On Paul Feig, the Ghostbusters trailer, internet trolls, and who is responsible for what.

I was excited about the notion of a Ghostbusters starring women (especially the women they cast) and I have no doubt that the “most down voted” status of the trailer has to do with the misogynist strain in the world of geeks. That said, it’s a shit trailer. And the people involved with the film should not be given a pass on that. Because, they are not put upon independent artists at the mercy of anonymous bullies. They are multi-millionaire’s who have the power and resources of a multi-billion dollar industry behind them. They are the 1% of the entertainment world. A trailer is a huge part of marketing your vision to the waiting audience and they flubbed it. It was flat, devoid of energy, the jokes seemed trite and canned, the choices for the characters seemed unoriginal and lacking in imagination. That doesn’t necessarily mean the movie will end up being the same and I hope it’s not. But the people who want this movie to be good, the people who should be forming the first line of defense against the trolls, have a reason to have their faith shaken regarding the end product. They failed to rally the troops and that failure is theirs and theirs alone. If that trailer had ginned up the proper excitement, the trolls should be only one contingent in a sea of people expressing elation and anticipation about the film. But as it was, it was greeted with a kind of perplexed shrug on the part of the people who could have been the most enthusiastic supporters. That created the vacuum of response that the misogynists filled with vitriol. I have no sympathy for the failure of a huge studio to muster it’s near infinite resources properly and in fact, regard its failure to produce something that insulated it’s fans from this onslaught of douchery as yet another mis-step on their part.

It’s not that I don’t have any sympathy for Feig, I do. The internet can be a toxic place that can make you feel defeated before you even start. And it is never pleasant to be on the defensive facing an onslaught of people whose hate is fueled by an inexhaustible reservoir of irrational insecurities and resentments. But I am more concerned by the current trend of fans feeling responsible for defending the wealthy and powerful figures they follow. And those figures feeling somehow wronged or injured when that defense is not forthcoming. The responsibility should never flow in that direction. It is the responsibility of the powerful to honor the trust those with less power have placed in them. Because that trust is what elevates them to such heights. Feig and the cast and the studio that backs them are the ones with the power here. If they have ceded it to small men who are spending their free time hating on the internet, that is their doing.

I am sure that everyone involved with the project wants it to be the best film it can be. I’m sure it is everyone’s intention that the movie honors the source material and the people who love it. But cursing your way through twitter and press interviews about the online reaction by people who, in every quantifiable sense, have less power than you do is not going to get that job done. They need to stop whining about the internet and spend their time making sure that the finished product is a proper retort to the dicks who preemptively hate the movie for all the wrong reasons and also to the terrible trailer they produced. I want to finish this by reiterating that I really like these actors and this director, and I really want this movie to be good. I wish them the best of luck.