Ever since it was announced that Ghostbusters would be rebooted with an all-female main cast, the film has been the subject of a fairly loud negative reaction. The trailer has been lambasted, and both the stars and director, Paul Feig, have been the targets of some fairly vulgar language. The reaction has not reflected well on geek culture as a whole. However, Feig wants to make it clear that he understands the bullies are a minority, and most people in the community are not like this.
Paul Feig was recently quoted in a New York Daily News article which made it appear he was making negative comments about geek culture due to recent Ghostbusters news, such as the negative response that the first trailer has received. In actuality, his comments were made over a year and a half ago for a book on the subject of geek culture. He’s now taken to Twitter to clarify his statements. His views about the bullies within the geek community do not represent his views of the community as a whole.
Every community has bullies who make up a very small minority of the community as a whole. Bullies scream the loudest and seem to get the most attention. But, they are simply bullies who in no way represent the vast majority of wonderful, thoughtful people who make up our geek community.
Paul Feig draws a clear line between those who may have concerns about the rebooting of a franchise they love or those who didn’t like a trailer, and those who post misogyny and hate on comment threads. He doesn’t have a problem with people who simply don’t like something, but doesn’t think that those spewing hate should be the people leading the conversation.
The geek world has been a haven for so many of us and we should all refuse to let these bullies hijack the conversations and debates we all love to engage in, nor should we let them represent our community and culture to the rest of the world.
Paul Feig considers himself to be part of the geek community so it matters to him how that community is viewed. Geeks are great and they should not be defined by their worst elements. Check out his complete comments below.
The once niche pop culture of the geek is now the pop culture of the world at large. This has taken many people, who once linked their identity to a minority, and placed them in the majority. This radical shift has obviously not been a positive one for many parts of the community. Hopefully the more positive voices will start to overcome the negative. We can still show displeasure without hate. Let’s be better.
