Ghostbusters co-stars Melissa McCarthy and Leslie Jones have already addressed the explicitly harsh (and, yeah, biased) opinions held about their new, yet-to-be-released film, and now that film’s director, Paul Feig is elucidating on his already expressed disappointment. Since the movie was announced in 2014, it’s been an upward battle for Feig, as he continuously defends his decision to implement (gasp!) an all-female cast.
At the Producer Guild of America’s annual “Produced By” conference, Feig spoke on the matter saying, “We still get called, in the press, a ‘chick flick.’ We are never not referred to as the ‘all-female Ghostbusters,’ which makes me crazy.” (Sorry, Feig.)
Feig explicitly addresses the exhaustion of having to continuously oust the backwards and boyish opinion that their movie is less than because of the sex of its cast members. “It was my idea to do it all-female. I wanted to do an origin story and I thought the best way to do it was by doing it with the funniest women I know,” the director says. This is not Feig’s first time fighting for representation, as this is his fourth film with female leads.
Excessive criticism and misogynistic opinions are unfortunately expected in 2016, but in April the trailer for the movie became the “most-hated” trailer in YouTube History. Such a drastic response is a powerful reminder that the film industry is still a boys’ club, and that the patriarchy is still firmly in place.
Regardless of the unwarranted response, it’ll be interesting to see Feig’s take on the classic, because it’s a hard film to live up to, regardless of the actors involved. Ghostbusters hits theaters July 15th.
Watch the newest trailer here.