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Ghostbusters: Afterlife, just released in late 2021, is a worthy successor to the two ’80s films, pays heartfelt homage to the originals and their creators, functions as a perfect belated epilogue to the characters of that era, and also sets the stage for a promising future of the franchise.
Lately Hollywood has accustomed us to look forward with skepticism—even pessimism—to these types of continuations of once-revered franchises. The remakes, reboots, and sequels of too many films have been too disappointing to maintain the illusion and expectations.
This pessimism is supported by the fact that it is not because they have tried and failed, but because it can be perceived that there is evident premeditation on the part of Hollywood to turn franchises that have been cultural phenomena into woke propaganda tools.
We have seen it with Star Wars failing to spoon-feed us feminist empowerment, Terminator turning into a fight for social justice, The Matrix reduced to a metaphor for transsexuality, or He-Man pretending to give lessons on toxic masculinity.
Even the Ghostbusters saga itself was attacked and almost mortally wounded by its 2016 reboot (sheboot,) in which the ghostbusters were all women and its message — both in the film and in the promotion — was crystal clear: this film was a feminist political vindication that came to deconstruct the supposed machismo of the previous ones.
Of course, it was a failure, and — of course — it was blamed on toxic fans. These toxic fans are nothing more than the euphemism — and excuse — used by the left to refer to those they consider to be ultra-right-wing, sexist, racist, etc. when in reality they are simply fans who found the film very bad, if not insulting.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife and the 2 details that have angered the pro-green critics
When in January 2019 Jason Reitman — son of Ivan Reitman, director of the original movies — announced that he would direct Ghostbusters: Afterlife as a sequel to the films, he wanted to give a nod to all those who had been deeply disappointed by the 2016 sheboot, saying that he would bring the film “back to the fans.”
This innocent phrase infuriated leftist actors/activists — not a hard thing to pull off, incidentally — and Leslie Jones went so far as to compare Jason Reitman to Trump himself — yes, that’s how obsessed they are with Trump — thus confirming the political intentionality of 2016’s “Ghostbusters.”
We already knew that leftists hated the first two films for their championing of private initiative over the public sector, so much so that they wanted to destroy their legacy with the feminist remake, but what we didn’t expect was that they were so willing to hate Ghostbusters: Afterlife even before it began production.
Once Ghostbusters: Afterlife is released, you have to admit that leftists have two reasons to hate it. In one scene, one of the most beloved characters explicitly praises the Ronald Reagan era and the economic boom it brought to the country. In another scene, it is explained that Gozer, the millennial demonic being who serves as the film’s villain, is neither male nor female, to which one character responds “how woke for 5000 years ago!”
But mostly they must hate it because Ghostbusters: Afterlife, without being perfect, is an example of how these types of remakes or sequels should be. The film shows great love and an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the originals; it presents new characters and situations, but without mocking or trying to deconstruct the old ones; and above all, it manages to adapt the film to our times, but without falling into the trap of impostor woke culture, keeping the universal themes and archetypes that made the first ones work.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a very entertaining film, full of references for the most diehard fans — but that even casual fans will remember —, and for young people who see their first film of the saga with this one, it keeps all the magic of Ghostbusters, which will surely awaken their interest in the previous ones. Let’s hope they know how to omit the 2016 film — as Sony Pictures did with good judgment — and that we can continue to enjoy future sequels with this new generation of characters.
Ignacio Manuel García Medina, Business Management teacher. Artist and lecturer specialized in Popular Culture for various platforms. Presenter of the program "Pop Libertario" for the Juan de Mariana Institute. Lives in the Canary Islands, Spain // Ignacio M. García Medina es profesor de Gestión de Empresas. Es miembro del Instituto Juan de Mariana y conferenciante especializado en Cultura Popular e ideas de la Libertad.
Social Networks: @ignaciomgm