Entertainment

The Original Ghostbusters Shut Down Sexists

by Rachel Semigran

Ever since the announcement was made that Ghostbusters was getting an all-female remake, my Gloria Steinem-loving heart has been bursting with joy. Then, when the official cast was released, featuring the immensely talented Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Melissa McCarthy, my collection of Sylvia Plath writing spontaneously combusted. But hey, you don't need to be a bleeding heart feminist like myself to get down with the news that the all-female Ghostbusters is not only a good idea, it's a bloody brilliant one. In fact, you can take the word of the original Ghostbusters, or OGs, if you will. Dan Aykroyd responded today to the Ghostbusters lady-cast announcement and his reaction is pretty darn heartwarming: "The Aykroyd family is delighted by this inheritance of the Ghostbusters torch by these most magnificent women in comedy." D'awwwwww.

But as much love as there is for this new crew of paranormal butt-kickers, there are plenty of sexist naysayers out there. As soon as the news hit, there was a flurry of, "BUT WON'T THEIR PERIODS ATTRACT GHOSTS!?" and "How can they save humanity if they're busy shopping!?" all over Twitter and some deep dark places of the Internet I dare not go. Ugh. There are even some dum-dums out there who think it will tank BECAUSE the cast is all-female. And to that turd, I say to you: "Adam Sandler's career over the last decade."

ADRIAN SANCHEZ-GONZALEZ/AFP/Getty Images

Thankfully, the wonderful OGs can help put these backwards, tired ideas to rest with their overwhelming support. Not only does Aykroyd feel great about this casting news, referring to it as, "beautiful news," so does Bill Murray. Heck, Murray even guessed half of the cast back in September when he commented, "Melissa [McCarthy] would be a spectacular Ghostbuster. And Kristen Wiig is so funny — God, she’s funny! I like this girl Linda Cardellini a lot. And Emma Stone is funny. There are some funny girls out there."

Two out of four ain't bad, Murray. And if there are any dudes out there who still think women taking your precious roles (because there are so FEW roles for men in Hollywood), I double dog dare you to say it to one of the OGs. Or McCarthy. Or McKinnon. Or Jones. Or Wiig. Oh, was that you going to hide behind nasty troll comments? I thought so.