It’s a dark day for the world’s beleaguered male gender. Again. The Feminazi overlords at Sony have released a horrifying video of what appears to be actor Chris Hemsworth forced to play a buff hunky character who is sort of an idiot in the upcoming Lady Ghostbusters.
I have pasted this video in below. Make sure you are sitting down before you watch it.
Generally, that’s more comfortable, though there are people who swear by that whole standing desk thing. I haven’t tried it. Seems like it would be tiring.
But before you click play on the video, be prepared for some truly shocking footage as Kevin, the dude played by Hemsworth, appears to be somewhat less than competent at his job as a buff, hunky administrative assistant wearing somewhat tight clothing at Lady Ghostbusters Inc, specifically when it comes to answering phones, getting coffee, graphic design, and knowing what the company he works for actually does.
It’s a terrible fall from grace for Hemsworth, who has previously played roles as a buff, hunky dude in tight clothing, only he’s like cool and stuff. I think he was Superman, maybe? Man-Spider? The Batsman?
I’m not really up on that stuff.
In any case, men everywhere are protesting this terrible insult to their gender. And by “everywhere” I mean in the comments on YouTube, which are generally thought to be representative of sophisticated male opinion worldwide.
“This movie needs to fail hard so this sort of stereotyping can die,” says wonderboy2402, widely considered to be the wisest of all in the wonderboy2400 series.
“I though this movie was about equality,” ossander ken added.
Actually, just FYI, the movie as I understand it is about a team of ghost containment specialists — ghost “busters,” if you will — tasked with “busting” numerous ghosts in a short period of time. Maybe you’re thinking of Suffragette?
ohnjohnson, meanwhile, asks the question that is on everyone’s mind:
So, the only reason they keep him around is because he is hot. How is that not sexist or mysogonistic or just stupidity.
How is that not!?
George Hernandez also raises an important question:
So make the only main male role in the film a dumb air head but we say the film isn’t funny and we’re the sexist? That’s some bullshit
“I didn’t care about this film but seeing this made me mad anyways,” HandsomePagan reported.
Patrick Laceholder, already struggling with a not-very manly last name, lamented
It feels like these people who usually work on R-rated films are trying to appeal to the dumbass crowds so they throw in the awkward American hollywood humour and think it’ll work.
It is indeed shocking to see American hollywood humor used in this way in an American hollywood comedy film.
Stanley13579 was simultaneously concerned for Hemsworth and mad at him:
Chris Hemsworth deserves better. I hope he’s at least getting a fat paycheck for being a tool to help Sony sell their cynical product.
“MUH DIVERSITIES” added KarmaAce00.
michael white offers a different sort of critique:
Oh and P.S. Drinking coffee like she did after he drank out of it then kinda spit into it is by no means sexy or funny.. It’s fucking disgusting..?
Actually, I have to take a teensy bit of an issue with this. While not sexy — I’m not sure why it would need to be? — it actually was sort of funny. Maybe even more than sort of funny.
OK OK OK I confess. I thought the whole thing was funny. The original trailer was a bit of a letdown for me, but this is giving me more hope that the movie will actually be worthy of its great cast.
Angry dudes: I’m not sure how you’ve managed to miss this, but comedy regularly involves comedians and comic actors deliberately making themselves look like idiots.
Sometimes it involves men making themselves look like idiots.
Sometimes it involves women making themselves look like idiots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llnKogJtpT4
Sometimes both men and women:
Sometimes comedy plays with stereotypes and is funny. Sometimes it just reinforces stereotypes and while this is often not so great, comedically or otherwise, sometimes it can actually be funny too.
For comedic actors, the best roles are often the ones in which they make themselves look like the biggest idiots. Who was the most idiotic character on I Love Lucy? (HINT: Her name is in the title.) Who was the star in I Love Lucy? (HINT: Her name is also in the title. Because it’s the same person.)
Anyway, dudes, relax just a teensy weensy bit. Men are so overrepresented in movies these days, as protagonists and as supporting characters, that it’s still kind of seen as a big deal if two women characters in a feature film have even a single scene in which they actually talk to one another about anything other than a man. And lots of movies fail that seemingly rudimentary test.
