Last night I was fortunate enough to attend an event at USC where the man himself sat and talked for a little over an hour, answering various questions, and then sat with us as we watched Ghostbusters. It was surreal.
When Ghostbusters first came out, I was too young to see it in theaters, but I knew of it. I got interested in the things that came out as a result of the film, like the action figures, cartoon, and video games. In fact, my closest friend at the time and I bonded over our mutual love of this franchise. It was a thing that brought us closer together, and frankly, ostracized us from our classmates in elementary school.
All of those feelings came rushing back to me last night as I sat there in the theater watching the film for the first time on a big screen. Knowing that Reitman was in the audience as well added something special to it, but for a majority of the time, I felt like I was the only one in there watching it. I was transported within my own mind and heart to a time and place that made me feel young, innocent, and utterly happy. It was an experience that I could not have foreseen in my younger years, something that if you had told a 9 year old me would happen some day I would have thought you crazy and called out for the nearest adult.
Today, I shared this experience with a friend at lunch and after a few minutes of being berated with "where was my invite you jerk!" comments, we both started spouting quotes from the film at random, and laughing heartily at ourselves. It's just a great movie that most people have fond memories of, and I share that sentiment, obviously.
I remember quite a few years ago someone first asked me, what's your favorite movie? I took a moment and told them, Ghostbusters. At that time, they laughed and shrugged it off like I couldn't possibly be serious. Today, when asked the same question and I give that answer, more often than not, I get the approving nod. People finally get it.
