When beloved movies or franchises are rebooted for a new generation, there's bound to be some disappointment from fans of the original material. However, the amount of hate that the Ghostbusters reboot has earned over the last couple years has been ridiculously high. One of the common reasons for the hostility has been attributed to the movie's main characters being women, but Ivan Reitman, the original Ghostbusters director, as well as producer of the reboot, believes most of the backlash is simply due to fan passion over the original movies.
While speaking with Mashable, Reitman didn't label misogyny is the culprit for why the new Ghostbusters has earned so much criticism, but instead brought up how the folks who loved the original moves aren't keen on seeing these "classics" redone. He explained:
I think there's way too much talk about gender [when it comes to this film]. I think that many of the people who were complaining were actually lovers of the [original] movie, not haters of women... I think the lovers of the [original] movie felt there was some kind of sacrilege to re-do it, because it was a seminal part of their moviegoing experience as a 7- or 8-year-old. That's something that can't be minimized, and I totally respect that love.
While there certainly may be members of the Ghostbusters fanbase who are simply viewing the first two movies through nostalgia-tinted glasses and don't want them to be remade, there is no denying that misogyny has played a major role regarding the malice directed towards the reboot. Just look at the YouTube comments on the previews or comments on various articles covering the movie, and you'll see plenty of folks who are angry that the team is comprised of four women instead of men. This isn't nearly as much of an issue in Reitman's mind, but he also attributed a lot of negative reception towards Ghostbusters to the fact that the first trailer (which as since become the most disliked movie trailer on YouTube) got their promotion off to a bad start by not properly representing what the movie "actually is." That's also true, to a degree.
Despite his views concerning the Ghostbusters reboot hate, Reitman urged fans of the original movies to give the new version a chance, calling it a "very satisfying and wonderful experience on its own." Others connected to the movie also haven't let the outrage get to them. Tom Rothman, Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Motion Picture Group, called the hate the "greatest thing that ever happened," while Bill Murray, who has a cameo in the reboot, admitted that the new team managed to pull off a good story. We'll have to wait and see whether all this negativity will truly have a detrimental impact on its box office performance.
The Ghostbusters reboot hits theaters on July 15.
