Original GhostbusterDan Aykroyd, who played Dr. Ray Stantz in Ivan Reitman’s 1984 horror comedyGhostbusters, has shared his approval and support for the2016 reboot of the same namedirected by Paul Feig. Saying that the2016 versionwas met with an obnoxious reaction by internet users is an understatement. The film still has the power to divide the waters between those who understood Feig’s standpoint and the online trolls who didn’t care for the movie’s biggest change: the all-female cast.
In aninterview with The Hollywood Reporter, Aykroyd gave his opinion about the film in which he appeared in a cameo, and also supported by being an executive producer:
“I liked the movie Paul Feig made with those spectacular women. I was mad at them at the time because I was supposed to be a producer on there and I didn’t do my job and I didn’t argue about costs. And it cost perhaps more than it should, and they all do. All these movies do.”
Ghostbusters 2016
Aykroyd continues praising the film, especially the new cast of comedians who took on the difficult role of stepping in the shoes of 1980s icons like Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson: “I thought that the villain at the end was great. I loved so much of it. And of course, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, you’re never going to do better than that.
“So I go on the record as saying I’m so proud to have been able to license that movie and have a hand and have a part in it, and I’m fully supportive of it, and I don’t besmirch it at all. I think it works really great amongst all the ones that have been made.”
2016’s Ghostbusters Was the Target of Online Hatred Like We’ve Never Seen Before
The contempt againstGhostbustersbegan even before the film was released. At one point, the trailer of the film garnered more dislikes than likes on YouTube and became the most hated film trailer on the platform. Early reviews became “review-bombing tactics.”
When the film was released, it was divisive. Those who loved it were criticized simply for liking the movie, and those who didn’t like it were accused of being biased. Even the stars of the filmreceived online hatewith sexist and racist remarks.
How Dan Aykroyd’s Love of the Paranormal Led to Ghostbusters
Aykroyd’s ghostly family history made him a student of all things supernatural.
The conflict,one that’s still making people talk especially on “Film Twitter,“is proof that audiences sometimes feel entitled to model the industry after their taste. Fan-service films are a reality that still brings big bucks to studios.
But that has nothing to do with the fact that you had fourgoodcomedians in an entertaining movie, and some people hated it for something as absurd as “the movie stars women and not men, and the original had men.” A reboot won’t ever affect a film made decades ago, but online trolls associated it immediately with the tampering of an IP.
Maybe some of those haters could take a page from Aykroyd’s book and learn to appreciate that the film had its own unique vision.
