General Arcade and Retro Chat - Insert Coin -

I've largely avoided the ****storm around the new Ghostbusters film. From what I've seen in the trailers, it does look bad...but as mentioned, trailers generally are bad these days anyway. If the comedy is good in it, so be it...it didn't need a sequel, but that can be forgiven it they do a good job of it. If the comedy is bad though, and the trailer indicates that, then I can understand the genuine uproar about it. Ghostbusters is close to many, many hearts, and is brimming with nostalgic charm for those who grew up watching it as kids.

Those hating on it for sexist reasons, need to cop on. I seen James Rolfe was targetted by the perpetually offended, for his video on it. Apparently he's a misogynist these days because he won't be going to see his favorite childhood movie being turned into mush :rolleyes:

As I said, total nonsense. Life is too short

(What I mean by that is the brandishing of people who are critical of the trailer & direction being taken with the movie, as sexists/misogynists because they feel so. No doubt people like that do exist, but they shouldn't even be acknowledged...it's more the way it's become a social weapon to used against those who, for their own genuine reasons, don't like what they see, it's total nonsense. I'm all about equality, but jeez, it sometimes seems equality is outdated these days & we should be offended by everything.)

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Let me be clear: I am not labelling him sexist, and have suggested nothing of the sort . I am simply saying I feel his video is deserving of being targeted for criticism for its attempt to legitimise the 'I can judge the film without having seen it' attitude.

That'd be fair enough, but that's not what he's being called out for (and I don't mean to imply you are lebelling him as sexist JU, apologies if it came across that way). He's being called out for being a sexist, misogynistic, man baby. On that basis, I feel entirely justified, having watched the video, to rubbish those claims. I'll use the word nonsense once again, and these social "issues", being fanned by the perpetually offended, I find extremely, extremely, tiring. So much so that I remove myself, & get on with real life. There is nothing, absolutely zero, in terms of sexist or misogynistic content within his video...and nobody will ever convince me there is. There is a clear agenda at work here, being perpetuated by utter idiots, and I refuse to get involved.

Put it this way: if the general consensus towards the film is actually generally positive - which is by no means guaranteed, of course - you can surely see how silly Rolfe's video will look? I've seen so many people write off this film as absolute trash, which to me seems quite preposterous based on a trailer. Bad films have had great trailers, and great films have had bad trailers. At least wait until people have seen the movie to write it off, James!

Fair comments, & I certainly won't argue with those. My only contribution here would be if somehow, the film does manage to impress, stays true to franchise roots, has witty, sharp, and engaging comedy, and becomes a lasting beacon of cinema for the youth of today...then Hollywood really needs to look at how trailers are produced. I don't mean to imply the originals were cinema gold, they clearly weren't, but they were able to make a big enough, and importantly, original, impact, that for many, the films are held in really high nostalgic regard. If the new one can do that, fantastic.

And I need to stress I'm all for being more discerning in your viewing choices. I actively avoid superhero films now as I've seen a lot of them and haven't liked them. But at the same time I can't for a second pretend I can give a reasoned opinion on Batman v Superman as I haven't seen it, and shouldn't pretend to be able to

Indeed, we can and should only go on the basis of what we have seen - the trailers. For me, they show a slick, well visually polished looking film (I actually like the look of the effects), but one that completely fails to excite me, engage me, and to be honest, interest me. That alone is enough to warrant me a 'sexist' apparently, and that's the kind of utter nonsense that;s out there, and that's why I avoid it. I didn't find the comedy particularly funny, I found it loud and shouty (the type of comedy I immediately avoid). The fact it's a female cast I'm fine with, totally fine with. Comedy is not the domain of a single gender.

So he's basing his opinion on what he, and the rest of us, have seen so far. I'd have to ask myself the question, would I pay real money to watch that film, after seeing that trailer? The answer for me, and clearly for Rolfe, is a resounding no. It doesn't look good enough, for me, to warrant further consideration. Is that such a crime? If the reviews come in & are glowing, I'll say great, go see it, & then complain about the standard of trailers, but from what's been shown (and they usually show the 'best' parts in trailers these days), I'd be shocked if it's anything better than a passable, generic, and unfunny effort.

He can say what he wants, absolutely. But I think it's unfortunate for somebody reasonably influential to be saying 'I'm going to hate it' without having actually seen it. I think it has only helped amplify the generally unreasonable hysteria about this film, and while Rolfe is far more articulate than your average random ranting twitter user, I also think the video attempts to rationalise something that's IMO kinda irrational.

Again, I won't argue with that logic...you do need to see a film to truly judge it. From Rolfe's video though, it came across to me that he's seen enough to already dislike it (not just the trailers, but the name (he feels cheap cash in), the effects, the sequel/reboot structure, the non character cameos...he explains it better than I can paraphrase it really), and is calling a halt on, "the ghostbusters sequel that nobody wanted". Your point holds up though, and none of this can be guaranteed until the movie is seen. I guess he's not willing to spend money on it, after seeing the trailers. He even acknowledges the film could be good even.

but there's a general 'white male anger' about this film that seems unusual both in the context of Ghostbusters and indeed general pop culture (no other remake / reboot / sequel - some of which are likely far worse than this will be - has attracted this level of ire), and there's many more reasons behind that than mere misogyny. Certainly plenty to analyse and reflect on once the film is actually out!

If I were to guess, I'd say it was young white males that this film had the biggest impact on, all those years ago, and that's the demographic that are so defensive of it, & so against the thrashing of the franchise. Who knows, but if history has shown us anything, this will all die down when the film is out, & there'll be entirely separate and new things out there for people to get offended by. It's all a bit, pointless imo.

TL DR - calling Rolfe out as a sexist is the domain of mind numbingly stupid people, who likely don't even know what sexism actually is. Calling him out for putting his foot down based on a trailer, is a justified, and reasonable objection.