As A Grateful Uncle I’d Like To Wish Everyone Behind The New Ghostbusters Remake a Heartfelt Thank-You
When my niece joined planet Earth eight years ago, the first thing I did was head to the closest Toys R Us to do some hardcore, Olympic level shopping (we didn’t know the gender of our new addition until the moment of truth, which made advance gift shopping problematic). Not having the slightest idea what to get a brand new baby girl, I asked the first employee I could find where to find girls toys. Probably thinking I meant pre teens, she pointed me to the doll aisle, where my jaw dropped in horrified awe.
I always knew that toys for girls were more gender dubious then those for boys, but until I was confronted by how aggressively, how relentlessly, vanity, stereotypes and impossible body shapes were pushed on young girls I was completely ignorant to how truly one sided the conversation was. It wasn’t long until the suspicion that some of these were designed by pedophiles and perverts crept into my head (seriously, have you seen Bratz dolls?). And once that idea starts paying rent between your ears good luck evicting it.
I soon discovered it wasn’t just toys. When I began wondering who I could suggest as strong female role models, I kept coming up empty. Actresses? It seemed that to be successful you always had to be playing second fiddle to the male lead and the quality of your roles lasted as long as your looks. Pop music? With precious few exceptions, a woman had to double as a stripper to be successful as a musician, slithering across the stage in little to no clothing. Sports? The mainstream media seemed to tolerate the existence of women’s sports with sneering reluctance while the Internet derided and demeaned female athletes and their accomplishments as much as possible.
At first I resorted to toys that would nurture and encourage her growing imagination and curiosity. But it soon became apparent that most of those were marketed exclusively to boys as well. So I retreated to my backup; tried, tested and reliable old geek culture. But even the world of comic books, science fiction and fantasy betrayed me. How much did geekdom lack anything for young girls? TV shows were actually cancelled because they only wanted boys to watch.
But that wasn’t all. I was dismayed by the freak-out when Marvel (wisely) decided to pull a comic book cover that made Spider-Woman look like a porn star. I shook my head in disappointment when people lost their minds every time DC put Wonder Woman in a pair of pants or removed Power Girl’s infamous boob window. Then there was the temper tantrum thrown when Marvel handed the mantle of Thor to a woman, a tantrum that passed beyond mere absurdity when some writers reportedly received death threats.
But if you want to see how bad it can still get in this neck of the woods, just Google Gamersgate, where female video gamers, media personalities and even celebrities (including Felicia Day) were driven from their homes by threats of rape and murder by male gamers who violently hated the idea that women be treated with dignity and equality in the industry.
And the scary part is all of the above is just the tip of the iceberg.
Nor was it merely the vast legions of haters and misogynists on the Internet or the corporate powers that seemed to be aligned against my unsuspecting little niece (seriously, would it have killed Disney to market some decent Black Widow and Rey action figures?). It was the people around me as well. She decided from a very early age that she loved Bob The Builder and Spider-Man (she has since added the Hulk, Captain America and Chewbacca to that list), but whenever I got her something along those lines I got lectures from everyone around me. She’s a little girl! they yelled. You should be getting her Barbie’s and make-up and sewing machines! Even when I managed to find her something that would inspire her curiosity the response was often similar; little girls don’t like science, get her a nice little oven or cooking set.
I kept waiting for the same people to tell me (wearing their serious face) that when she got older she should take home economics and basket weaving, as all good little girls do. The world wasn’t just trying to program her to become a little princess, but a little princess waiting for her knight in shining armour to rescue her. The world wanted her to be a possession and would only be happy if she became a damsel in distress. It seemed people would only be happy if she was a victim in waiting.
Which brings me to the new Ghostbusters movie, which hits DVD shelves today. As an increasingly desperate uncle, I want to thank Sony for persevering with the remake despite all the hate and misogyny thrown at it.
We hear a lot about Hollywood’s lack of diversity these days (and with good reason), because one thing white men take for granted is our representation in movies and on TV. As a middle class white kid, I was never lacking for role models on my favourite television shows or on the silver screen. But it isn’t just minorities that have been glaringly absent from western entertainment. It’s easy to forget that women are still pigeon holed into the same roles and are often relegated to love interests, sex symbols and victims. And while its getting better, you need look no further than the unprecedented amount of hate this movie got years before it was even released to realize women (along with minorities) are still fighting an uphill battle.
It isn’t just important that little girls who love super heroes and science fiction have someone to look up to, but someone who isn’t a scantily clad supermodel (do you honestly believe there would have been so much hate for Ghostbusters if Sony had cast four playboy bunnies to play the leads?). What was truly brilliant about the new Ghostbusters was that the women ranged in body types and backgrounds and educations, they were scientists and engineers and labourers who co-operated and used their resources and ingenuity to save the day. They weren’t catty or vicious or stabbing each other in the back. They weren’t obsessed with fashion or make up or shopping. They didn’t chase every guy they saw or plunge themselves into vats of ice cream to drown their sorrows at the drop of the hat. They defied the idea that successful, powerful women had to be the Kardashians or the cast from Sex In The City or wet dream fuel for forty-year old teenage men. And they did it in work clothes instead of mini-skirts.
So to Sony and the entire cast and crew of the Ghostbusters remake, I’d like to say thank-you. For a brief time at least, there are finally some kick ass female role models I can hold up to my niece (and any other little girl not interested in playing with Easy Bake ovens) to prove to her that she doesn’t have to be a man or a super model to save the day.
Photo: Sony Pictures Entertainment
