Semi-obligatory Ghostbusters post

So, confession time: I may have seen the original Ghostbusters movie maybe once, a long time ago. I don't think I've ever seen any of the others. I probably remember more about the Ghostbusters references in a Daffy Duck cartoon than I do the movie itself. Clearly, I'm not really the world's biggest fan.

At the same time, I recognize that it's a Big Deal, especially with the new movie coming out. My husband is a huge fan of the original franchise, up to and including the cartoon. (I didn't even know there had been a cartoon until he mentioned it.) So when news about the new movie kept cropping up online, he was concerned. Not because it was an all-female cast, thankfully; he was more concerned that this was being billed as a reboot, rather than a continuation. Still, he remained cautiously optimistic, and we went to see the movie yesterday.

Considering our respective histories with the original franchise, our reactions to the new movie were a little surprising. His first response was "It's not a good movie, but neither was the original, and it was fun." Mine was "I need to figure out how to make a proton pack so I can cosplay as Abby." I had found my fandom, and I jumped in feet-first.

Now, I agree, this is not the best film in the history of film. Then again, I doubt very much it was aiming to be. It wasn't just fun - it was fun that wasn't at the expense of anyone's weight, gender, sexual orientation, or overall appearance. It was fun that wasn't mean. The older I get, the less comfortable I am with media that serves only to punch down.

The dialog came across as realistic, maybe just because some of those conversations are the kinds I have had with my friends and family before. I'm half-certain that the Patrick Swayze tangent is one that my mother and I have had at least once. The woman are trying to get things done for a variety of reasons, not least of which being "to save the city". They aren't catty at each other, or seeing each other as competition - they realize that each has a strength, and that working together is going to be much more effective than working separately.

What I'm saying is, I'm a fan. There's a lot going on here that just makes me happy, and I look forward to seeing it again.

Comments

Wanna Hear Me Talk?

I mentioned in my last post, but now I'm doing the official promotional thing. I'm going to be doing a couple of presentations at the Flights of Foundry convention next weekend! Specifically, I'll be doing a game demo for Rolling Realms on Saturday, September 28 at 1pm Pacific. On Sunday, September 29 at 3pm Pacific, I'll be doing a panel presentation on copyright and public domain basics; finally, also on Sunday, September 29 at 5pm, I'll be on a panel sharing my handwork (specifically my crochet, cross stitch, and blackwork) with a few other fantastic people. This is my first time doing this kind of presentation, and so I'm a wee bit nervous. Still, I'm super excited, and the fact that it's all online means that I'll at least be in my home, and the cats may or may not make an appearance on camera. So! If you're interested in what's looking to be a fabulous online convention (that's FREE!), come join us next weekend!

Calm Your Mind with Needle and Thread

I was fortunate enough to be able to host a workshop at GeekGirlCon last weekend, which went extremely well. My friend Erin was in town for the convention and was kind enough to co-host the workshop with me, which worked wonderfully because she was able to answer some questions that I didn't know how to answer, and also keep us on time (she's a professor, so she's experienced with dealing with classrooms full of people). I thought it would be a good idea, for my own benefit if nothing else, to document the first part of the workshop, which was a talk about embroidery and mental health. I've made the PowerPoint and list of resources available on a separate page of this blog ( here ). I don't know about you, but the last few years have not been especially kind to my mental or emotional health. I discovered early on in the pandemic that going back to something I learned when I was a child, cross stitch, was something that could help ease my anxiety and give me somethi...

Hope is a Four-Letter Word

I've been bouncing around with this for the last few weeks, ever since I read a couple of quotes from the book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. The book overall had some interesting ideas about reframing the idea of trying to get everything done. Even though there were a couple of things that made it clear the author was not approaching things with an eye toward neurodivergence (his discussion of distraction, for example, only talks about the "choice" to be distracted, and not how some people's brains simply don't focus the same way others' do), I was feeling generally positively toward the book until I got to the last chapter, and read this: "Hope is supposed to be 'our beacon in the dark,' [environmentalist Derrick] Jensen notes. But in reality, it's a curse. To hope for a given outcome is to place your faith in something outside yourself, and outside the current moment - the government, for example, or ...

Search This Blog