The first trailer for the new Ghostbusters film was released today and you can watch it below. The trailer is mildly promising, less because of the jokes featured (the majority of which are pretty predictable) and more because of the talent assembled on-screen.
That said, once you get past the fact that all of the Ghostbusters are played by genuinely funny women, you’re left with what appears to be another film about three super smart white women and their sassy black friend. Watching the trailer, it’s hard not to notice that the three white women are all scientists while the only black woman works for the transportation authority and, of course, has a relative who is an undertaker. The trailer’s final moment, with Leslie Jones slapping a spirit out of Melissa McCarthy, is obviously meant to be a big crowd-pleasing moment but it feels more like a case of racial caricature. It certainly feels far more stereotypical than anything that Ernie Hudson was ever required to do or say in the original Ghostbusters.
(Then again, Ernie Hudson really didn’t have much to do or say….)
I mean, seriously — would it have killed them to make the black woman a scientist too?
Through the Shattered Lens 