And so, if you can’t stand Chris Hemsworth taking a comedic turn as an inept administrative assistant, if the very thought of it makes you mad or sad, it’s possible that your head is so far up your own ass that, well, I mean, that can’t be very enjoyable, your head up in there. It’s sort of disgusting to think about, really.
Anyway, angry Ghostbusters-hating dudes, if you’re concerned about people thinking men are a bunch of ridiculous idiots, one excellent way to fight this perception is to STOP ACTING LIKE A BUNCH OF RIDICULOUS IDIOTS.
Or not, I mean, I find you guys entertaining. I mean, not Flight-of-the-Conchords-level entertaining, but not bad.
The only thing about the Ghostbusters clip that really bugs me is that Sony decided to release it on Administrative Professionals Day. And that’s really kind of patronizing as hell. If most film heroes were Administrative Professionals that would be one thing, but this, not so cool.
But that’s a reflection on Sony’s marketing department, not on the film itself, which I’m sort of starting to actually look forward to again.
H/T — Thanks to @jamesjdominguez for bringing this to my attention!
Man I don’t even care what the whiny manbabies are crying about this time. Everything I see about this movie makes me more excited for it and this is no exception. Kevin is precious! And I love the reversed dynamic of a sweet guy who really wants to be “part of the gang” when the gang is a bunch of badass ladies. Hemsworth is a great actor and this looks like a fun role for him.
I have no real opinion on the new Ghostbusters film but I’d be interested in people’s thoughts on a related issue.
Huey Lewis brought a copyright suit in relation to the original theme song. I’ll pose the survey question: if you were the judge would he have won?
http://youtu.be/7Jb9wR9re5c
Well, that looks more interesting than the previous trailer. This may actually turn out to be one of Chris’ more interesting roles too, as I was totally unimpressed by any of the Thor movies. (Fell asleep during both of them.)
Still more dignified than his appearance in Vacation.
@Alan
It’s funny that you brought that up. My father is a huge fan of Huey Lewis and the News. Before I’d ever heard of him threatening legal action I always joked that they sounded kind of similar.
Sitcoms especially depend on the trope of the loveable idiot. God, Friends had two of them, a gender-matched set of Phoebe and Joey (though I’d argue Joey was the dumber of the two). We love these characters because, even though they’re total goofs and their bad decisions often drive complicated plot shenanigans, they’re funny and nice and likeable.
As an aside though, how is it fair that Chris Hemsworth is also really good at comedy? Dude, you’re already a fair actor and staggeringly gorgeous. Leave some talent for the rest of us, you greedy bastard.
I was kinda meh on this film from the first two trailers (though I always loved the “It’s a Cadillac!” line) but this new video has made me genuinely interested in seeing it. I’m still not sold that it’ll work – the kernel of what made the original a classic was a tight script seasoned with well-contained ad libs, and Feig, McCarthy, and Wiig are all veteran improvisers, which is great but maybe ideal for the Ghostbusters vibe – but I have real hope now.
I spent hours after watching this remembering the coffee scene and bursting out laughing. That’s a quality joke. 🙂
Chris Hemsworth, icon of male pride and achievement? Looking at some of the characters Hemsworth has already played, they’re hardly intellectual titans, and the quality of his movies is a mixed bag to say the least.
I’m generally not fond of the Affable Idiot trope (I dunno if it’s an official TVTropes entry or not, but it probably should be); usually, I end up spending too much time wondering why the other characters are still tolerating this fool. However, I think Helmsworth has the acting chops to pull it off.
With the exception of wordplay, comedy is always at someone’s expense somehow. That’s the definition of mockery. It’s damn near impossible to have humor without it.
It’s also telling that they act like feminists are overreacting for being critical of media representation, but when a typically feminine trope is applied to a man just once suddenly it’s a crisis and an insult to their gender. And the reaction to strong competent female leads is “a woman not portrayed as totally useless?! HOW DARE THEY!”
Oh, David, David, David – surely you know by now?
If a woman is visible and not doing something one of these dudes finds sexy, then what is the point of her?
Women PAID to be visible and not doing what pleases his boner… well, that’s kind of theft, if you think about it.
