The War Over 'Ghostbusters' Gets Ugly as New Trailer Drops
Who knew "Ghostbusters" could be so polarizing? It's not breaking news that the upcoming reboot, with new (female) ghostbusters, has upset some fans. Reboots of "classics" always get a "you're ruining my childhood!" backlash, but this one has gotten particularly ugly.
On Wednesday, a new trailer for the 2016 summer movie dropped, and many fans said it's an improvement on the first trailer (which confused even star Melissa McCarthy): However, that followed a weekend of "nerd wars" online, after @cinemassacre, aka AVGN (Angry Video Game Nerd) issued a video explaining why he would not review the new "Ghostbusters" movie:
Ghostbusters 2016. My thoughts. https://t.co/gLXW8oUmWK
— cinemassacre (@cinemassacre) May 17, 2016
That launched an ugly back-and-forth online, with the usual "feminazi" and "MRA"/"man-baby" accusations. Patton Oswalt jumped into the mix to defend the movie -- or at least argue that you should SEE a movie before bashing it -- and he in turn got attacked by AVGN fans. Not only that, many of them decided to insult Patton by bringing up his wife, who recently passed away.
I really wanted to hate this Cinemassacre GHOSTBUSTERS review but I'm such a fan of noisy, thick-saliva swallowing it won my heart.
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) May 17, 2016
I woke up to a weird nerd war between @pattonoswalt vs @cinemassacre over the new Ghostbusters movie. Guess I'm #TeamAVGN
— Ryan (@TheFullMetalBat) May 17, 2016
Eh, fair enough. I like @cinemassacre. I'm just tired of pre-emptive criticism. Society imploding. It's gross. https://t.co/YkSrzxEhGG
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) May 17, 2016
I sure did.
AFTER I saw them. https://t.co/ACaVmNYTYQ
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) May 17, 2016
Amen. But he did that old-timey thing where you see the movie THEN criticize it. Not cool, y'know? https://t.co/Q4CnZc0s6b
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) May 17, 2016
That's true. I picked the wrong target. Weirdly comforting to know I can still be foolish. Feels normal? https://t.co/TPJKAkQYFQ
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) May 18, 2016
This is where it gets really ugly:
Remember when your wife died?
It was funnier than anything you ever did in your entire career.
— Chicago Joe (@adudeinaplace) May 17, 2016
at least AVGN's wife is still alive tbh @pattonoswalt
— #TG izz (@orruna) May 17, 2016
@pattonoswalt how's the wife doing?
— Tai @ High Noon ☯ (@ChainKnuckles) May 17, 2016
@pattonoswalt Just because your wife is dead that's no reason to act like an asshole
— Trey King (@TreyKing88) May 17, 2016
@pattonoswalt Sorry your wife Shamu couldn't get back to the ocean in time, and now she's dead.
— JewInvader (@Invadingjew) May 18, 2016
@pattonoswalt did your wife like this tw-
sorry— Todd Sweeney (@SomeKindaBoogin) May 17, 2016
Those are just some of the nasty tweets sent directly to Patton, simply because he called out a critic for announcing his refusal to watch and review the new "Ghostbusters," because that critic really loved the original and thought the trailers looked dumb.
Did AVGN also bash, or refuse to see, the sequel to the "timeless" classic original "Ghostbusters"? What other reboots has he non-reviewed, or is this the only one? If he's upset by the "Ghostbusters" title for 2016, what does he think of the new "Magnificent Seven"? Any complaints about remaking that classic?
Director Paul Feig responded to the overall backlash in an interview with Monsters magazine (via Collider):
"Fellas, we have over 60 million hits. So let's put it in context a little bit. ... All I can ask is, people, either give us a chance, or you don't have to see it. I'm really proud of it. ... I think it's fun. I'm so proud of my cast. I think the cast is so good, and they can stand in the footsteps of who came before, because they're such funny people but they're different. That's all you really want out of a comedy at the end of the day, is something different and new, and to just see great people do it."
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