People, for a mix of reasons, just don’t want the film, and soon, they get to vote with their money. That’s when we find out if the social media hatred aimed at Ghostbusters will genuinely convert into box office failure. I’ve a sneaking suspicion it won’t, but then, nobody’s been headhunting me to be their box office analyst, and I’d wager that won’t change in the next year.

The truth is that nobody knows with absolutely certainty how this story will end yet.

The Feig Factor

Right now, though, I want to talk about the man directing it. Paul Feig – a man I don’t know, have interviewed once or twice, but otherwise wouldn’t know me from Adam – is not alone in facing flack for Ghostbusters. His core four cast – Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Katie McKinnon – are also firmly in the firing line, and sitting on the end of no shortage of nasty comments. Feig has heavily defended them, rightly, and in doing so, brought another dose of ire onto himself.

I’ve read some of it. Just a flavor, certainly not all. My personal opinion? I firmly believe that no human being should have to put up with what Paul Feig has gone through over the past year or two. In fact, I’ll go further: I think the vilification of another human being for choosing to make a film like Ghostbusters is utterly shameful. If that earns me all the downvotes in the world for everything I ever do, then so be it.

Heck, just over two years ago, the world seemed to generally like Paul Feig. He had given the world one of the finest television shows of all time, in the shape of Freaks & Geeks (naturally enough it was cancelled after one season, but lord, is it still worth seeking out). He’d written two excellent books about his time growing up, that are both very funny and remarkably inclusive tales of a man trying to fit in. And then he’s made some good comedy movies too. Of the three high profile movies that have brought him to the fore of modern day comedy filmmaking (he’d made others before, after all), I liked Bridesmaids, was a bit up and down on The Heat, and loved Spy. All of them were commercial successes, to varying degrees.