There's a lot of criticism coming out about Ghostbusters Afterlife from the likes of RLM and the other bitter old men talking heads and media critics.
I have never in my life had such a vehement disagreement with any of this criticism. They criticize it for monetizing nostalgia, they criticize it for trying to sell merchandise, etc.
I have never felt so incensed reading or seeing these negative reviews after seeing the movie myself tonight. This was probably the most emotional movie for me in decades. I grew up thumbing through the Ghostbusters II picture book in my elementary school library so many times I wore it out. I marvelled at the proton packs, neutrona wands, and slime throwers. I remember the first time I had any awakenings as a young child seeing the pictures of Sigourney Weaver in the book.
I remember being terribly sad when I was on a Cathay Pacific flight and my parents denied me from watching Ghostbusters which was the in-flight movie because they were Christian conservatives and that feeling has stuck with me for 30 years. That sparked me lifelong search for science and reason over religious paranoia.
Why is nostalgia a bad thing? It is literally getting the ability to be a child again. I loved all the designs of the costumes, the equipment, the cars. They were designed by artists trying to make interesting objects, not to sell toys - that's just an after effect.
I was enormously sad when Harold Ramis passed in 2014 as I grew up on on his comedy films as well as SCTV (did anybody catch the Catherine O'Hara cameo in Afterlife? I bet I was the only one). My childhood hero was not Luke Skywalker or Hulk Hogan, it was the nerdy guy in glasses - Egon Spengler. This movie is about the best send-off and tribute I could have ever imagined.
Ghostbusters and all the varied ideas in it was the epitome of my formative youth whether it was the books in the library (parents didn't let me watch the movies) or the Real Ghostbusters cartoon. I've not a super fan of the franchise in the way a Star Wars collector might be, but rather I'm a super fan of the collection of ideas and thought it sparked in me as a child.
This movie simply connects with everything that is me. If you didn't have these experiences growing up, then definitely I understand why nostalgia wouldn't hit the same way. However, my theatre was full of kids and I can imagine a ton of little girls wanting to go home and become scientists now because this movie might inspire them.
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