The Ghostbusters Reboot

...

Though the cast, there’s a broad representation of “very type” of women. Some people find it stereotypical, but you have to see it from the comedy point of view, as they are trying to denounce the usual sexism.

What’s very important to point out is that choosing an all-female main cast for this particular movie isn’t a trifling choice because the science field is a much discriminated one. Indeed, in the USA, female scientists are paid 1/3 less than their male counterparts and in the UK; the annual wage gap is usually of £5,000 and can go up to £21,000 depending on the employer. The fact that the 4 protagonists are very smart female scientists is a sort of an answer to this discrimination.

First, there’s Erin Gilbert, who is the “traditional” white thin woman but she is a very smart woman, she’s at the beginning a Professor at the Columbia university in physics.

Then, there’s Abby, who’s a plus-size character. Usually, these women (who are less represented than slim omen) have the role of the funny and sweet sidekick who doesn’t do much. In this film, she’s the one who starts this whole adventure because she truly believes in her research, despite what everybody thinks.

The last scientist is Holtzmann who’s a bit insane and she’s mostly the comic relief in the movie. She’s also a brilliant woman, as she builds all the weapons. Also, she’s a lesbian woman, which is quite unusual in mainstream movies and the great thing is that it’s not an important fact, it is just implicitly implied, no comment is made on it and the story just moves on.

The last character is Penny who is the only character who isn’t a scientist. Some people see this as racism, as she’s the only person of colour but she’s actually the one who allows creating a link between the other characters and the “real world”, as they can be lost in their scientific world.

What’s really important to point out is that the only male protagonist is a secretary and he is really dumb: it is an obvious way to make fun of the stereotype of women in videos: not really useful, quite dumb, only there to look pretty.

My last point is about the influence this movie had.

Many people said that this movie would ruin their kids’ childhood, they they would set a really bad example for their daughters’ blah blah blah… I’ll let you see for yourself, they seem miserable don’t they?

I want to conclude with this picture that gathers all the female staff and cast, showing that girl power is a real thing and I personally think that this is very empowering.