11.03.2008

The EPA as a Villain in Ghostbusters?

I had a great Halloween on Friday, and my friends showed up and we drank champagne and ate pumpkin pie! Also, we decided to put on Ghostbusters, since it was the only movie I own relatively relating to Halloween. And as we watched, someone remarked that it was really strange that the villain (other than the puff marshmallow guy) is the EPA regulator.

At what point in history did protecting the environment become cool? There must have been a turning point since 1984 that moved the EPA from villain to hero. Environmental regulation and protection has become a mainstream cause of support!

And why was the EPA guy so pompous and elitist? Most people I know who support the EPA are tree-huggers! (Or at least that's the stereotype!)

Granted, the Ghostbusters were trying to protect the city from dangerous paranormal activity, but they were also collecting ghosts and storing them in a non-tested, non-verified area.

But why is the EPA guy just such a pain in the ass?

6 comments:

  1. I work for the EPA and was wondering the same thing...!

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  2. I never considered him so much a villain, but more of a plot device. The containment unit had to be shut down somehow. If it had simply exploded due to shoddy workmanship, I think that would have detracted a bit from the heroism and underdog quality the movie pushes for with the main characters. As for the EPA being bad guys, no... Peck just happened to be a jerk. It's not the organization. It's the guy.

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  3. I suppose the FCC would have been a better choice for realism, since Peck thought they were frauds, but they needed a way to shut off the storage facility, and the FCC wouldn't do that. There are many ways to let the ghosts out, but this way you don't have to blame the heroes.

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  4. hes an ass because they needed someone to "fight" against Peter which worked out perfectly and why not a previllian to the main villian Gozer

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  5. Yeah, I agree with July 17th's post. We're watching it right now and I can't think of any reason to use the EPA that isn't political. They wanted to use New York to make a movie, I think the producers were sucking up to someone in the administration. Here's a related article:
    http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n28_v9/ai_13183511/

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