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Ghostbusters as a film is mostly forgettable, but the politics that have surrounded Sony’s project for months are something that should stay at the forefront of fans’ minds for a long time. Paul Feig and those connected with the project determined that a “Slime the Critics” strategy would pay off when it was clear that a $150 million investment was in big trouble — and it paid off. Reviewers were clearly afraid of being labeled sexists, and evidence of that is available on Rotten Tomatoes, YouTube, and across the internet.
Although I reviewed the movie opening weekend, my newest YouTube video discusses Sony’s small victory in terms of securing good reviews from political allies and moving the need in its direction with nice guys who have no desire to wade into gender politics.
Douglas Ernst Blog 
You caught me! I’ve had no interest in seeing Ghostbusters at all, but the social engineering and gender politics behind the scenes has really fascinated me.
“You caught me! I’ve had no interest in seeing Ghostbusters at all, but the social engineering and gender politics behind the scenes has really fascinated me.
Paul Feig and his allies went full-steam ahead in terms of attacking the fans after the first trailer bombed. Marvel’s comic book creators have used this strategy for quite some time, but it was noteworthy to see it employed at such a huge level by a major studio.
Did you see what Dan Aykroyd said about the film’s critics now? http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2016/07/20/dan-aykroyd-leslie-jones-critics-obese-active-klan-members-trump-voters/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social
“Did you see what Dan Aykroyd said about the film’s critics now?”
Haha. Yes, I did. I thought, “Do I have to do a new video for this?” 🙂
He comes across as such a pretentious clown. By the way, even the Southern Poverty Law Center (a liberal nonprofit organization) says the KKK only has about 8,000 (max) people in it these days. That’s a far cry from Aykroyd’s “millions” claim. What a buffoon.
Great job on your first YouTube video! The latest comments by Dan Hackroyd just add insult to injury. As someone else tweeted regarding the poorly received film, “If that many people are Trump supporters, then that mofo’s gonna be President.”
Also, how in the world did Breitbart’s Tech editor get banned for life from Twitter???
Because Leslie Jones was the recipient of “abuse” that drove her into a “personal nightmare”?
So, she can dish it, but she can’t take it?
You know, I have my own personal nightmare…anytime I watch Leslie Jones.
“Great job on your first YouTube video!”
Thanks, Ken. I made a few comic-related videos, but this is my first that touches on a Hollywood movie. 😉
“The latest comments by Dan Hackroyd just add insult to injury. As someone else tweeted regarding the poorly received film, ‘If that many people are Trump supporters, then that mofo’s gonna be President.'”
I can’t get over how he talks about “millions” of KKK members when there are literally less than 10,000 in a country of 320 million. Heh.
“Also, how in the world did Breitbart’s Tech editor get banned for life from Twitter??? Because Leslie Jones was the recipient of ‘abuse’ that drove her into a “personal nightmare”? So, she can dish it, but she can’t take it? You know, I have my own personal nightmare…anytime I watch Leslie Jones.”
The weird thing about it is that Milo was banned for the behavior of others. That is extremely odd.
Speaking as someone who has received a fair share of hate mail/hate tweets over the years because of my job, my advice to Leslie Jones would be to ignore it. Whining about it just brings more trolls out of their caves. The louder you scream, the more will gather.
Well, as far YouTube movie reviewers go, Doug, you’ll really appreciate Red Letter Media’s review of Ghostbusters (2016), who not only effectively and sarcastically rake the film over the goals without any apologies whatsoever, but explain why they didn’t like the film using cogent arguments, while also pointing out the ridiculousness and hypocrisies in how the filmmakers marketed the movie.
Thanks for sharing, Mike! Who is that guy on the far right? I can’t stand his laugh… There has been a few RLM videos where I just turned it off because he annoys me so much.
Anyway, I do appreciate that the RLM guys are never afraid to share how they really feel.
You’re welcome, Doug. And yeah, I think that guy’s real name really is Rich Evans, and I agree that his laugh is very shrill and annoying. Definitely stands out in sharp contrast to Mike Stoklasa’s more deadpan delivery.
Rich Evans is a staple of the red letter media party. His laugh is actually quite funny to me and the red letter guys are in on the joke, I get a kick out of it. ;sides, he’s spacecop.
I forgot to mention, I really appreciated your video. You have a pleasant voice and you’re sensible. That’s a good thing, makes it more enjoyable.
“I forgot to mention, I really appreciated your video. You have a pleasant voice and you’re sensible. That’s a good thing, makes it more enjoyable.”
Thanks! I have wanted to do these for a long time so people could hear the tone in my voice. I think when they just see the written word it allows them to insert a “tone” into the work that isn’t really there. Someone can read a post on “Ghostbusters” and say, “Oh, he sounds really angry,” but there’s no way someone can listen to that YouTube piece and hear rage. It’s just a guy who is like, “Hey, this is what I feel about that issue…”
Good text!
This marketing strategy is shameful, trying to intimidate movie critics to give positive reviews and the audience to make good work of mouth is authoritarian and hurts the freedom of press.
http://careymartell.com/2016/03/facebook-audience-insights-showed-ghostbusters-reboot-bad-idea/
The movie was dead from the start. This article shows how Amy Pascal didn’t the most basic market research before decide to make a movie that panders to rad fem. They thought that all women would want to see this movie just because it have female leads, but the reality is women just see a movie that brings things of their interest (mainly romance, fashion and beauty), while sci-fi movies like Ghostbusters are more consumed by men.
I know this isn’t a Star Trek post, Doug, but do you have any plans of seeing the movie? I don’t, largely because of how they made Sulu gay and because Simon Pegg kept giving politicized interviews in which he compared the villain of the movie to Donald Trump. I ended up un-following Pegg on Facebook after he posted a meme with a picture of Sulu, Carol Danvers and the black Hermione Granger that had the caption “Tradition is the enemy of change” underneath it. Seeing that soured me on seeing the movie.
If they hadn’t politicized the movies and had just created a new character instead of changing Sulu, I’d probably go see it, but these SJWs always have to weirdly politicize everything and appease the Tumblr crowd.
“I know this isn’t a Star Trek post, Doug, but do you have any plans of seeing the movie?”
No problem, Carl. I’m always happy to answer your questions! 🙂 Yes, I will be seeing it this weekend. I would be going tonight, but I have to be up at 3:00 a.m. to catch a 5:00 a.m. flight. I have to work tomorrow once I land…so my guess is that I’ll see it Saturday night or early Sunday. There should be a review up by Sunday night at the latest.
“I ended up un-following Pegg on Facebook after he posted a meme with a picture of Sulu, Carol Danvers and the black Hermione Granger that had the caption ‘Tradition is the enemy of change’ underneath it. Seeing that soured me on seeing the movie.”
That is an incredibly stupid quote, given that it says nothing about the merits of the particular tradition one seeks to “change.” I can’t blame you for shaking your head at that one.
“That is an incredibly stupid quote, given that it says nothing about the merits of the particular tradition one seeks to “change.” I can’t blame you for shaking your head at that one.”
I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. It was one of the dumbest quotes I’ve ever seen. It just goes to show that SJWs hate tradition and want to transform everything so that it matches their warped worldviews. Pegg also compared the EU to the Federation from “Star Trek,” which also made me shake my head, and blamed Donald Trump for Brexit.
The BBC is starting to employ the exact same strategy; already there are reports of Doctor Who’s Facebook page censoring people who are criticizing the new Doctor, who will be female.