Harold Ramis’ Daughter Shuts Down The Ghostbros
The Ghostbros claim they're not sexist. They claim that their problem with the new Ghostbusters is that they are against remaking a classic film, even though they somehow never quite got this upset with all the dozens of previous remakes and reboots, including the horrible Robocop remake, which definitely treats a better original movie with much less respect.
Anyway, one of their complaints is that the very existence of the movie is disrespectful and that the idea of erasing the original Ghostbusters is terrible. And you know who almost agreed with them? Harold Ramis' daughter, Violet Ramis Stiel. Writing for Splitsider she says:
After my dad’s funeral, Ivan Reitman came out and said that, given my father’s death, he could not imagine directing another Ghostbusters movie and handed it back to the studio. At that time, emotionally raw and actively grieving, I thought, Damn right! There can be no Ghostbusters without my dad! They blew it by waiting too long and now it can never happen. At the moment, that felt right.
A few years later the reboot was announced and Violet found herself torn. She didn't want a Ghostbusters without her dad... but her father had truly enjoyed Paul Feig's work.
I had been a big fan of Paul’s television work and of Bridesmaids — watching my dad, in his hospital bed, shaking with laughter at Kristen and Melissa was one of the happier memories from the years of his illness. Still, even though I knew Paul was a smart and capable filmmaker, not to mention a fan of my dad’s, it felt somehow like a betrayal. Then, when they announced the cast, I went back and forth between Hmmm, that actually sounds kind of awesome and NO! I still can’t support it. Harold, Harold, he’s our man, if he can’t do it, no one can! Then I started reading comments. O-M-G.
Yup, it was the angry Ghostbros that turned her around. She had gotten to know real Ghostbusters fans - loving, inclusive people - and she realized that the desire to hold Ghostbusters frozen in time, belonging only to her, was wrong.
So let’s take a page out of the Ghostheads’ book and not restrict the Ghostbusters universe from extending as far and wide as it possibly can. Let’s be generous and make room for all of the visions and interpretations of what Ghostbusters can be. I still get annoyed when I see blond cartoon Egon, but who cares?! It’s a 20-year-old cartoon! The new movie is not the original and it’s not trying to be. Give it a chance and go see it! Or don’t, that’s fine. But resist the urge to hold on so tightly to the past that you choke off new life.
Please check out Violet's entire article - it's simply beautiful and touching, and it moved me to tears.
