Somehow I neglected
to make Ghostbusters a more integral
part of my life. I wasn’t avoiding it, I just thought I’d seen what there was
to see.
It turns
out, most of my Ghostbuster memories come from the animated series The Real Ghostbusters.
And the
Nintendo game.
Those were the foundation of my Ghostbusting experience.
I must’ve been at least nine years old by the time I saw the actual movie, and
here’s the thing—it probably wasn’t the actual movie even then. It was an
edited-for-TV version. So those sexual innuendos? Those weren’t in the prime-time
version.
I can’t
say I went into this viewing with a lot of awareness of the plot. I remembered
there being a marshmallow man, and also that Slimer was a bad guy—not the
Ghostbusters’ funny little boogery sidekick. Oh, and Egon isn’t, like, the
leader—he’s just their resident über nerd. That’s about the extent of it. Oh
and, “There is no Dana, only Zuul.”
1) The
opening scene in the library totally stressed me out. Not because the ghosts
were scary, but because Bill Murray wiped ectoplasm on books, and that card
catalog mess was going to take FOREVER to clean up. That’s actually why the
librarian was screaming. She wasn’t scared either, she was just like, “Oh, hell
no. I’m not cleaning that up. I quit.” She just forgot her lines and screamed
instead. That’s my opinion, anyway.
2) The
scene in which Sigourney Weaver opens her fridge to another dimension and
there’s some monster that says Zuul? Those were some amazing special effects,
man. I mean, I could almost understand the idea they were trying to communicate,
but not quite. And when the monsters rip through her armchair and drag her to
the kitchen? That was hilarious. But I wonder if it was scary in 1984. I don't remember.
3) I’m
going to need to know more about that defunct firehouse and the super-sweet Ghostbustermobile.
Ecto-1 must’ve toured the country for a while, because I saw it in person at
the South Florida Fair back in the day, and it totally made my year. According
to this site, one of the cars is just rotting away in a prop yard in Culver
City. That makes me sad, because wouldn’t I be the coolest mom in the
world if I pulled into the elementary school lot in that? And station wagons
are really hard to come by these days, so converting an old ambulance/hearse
wouldn’t be a terrible way to get one. That firehouse? Yeah, it’s still a
functioning firehouse—Hook and Ladder 8, NYC. You can go see it, if you want.
Or you can stalk them via their photos on Yelp.
So what
about the actual movie, Kristin? What did you think about the ACTUAL movie?
I still
liked it. I still thought the suits and gadgets were awesome, and the idea of a
crew of undervalued paranormal scientists battling ghosts in New York City is
kind of fun. Interesting, particularly, that an EPA agent was villainized by
Hollywood. I wonder what that says about the ‘80s. I want to know how Egon
comes up with the necessary tools straight out of the gate, when they had no
plan of approach at the library. And what does
happen to the spirits they contain in their ghost dumpster anyway? And so the
ghosts just want to make a mess and end the world—is that the deal? I didn’t
feel like my questions were all answered, but maybe the all-chick team of
ghostbusters will take care of that for me this summer. Because, yeah, I’m
definitely going to see it. If only because the theme song is the best one in
the history of movies—ever. “I ain’t
scared of no ghost.”
Ghostbusters.
Prod./Dir. Ivan Reitman. Perf. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver.
Columbia Pictures, 1984. DVD.
Anyone who has ever worked in a library would agree with your analysis. That librarian was screaming in horror at the mess she was going to have to clean up.
ReplyDeleteChris Daniels
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more, Kristin. I'd forgotten how much I loved this movie until I re-watched it for this class. Crazy too... I remember playing the old Nintendo game. Sure, it did have it's flaws. Most of the questions were not answered. Like how they managed to find the money to buy their gadgets, nuclear accelerators, the hearse, and fix up the old firehouse with he limited budget they had. And yeah, HOW did they figure out how to trap the ghosts and use accelerated protons when at the library they were clueless?!?!?!?! Lol. I'm hopeful the newer one will answer those questions. Either way, Bill Murray slayed me.... in a good way :)
Kristin, I tried to write a very CLEVER comment on your blog while I was at work. It didn't go through. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI will say, though, that I agree with your explanation for why the librarian was REALLY screaming!
Also, I loved your Ghostbusters-inspired defacing of the Diet Coke label, Bravo.