Was Ghostbusters Meant as a Defense of Victorian Optimism?
ashleycruseturner.substack.com
Betteridge’s law of headlines dictates that when an article asks a question, the answer is never yes. Is this case, perhaps, an exception? No. Deep thinker as Harold Ramis was (see Groundhog Day), Ghostbusters was almost certainly not meant as a defense of Victorian optimism, but the comedy certainly works well as one. Faith in the explanatory power of science and the wealth creating potential of capitalism defined Victorian society. Meanwhile, the scientific class’s growing confidence in its own ability to categorize the universe characterized the Victorian era as an age of doubts about God. The film’s main characters hold similar attitudes. Science and free enterprise may merit better champions than an autist, a con-man, and a fool (not a god, after all), but the titular ghostbusters eventually vindicate these principles in the face of a threat of biblical proportions.
Was Ghostbusters Meant as a Defense of Victorian Optimism?
Was Ghostbusters Meant as a Defense of…
Was Ghostbusters Meant as a Defense of Victorian Optimism?
Betteridge’s law of headlines dictates that when an article asks a question, the answer is never yes. Is this case, perhaps, an exception? No. Deep thinker as Harold Ramis was (see Groundhog Day), Ghostbusters was almost certainly not meant as a defense of Victorian optimism, but the comedy certainly works well as one. Faith in the explanatory power of science and the wealth creating potential of capitalism defined Victorian society. Meanwhile, the scientific class’s growing confidence in its own ability to categorize the universe characterized the Victorian era as an age of doubts about God. The film’s main characters hold similar attitudes. Science and free enterprise may merit better champions than an autist, a con-man, and a fool (not a god, after all), but the titular ghostbusters eventually vindicate these principles in the face of a threat of biblical proportions.