Ghostbusters trailer *Brand New* (2016)

[riddler]

With all the talk about sexism, I'm surprised nobody's floated the discussion about racism; early impressions are that Leslie Jones is playing the stereotypical angry black woman slapping everyone silly and referring to everyone as "damn fools".

Indeed.  It's ironic that a reboot that is priding itself on being progressive is once again relegating the token black character to the non-scientist support.

Well from that perspective I don't know if it's racism, I think she's more of just a carbon copy of Winston. As we discussed earlier in the thread, Winston seemed to have a bigger role when Eddie Murphy was lined up to play him, they likely reduced his role and made him a non-scientist due to Ernie Hudson being less famous than the other 3. But even for a mid 80's film I never got the 'token black guy' from Winston. He wasn't treated badly, he was a very likeable character. He obviously had trouble paying his bills hence why he became a ghostbuster but seemed like a true working man. Overall you pretty much could have had a white actor play that role, the only thing different would have been the line "I've seen things that would turn you white" wouldn't have had the same effect.

With the new trailer it seems obvious the 4th female character was purposely made to be an African-American and it plays more as a token character; she's initially rejected by the other 3, she joins the team later likely to mirror Winston and is not a ghostbuster. But the other ghostbusters question her usefulness and the only reason she's brought on is a resource she has access to (their car), she doesn't possess any useful skills herself. I have a strong feeling they'll use a lot of cliché black jokes for her, for instance her seeing something paranormal and shouting HELL NO and grumbling to herself about the situation she's in. Another stereotype prediction; bad things happening to the black character when they are left to fend for themselves. The original films never did this to Winston, let's see if it happens here. 

[johnnygobbs]

I didn't mean to sound as if I was criticising the earlier Ghostbusters films when I made the comment about relegating the black character.  I just meant that surely it was now the time to give the black member of the team more of a significant part rather than simply side-lining them.  Winston is a great character and came out with as much, if not more, dignity as the other original Ghostbusters, but it's a shame that the reboot couldn't change things this time and have the black character as one of the scientists...maybe that's not racism, but it is once again a sign that this film exists entirely in the shadow of the original movies rather than attempting something new.

[riddler]

I didn't mean to sound as if I was criticising the earlier Ghostbusters films when I made the comment about relegating the black character.  I just meant that surely it was now the time to give the black member of the team more of a significant part rather than simply side-lining them.  Winston is a great character and came out with as much, if not more, dignity as the other original Ghostbusters, but it's a shame that the reboot couldn't change things this time and have the black character as one of the scientists...maybe that's not racism, but it is once again a sign that this film exists entirely in the shadow of the original movies rather than attempting something new.

Oh I knew you weren't criticizing the earlier films. I just think that the reason why Jones has a lesser role is probably to have her parallel Winston (which to me emphasizes this film as a cheap carbon copy) but the films differ in a negative manner; Winstons portrayal was not demeaning to the black community, it is easy to justify since Hudson had the lowest star power of the 3 and he did not play a token black dude. My complaint is not only is Jones a shadow of Hudsons character but she IS coming across as a token black lady.

[Silver Nemesis]

James Rolfe hits the nail on the head.

[The Joker]

Looking forward to Rolfe's video on GB3. Damn shame we never got that! 

Another video of note is one by the Midnight Edge channel on Youtube. They previously did a series on the BTS stuff with the Josh Trank Fantastic Four, that's pretty amazing to listen to. There should probably be a documentary devoted to the making of that film to be perfectly honest. Especially since we already have the one on Superman Lives, and the upcoming one about Roger Corman's FF.

Anyways, here's the Ghostbusters 2016 video.

[Dagenspear]

Oh I knew you weren't criticizing the earlier films. I just think that the reason why Jones has a lesser role is probably to have her parallel Winston (which to me emphasizes this film as a cheap carbon copy) but the films differ in a negative manner; Winstons portrayal was not demeaning to the black community, it is easy to justify since Hudson had the lowest star power of the 3 and he did not play a token black dude. My complaint is not only is Jones a shadow of Hudsons character but she IS coming across as a token black lady.

How neat would it have been if they had the actress who played Abbie Mills on Sleepy Hollow, Nicole Beharie, to play Hundson's role, but give her the character's original backstory of being a fighter pilot? I would have. Have a very great day you and everyone!

God bless you! God bless everyone!

[johnnygobbs]

I don't see why they couldn't have got someone like Aisha Tyler to play the 'token black character' role.  She's funny and she is great at playing highly intelligent characters.  But it seems for all the blathering about progressive casting and feminism, black characters are still being relegated to the side-lines as the 'everyman/woman' character (i.e. the non-scientist). 

[riddler]

It seems all Leslie Jones character has going for her is that she has access to the funeral vehicle which becomes the ecto mobile. I agree they needed a better less stereotypical actress.

[Silver Nemesis]

Strewth. Pascal and Feig both deserve to be blacklisted after the way they shafted Reitman.

Here's the latest trailer:

You all know what to do.

[johnnygobbs]

Feig and Sony's reaction to this film's performance at the box-office: "So, okay, I don't know if there was a race thing or a lady thing.  But I'm mad as hell!"