Golly we need a sarcasm font.
It’s not like this is the first time a movie has contained a pretty but stupid guy. It’s just usually not in a context where the women characters are the main focus and the ones with the power. That, plus the fact that it’s a remake of movie with a male cast is what’s pissing them off. How dare a well known franchise not only be recast with women but cater to the female gaze as well!? Oh, the horror!
I love it.
Dear KarmaAce00,
Are your diversities hurting you? Have you considered seeing a doctor about this?
I’m with this guy! It’s about time that the “admin assistants are just hot but useless dudes for their female bosses to ogle” stereotype to come to an end! Did we learn nothing from 1980’s classic 9 to 5, a workplace farce starring Robert Redford as a secretary and routine sexual harassment victim of his boss, Bo Derek?
“Mysogonistic.”
SPELLCHECK IS MYSONDRY.
Mr. Hemsworth was actually pretty funny when he played Thor, too (although a lot of that is the writing, the he is good at that whole fish-out-of-water part, too). I realize comic-book movies aren’t everyone’s bag here, but I found him pretty enjoyable overall.
Still not particularly excited about this incarnation of Ghostbusters, though. It’s going to take more than handsome Chris Hemsworth to get me to forget about that first trailer. This will definitely be a “streamer” on one of my regular services for me.
They’re complaining about this not being ‘equality’ because they still think that’s the only reason the movie is being made. To appease the annoying feminists. So this will just feed into their already ridiculous belief that this is what feminists believe – men are all incompetent bafoons. Had this movie starred all male GBs these complaints wouldn’t exist, but would no doubt switch to ‘Why isn’t the secretary a female? Fucking feminists!!”
Y’know, Hemsworth looks like he was having fun with the role, and the rest of the main cast is having fun working with him. I see no problem here. Perhaps my ladybrain needs a reboot. Perhaps Hemsworth simply is enjoying being in a Ghostbusters movie. Perhaps he was delighted to have a chance to play something other than brooding and/or heroic.
I will say, I’ve never found him attractive before this. I know that objectively, as Thor, he is someone that would be considered attractive by lots of people.
But apparently, take away some of the bulk and add glasses and I get it now.
Anti-feminists are always accusing us of only caring about first world problems, unlike the real misogyny happening to other women in third world countries.
Yet, they’re all upset about this? A female recast of Ghostbusters? Chris Hemsworth playing a himbo?
I was just reading yet another article about former congressman Denny Hastert who has been in the news for months since it came out that he sexually abused several boys when he was a wrestling coach and then paid them hush money. This was something of an open secret, apparently. A lot of his colleagues knew he was a molester and just didn’t care. This is something MRAs could actually talk about. This is a big deal and pretty awful.
So I decided to check and see if there was anything on AVFM about it. There certainly isn’t on the front page. There is something by Paul Elam about “changing her emotional diapers” which appears to be how women in relationships are crazy and the poor menz have to put up with them. There’s also an article with the name of a doctor who performs circumcisions in the title. And something asking if feminism can exist and concluding it can’t.
On to the men’s rights subreddit. Maybe they care about a man in power getting away with victimizing boys? Nope! There was a lot about how every time a woman accuses a man of rape, she’s lying. Unless of course, she’s white and the rapist is Muslim. Same old, same old. I searched the subreddit for Dennis Hastert and the only hit I got was a post about how awful Hillary Clinton is and the mention of Hastert is because he claims she said people can’t be trusted to make decisions, government has to do it for them. Because a molester who buys his victim’s silence is someone you can trust!
Disgusting. They don’t give two shits about boys being abused. Not if there’s not a woman to blame. Not that I’m surprised or anything, but I’ve got a few hours to kill before work so I thought I’d do this little project.
Sorry for the off topic. It’s just that reading about the stomach churning Hastert case and mantrums over feeemale Ghostbusters simultaneously really set me off for some reason.
They remind me of thin-skinned totalitarian dictators who pitch flaming fits and start beheading people if an image of them fails to be sufficiently flattering and noble. How dare anyone portray MEN as MERE PEOPLE!!
