Hate the idea of a new Ghostbusters film?
That’s fair enough.
Attacking another human being?
It might be time to draw the line…
This article originally appeared onDen of Geek UK.
Hate must be saved until youve seen the final cut of a film.
I like that ethos a lot.
Thats when we find out if the social media hatred aimed atGhostbusterswill genuinely convert into box office failure.
The truth is that nobody knows with absolutely certainty how this story will end yet.
Ive read some of it.
Just a flavor, certainly not all.
Heck, just over two years ago, the world seemed to generally like Paul Feig.
And then hes made some good comedy movies too.
All of them were commercial successes, to varying degrees.
But then, in the midst of this run of success, Paul Feig agreed to make a newGhostbustersfilm.
And then he cast four women in the leads.
And then the internet exploded.
Just to digress slightly, I do think one or two of the anti-Ghostbustersarguments are a bit baffling.
Plus, it overlooks that the primary reasonGhostbusters IIwas greenlit was down to cold, hard cash.
Then let me cite the memoir of the woman who greenlit that firstGhostbusterssequel.
The film was stuck in limbo at that time, and on the verge of falling apart.
David Puttnam thought these sequels were just crass and commercial movies, wrote the woman who greenlighted the sequels.
To us, they were unmined gems.
I hate that society accepts that.
But I dislike that argument immensely because then, implicitly, weve accepted it.
One Tweeter had regularly been firing insults at Feig for a prolonged period of time last year.
Feig snapped back on Twitter, impolitely telling him where to go.
And you guess what the story was on movie news sites the following day.
Hes not allowed to say that, of course, be it true or otherwise.
But the damage was done, and precious few cared about that clarification.
More fuel was poured into the online attacks.
I checked earlier today, and they still keep on coming.
I do contend that few of us would, if the entirety of our email mailbox was scoured through.
But thats the one part of all of this I cant offer comment on.
But should sites like this and others really be turning a blind eye to nastiness?
AtDen Of Geek, weve been going since 2007, fromCrystal Skulland badTerminatorfilms through toFantastic Fourreboots andPhantom Menace 3Dre-releases.
Its a pity too, because it leaves a sour taste for constructive arguers on all sides.
After all, its entirely valid that some dont want a newGhostbustersfilm.
Its entirely valid that some are declaring right now theyre not seeing it.
Just that some basic human courtesy in some quarters wouldnt hurt.
And what do you know: it may turn out to be really rather good.
Lets fight back against the demonisation of a man whos just doing his damnedest to make a good film.
Or at the very least, dont add to it.
If youve spent two minutes watching the trailer, and hated every second, have your say.
But lets make it about the film and the work.
Oh, and one more thing: Im not hiding behind anonymity here.
My name is at the top of the article, and my Twitter handle is @simonbrew.
Thank you very much for your time.
