deserved all the flak they got, IMHO.
 
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ghostbusters-heading-70m-loss-sequel-918515

oh, what a shame. Try a 300 million loss if feig's quote is right.


supposedly the game sold less than 2,000 copies. i'm guessing that's bad if anyone has sales numb ers ;o)

- - - Updated - - -

I'm just wondering what other studios think of sony's blunder. are they sitting there laughing at the utter stupidity and bizzare nature of their hate campaign movie, or are they thinking 'yeah, well, don't do that and that, but this is OK...'
 
Yeah the game based on the movie got bad reviews out of the gate and it wasn't even about the gameplay it was the graphics and the fact that the new female cast isn't even in the game. They have you as a bunch of generic recruits and apparently it doesn't even tie into the movie much, it sounds like old movie games from the 80s/90s where you slap the name on it and cash the check.
 
"Sony disputes the amount of the potential loss, insisting that revenue streams from merchandising and such attractions as a new Ghostbusters exhibit at Madame Tussauds and a theme park ride in Dubai will help defray any deficit. The studio also notes that the number of people renting the 1984 film has soared over the summer.

"This loss calculation is way off," says the Sony rep. "With multiple revenue streams, including consumer products, gaming, location-based entertainment, continued international rollout, and huge third-party promotional partnerships that mitigated costs, the bottom line, even before co-financing, is not remotely close to that number."

Whole lot of spin coming from the Sony exec. From what ive seen and based on the actual merchandise being sold on the official website, Original GB items are selling while the new GB items are not. Gaming was another bust but he doesnt want to factor in how much Sony dumped into developing the new game. 20-30 million?

Now I will agree that the GB16 has caused a whole new generation to take notice of the original. So they will get the inflow of cash from that and put it under the GB16 column.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

-E-
Hasbro Pulse 1984 Proton Pack up for Pre-order
2
Replies
39
Views
3,056
Halliwax
Halliwax
MachinaExUmbra
Ghostbusters P.K.E. Meter Housing?
Replies
2
Views
462
MachinaExUmbra
MachinaExUmbra
dmccue
  • Sale
Ghostbusters Spengler’s Neutrona Wand Ver 1.0 Hasbro Haslab Plasma Series
Replies
0
Views
249
dmccue
dmccue
Funky
  • Sale
Ghostbusters jumpsuit plus extras *SOLD*
Replies
5
Views
329
Funky
Funky
C
retractable daredevil billy clubs (help)
Replies
0
Views
140
cheesenug
C
Back
Top