The rise of Donald Trump has been attributed to many things. From “gamers” and “misogynists” to “entitled white men”, political pundits and academics are still searching for answers to explain his popularity.
Two English professors at Lakehead University, Monica Flegel and Judith Leggatt, believe that they’ve figured it out with a paper they’re presenting this week titled “Did Ghostbusters 2016 Lead to Trump?”
They believe they can explain Trump’s surge through the controversy over the 2016 blockbuster failure, Ghostbusters. The academics draw similarities between the overblown “outrage” (which they perceive to be real) over the all-female cast of the ‘80s movie reboot and the aggressive rhetoric of Trump’s many supporters.
In the marketing campaign leading up to Ghostbusters’ launch last year, the film’s director and its studio, Sony, lashed out against fans of the original ‘80s films. When fans expressed their doubts about the premise and the quality of the film following its abysmal teaser trailer, they were instantly called misogynists and accused of disliking the film not for their criticism over its quality, but for hating the all-female cast. Popular movie critic James Rolfe was labeled a sexist harasser for having the temerity to say he had no intention of reviewing the reboot of his favorite childhood film.
Across the aisle, sites like BuzzFeed and The Mary Sue encouraged their readers to support Ghostbusters to “fight the Patriarchy,” beseeching them to buy merchandise and watch it multiple times. It was a pure expression of the commoditization of feminism.
The two Lakehead professors argue that both Hillary Clinton and the Ghostbusters reboot were not given a fair shake.
“In both the case of Hillary and Ghostbusters, they were judged by incredibly different standards,” said Flegal in an interview with TB News Watch. Trump, they argue, escaped unscathed despite the numerous controversies surrounding him due to his gender—whereas Hillary was subject to a months-long investigation around her email server and never let off the hook despite being officially cleared of charges.
“It’s hard to escape the sexism,” said Leggatt, who insists on drawing similarities between the general dislike of Ghostbusters with their embrace of the President Elect. “They believe Ghostbusters shouldn’t be women and presidents shouldn’t be women.”
However, Flegel and Leggatt admit that fans had legitimate complaints over Ghostbusters, and that critics unfairly characterized them as angry nerds.
“When you think of politics more broadly, there were some legitimate complaints from some Trump supporters, but they aren’t listened to because they’re all tarred with the same brush,” said Leggatt of his voters, falling short of countering the popular narrative.
I would posit that the public was more willing to forgive Trump his alleged transgressions not due to his gender, but because he is Trump—a reality TV star and celebrity married to controversy since the ‘80s. Any of the allegations against him would have sunk any other political candidate, regardless of gender. A career politician like Hillary Clinton is expected to display a certain level of decorum—a standard that hasn’t applied to Trump for decades.
If Trump has any privilege, it’s the privilege of being Donald Trump.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.
