Ghostbusters is in theaters now, and haters gonna hate. But Harold Ramis’ daughter Violet wants to make sure you don’t use her dad as an excuse.
“Harold Ramis would be rolling in his grave” is just one of many variants of the most oft-cited excuses to hate on the new Ghostbusters movie.
Although there’ve been remakes and sequels of almost every ’80s classic — including 21 Jump Street, Karate Kid, Total Recall, and Ghostbusters itself — somehow it’s the all-female comedy reboot that takes the most flack. Imagine that.
With the movie now in theaters, the late Harold Ramis’ daughter Violet Ramis Stiel has penned a powerful letter about her own conflicting feelings about the reboot, taking a stand against the “viciousness and ugliness” of online haters.
In the letter, published on SplitSider, she writes:
“From flat-out rejection of women as funny, to remarks about the actors’ looks, to the invocation of GB84 as ‘untouchable’ and disgust with ‘reboot culture’ generally, I was shocked by the anger and outrage. Are these people for real? I wondered. Sure, the timing sucks, but damn! I mourn my dad’s absence in this world as much, if not more, than anyone, but for people to say that he is “rolling in his grave” or would never have let a female-centered cast happen is INSANE. In his personal life, Harold Ramis was a kind, generous, and gracious person. Professionally, he was always about sharing the spotlight and making the other guy look good. Please, stop using my dad as an excuse to hate the new Ghostbusters. It degrades his memory to spew bile in his name.”
Stiel goes on to ask Ghostbusters fans to be “generous,” and to “make room for all of the visions and interpretations of what Ghostbusters can be.” This sentiment seems highly important — because even if you genuinely think this movie is a bad idea, or if you don’t like it, why not just let it be? Can’t we accept it as an inspiration to a brand new generation, and a reason to rediscover the original, as opposed to some enemy of a static thing we somehow feel ownership over? Ghostbusters belongs to all of us, and the new movie is just one more incarnation of the iconic franchise.
“Resist the urge to hold on so tightly to the past that you choke off new life,” Stiel concludes. “I reserve my right as an almost 40-year-old to mutter about how everything was better when I was young, but let’s let this generation have their own Ghostbusters. Let’s give my nine-year-old daughter a chance to put on a proton pack and feel like a badass.”
“In the spirit of my dad and his love for movies and comedy above all, I’ll be there for Ghostbusters 2016 opening weekend with my kids, eating popcorn, wearing my Egon Spengler tribute pin, cheering on the new crew, and laughing loudly, from the heart.”
Let’s all follow her example and celebrate this new Ghostbusters, and the joy it’ll bring to many new fans. There’s enough hate in the world without us needing to add any more.