That’s a pretty nice career you got going there. Be a shame if anything happened to it.
What a farce. Somebody obviously got to original “Ghostbusters” star Ernie Hudson and now everyone is playing along as though someone didn’t find a way to “correct” his thinking.
How else to explain his sudden and dramatic change of heart over the news that women will be taking over the four roles made famous by Hudson, Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis.
In October Hudson declared an all-female “Ghostbusters” cast a “bad idea.”
Just two days ago after the announcement of the all-female cast, in a tweet sent from his verified Twitter account (that has since been memory-holed), Hudson posted a photo of the four female Ghostbusters with a terse “no comment.”
And then … suddenly … less than 24 hours later! Hudson lets out a scream proclaiming the new all-female cast “Phenomenal!”
Hudson tells The Hollywood Reporter, “Four fiercely funny, foxy, females busting ghosts … phenomenal!”
Yep, someone had a caged rat strapped to his face in Politically Correct Re-Education Room 101.
But let’s pretend that didn’t happen and that what did happen is okay in an industry that poses as a booster of free speech, diversity, tolerance, individualism, dissent, and freedom.
Blacklist? What blacklist?
For the record, I’m fine with an all-female Ghostbusters reboot. Let’s not forget that in “Ghostbusters 2” (1989) the original cast failed to recreate the magic after just five years. It’s doubtful waiting a full a quarter-century more would improve things.
Director Paul Feig has as good a chance as any at pulling this off. Overall, I wish this generation of Hollywood would go about the hard work of creating their own icons.
And I really wish I lived in a country where a guy like Ernie Hudson could express an opinion without being predictably muscled into line by The New Fascism.
John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC