#paul feig
Leslie and Kate reacting to the ghostbusters filter is adorable
Last week the long-awaited Ghostbusterstrailer was released. To recap:
1. Trailer is released.
2. Some YouTube commenters are upset about a female reboot of the franchise.
3. Some people express disappointment that Leslie Jones plays an MTA Worker.
4. Leslie Jones responds to Backlash #3.
Jones makes some great points in her response. She asks, “Why can’t a regular person be a ghostbuster. Im confused. And why can’t i be the one who plays them i am a performer.” Part of the fight for representation is making sure that all of us get to be represented on screen, not just some of us. In a recent roundtable for The Hollywood Reporter, Justin Simien said “There is an obsession with black tragedy. If you see a black movie… It’s people who are enduring these horrible tragedies, or they’re saintlike… You know what that says, very subtly? It says that we’re not human. Because human beings are multifaceted.” Yup. He totally nails it.
Representation of POC on screen doesn’t just mean making more heroic Selma-like movies or more tragic 12 Years A Slave-like movies (although both were excellent contributions to film), it means making more roles where POCs are just normal, everyday people. The good news is that the Ghostbusters reboot seems to do just that. Leslie Jones plays an MTA worker! A normal, everyday person! So we’re good, right? This film isn’t racist and yay feminism and let’s just shut up and enjoy the movie, right?!
If your answer was an exasperated ‘yes!’ to that question you are welcome to stop reading. If you are curious about where that question mark can lead us, let’s do this:
The problem isn’t that Leslie Jones plays an MTA employee. She is a brilliant performer who got a great role in a huge studio franchise. (Congratulations, Leslie. I can’t wait to see you kill it up there. Also, MTA employees are the unsung heroes of our daily commute.) The problem is that the only Woman of Color in the entire movie plays an MTA employee. Wanna know the three other roles credited to women of color on the movie’s IMDb page?“Woman,”“Ghost Prostitute,”and “Higgins College Student.” Leslie is likely the only woman of color who gets to talk on screen. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reminds us of the dangers of a single story. “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” Through no fault of her own, Leslie Jones’ character represents the only story for women of color.
I celebrate a Ghostbusters reboot with women in the lead. How fucking awesome. But why, even in moments of revolution, does whiteness continue to be the default? Does the fight for equality mean equality for all? Or just some?
