0.3
September 29, 2008

Sequels! A Reason to Stay Optimistic. [Ghostbusters, Predator…Thundercats!]]

Look: as Waylon has just commented upon, some of you out there may be hurting quite a bit from the Bailout Bubble-Bursting. Some of you, not all of you. As it appears, many of us are actually quite happy about it. That does not, however, mean that people aren’t at least a little bit scared of what’s going to happen. Admittedly, I am one of them, but there is still something out there that lets us all know that someday we may yet look at these days as being some of our best.

Here’s a hint:

SEQUELS!  SEQUELS!  SEQUELS!

Yes, it has been confirmed!  Ghostbusters 3 is going into production! This may not be news to some of you, and it may not be important news to most of you, but I believe remakes like this are important!

Nothing confirms that everything is going to be OK than a constant reaffirmation of the good-that-was.  Nothing says “the good old days” like a remake, or a sequel to a once-thought long dead franchise.  Now, you chuckle!  You might think this is irreverent, and it sort of is.  I’m an irreverent person, but that’s due to a couple things: one is a chemical imbalance, and the other is a unique perspective on the meaning of world events.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s why sequels and remakes matter, and why they strike me as being so essential to understanding that things are eventually going to be OK.

If you remember when Ghostbusters and Predator originally came out in the 80’s, we were in a recession and people were feeling desperate for some kind of escape. There was strife on the global level while the Soviet Union collapsed.   I was only 7 years old when the 1980’s ended, and by the end of that time we had entered into a conflict in the Persian Gulf.  Just like today, a lot of people were upset, saddened, maybe paniced about their financial situation, and feared for their future.

But man did they have some good movies.

Somehow, when we think about those movies, like Ghostbusters, or E.T, some Holywood Producer says “those were made in the good old days, in the ’80s.  We need to remind people of times like that durring hard times like these.”

And that’s okay!  When we look back on the 80’s I bet most of us remember those good times that we spent going to popcorn movies and watching awesome Saturday morning cartoons.  (Transformers, Masters of the Universe, Centurions, and My Little Pony were my personal favorites).  They become so much a part of good memories that they are incorporated into almost every comedian’s arsenal of cultural references. We laugh, part because it’s funny, but also part because it reminds us of something that made us happy.

Today was not a good day, but in 20 years or so, I am probably going to forget it and just remember the good things, because we can’t allow ourselves to forget these things: Good popcorn movies, Saturday Morning Cartoons, and the funny things we used to wear on our feet.  There’s going to be someone in 20 years to talk about how stupid it is to make a sequel to “Sex and the City”, and how retro my popped collar is, or how it’s so obvious that the movie studios are out of ideas because they are going to make “Gargoyles” into a live-action movie.  There will still be people there who care about that kind of thing, we’ve gone through worse before, and the pundits are still here.

So, let’s be of good cheer, and I’ll see you at the opening day for Ghostbusters 3.

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