@Alan – That’s an interesting question. I still remember my immediate reaction as a teenager when I heard the “Ghostbusters” theme: “Hey, that’s a direct ripoff of that Huey Lewis bass riff!”
Legally, I don’t know how similar two songs have to be to win a copyright suit. Popular music can be pretty restrictive as far as song structure and “allowable” chord changes. (12 bar blues is even more restrictive: I-IV-I-V etc., and there’s hundreds of songs based on that progression. Then again, folk and blues are open source and have a looong tradition of borrowing or outright stealing.) Two songwriters are bound to hit the same changes every now and then. Paul McCartney used to say the most difficult part of songwriting was making sure you hadn’t accidentally rewritten a standard. In fact, he was reluctant to finish “Yesterday” because it had come so easily to him, he was convinced it had already been written by someone else.
However. Apparently, the producers of Ghostbusters originally wanted Huey Lewis to do the soundtrack of Ghostbusters, but he was busy working on Back To The Future. They approached Ray Parker Jr., showed him a film clip with “I Want A New Drug”, and told him that was the vibe they wanted from the soundtrack. Ray Parker evidently took them at their word, and produced a song with a nearly identical bass groove and guitar. So I would definitely say, as a layperson, that there’s a strong case for plagiarism. *bangs imaginary gavel* Guilty!
MRA activists should just say: “We hate girls and any movie which has girls in main roles is [ewwww, bad, awful, a disaster]”.
It’s not like the new Ghostbusters movie is a documentary. It’s just a comedy — probably a silly comedy. I’m sure Hemsworth had a blast filming it and will be in all of its sequels. I didn’t watch the original movies so I will skip this one.
@WWTH, I have for awhile now thought about starting a blog about actual men’s rights problems like you’re mentioning. It’d be an interesting experiment to see how many of the less fervent MRAs would shed their misogynistic skin when given the opportunity to actually help men.
(Naturally, it would be a feminist blog, but wouldn’t actually use the word – wouldn’t want to scare off the more timid mensers)
I don’t actually have time to do it, but I think it’d be interesting to try to pitch something like that, if for nothing else than to try to peel the MRA hate machine down to its core and reduce its ingress.
@ buttercup & eyesontheright
Well, the people have spoken. Guilty M’lud.
I seem to recall the case settled as these things so often do. It’s usually about convenience and costs rather than arguing the merits. There’s obviously no formula for deciding these things. It’s very much a subjective decision really. How similar do they sound? And are both songs different enough from the standard fare in the genre for it to matter.
Paul McCartney had a very valid point. David Bowie was successfully sued by the corporation that bought his early back catalogue for writing something too similar to his previous work. Songs do sell better though if they sound like something people think they’ve heard before (even if they’re not an actual rip off). It’s one of those weird psychological quirks. I committed a bit of a faux pas by referring to Nirvana as “one of the best Killing Joke tribute bands” not realising I was talking to Nirvana’s manager, but I think that’s why they were so successful with fans of KJ when they were breaking through.
I know it’s not very mature but this made me laugh so hard I snorted.
Because men are not usually expected to be cute, dumb ornaments to their offices. Only women. Gee, could THAT be why this isn’t sexist? And why it IS funny? Because, y’know, reversal of traditional, expected roles and all that. Don’t tell me all you male supremacists don’t secretly (or not so secretly) dream of having a brainless beauty queen as YOUR “office assistant”, whose only real job is assisting your boners…
Also, pro tip: “mysogonistic” isn’t a word. Use your dictionary. And learn what a question mark is, and stick it on your questions so they don’t fall like flat thud statements. It’s not misandry to learn to write like a coherent person.
Nope…it’s the truth, and you can’t handle it. And that makes me laugh even harder than seeing some hunk in the role usually reserved for the “dumb blonde”.
Blowhard, PLEASE. I’m a brainiac, was always in the top of my class throughout school, and *I* laugh at this goofy shit like a loon on the lake. Just because you were born humorless and dull doesn’t mean the rest of us have to be.
Oh, don’t worry about that…he is, and he’ll be making so much in residuals when the theatre run is over that you’ll bawl your rheumy eyes out just thinking about it.
Misaaaaaandry!