So, after all of that, what do we know? What did we learn? And why is it important?
Well, lets start from the beginning.
We know that Ghostbusters was attacked as a feminist movie from the beginning, and in some cases the haters were right. Ghostbusters does indeed incorporate aspects of female humor, feminist humor, and lesbian feminist humor in order to tells its story, and that is one of the reasons it is not understood and attacked by men. The shared cultural experience of women that is portrayed in Ghostbusters, along with its portrayal of strong, smart, and funny female characters subverts dominant male culture comedy in which the woman is supposed to be submissive, demure, and stupid. It was attacked because it pushes back against this dominant male culture and turns the tables on men.
Ghostbusters passes most, if not all of the feminist media tests, including the Bechdel test, the Mako Mori test, and the Sexy Lamp test. It also created its own feminist media test, the Pizza test. However, Ghostbusters is not intersectionally feminist.
Ghostbusters features four female leads in a non-demeaning comedy/action movie, and the movieâs humor is based on feminist and female comedy, overall Ghostbusters: Answer the Call seems to throw the stories of the intersectional characters under the bus to uphold a white, straight, neurotypical feminist narrative.
The reaction of fandom to the erasure or downplaying of intersectional characters by giving them intersectional background of their own shows a growing movement in fandom to tell diverse stories. It also shows a demand for media that portrays intersectional characters in the first place.
Why does all this matter? Why does Ghostbusters matter? Or does it not? Is Ghostbusters: Answer the Call just another movie to fall through the cracks, forgot as just another mediocre summer movie flop?
Well, Ghostbusters was the first all-female reboot of a male-casted movie, and the reaction to it shows that we as a culture have a long way to go. We need to take a harder stance in dealing with sexism and racism in our media and in our population. If feminist media is already non-mainstream, we should go all the way and tell intersectional stories that represent the intersection of being female and being a minority instead of just telling the stories of white women. We need to actually give our intersectional character concrete diversity in our media instead of baiting minorities with half-issued promises of diversity and inclusion.
While Ghostbusters: Answer the Call was a good first step, it could be improved on. The world has seen how Ghostbusters failed and how it is succeededânow it is up to media creators, both current and upcoming, to pave the way for more intersectional media and more intersectional comedy. This upcoming media should continue to fly in the face of a dominant male culture and empower women and minorities alike so that these individuals can continue to succeed in real life as they succeed on the big screen.
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