History Headscratchers / Ghostbusters

*** Yeah, you'll notice that we never see them bust Fiorella [=LaGuardia=]. All he did was show up and have a long chat with the current mayor. He wasn't into wreaking havoc, and as a result we never hear of him being contested.

** Based on context Slimer is a vapor cloud with some humanlike features rather then a fully humanoid boud, a vapor, hes not the result of a person dying and leaving a psychic imprint, non-temrinal, he shows up again and again over the hears, repeating phantasm, and hes able to go where he likes but tends to return to one specific haunt, full roaming and focused repectively. The class thing is more technical and related to types of ghosts rather then strength.

** This troper was under the impression that the ghosts from the first movie are different in nature from the ghosts of the second movie. The ghosts from the first movie (minus the Librarian) were all or mostly interdimensional beings or spirits who enter our dimension due to Gozer's increasingly weakening the borders between dimensions due to its imminent visit, whilst the ghosts from the second movie were indeed spirits of the dead resurrected due to Vigo's influence (probably as a dark magician was also a necromancer and knew how to bring back the dead, needing their energy for his purposes). And probably this troper is not the only one who thought that as it was mentioned in the commentary of Ghostbusters 2 by the guys of WebVideo/RedLetterMedia. Therefore the busting of the ghosts from the first movie were not so much avoiding dead people to move on as traping dangerous trespassers. On the second one that's another issue (but as mentioned before there's nothing preventing ghosts from moving on to the next realm while inside the unit).

** This troper was under the impression that the ghosts from the first movie are different in nature from the ghosts of the second movie. The ghosts from the first movie (minus the Librarian) were all or mostly interdimensional beings or spirits who enter our dimension due to Gozer's increasingly weakening the borders between dimensions due to its imminent visit, whilst the ghosts from the second movie were indeed spirits of the dead resurrected due to Vigo's influence (probably as a dark magicians was also a necromancer and new how to bring back the dead, needing their energy for his purposes). And probably this troper is not the only one who thought that as it was mentioned in the commentary of Ghostbusters 2 by the guys of WebVideo/RedLetterMedia. Therefore the busting of the ghosts from the first movie were not so much avoiding dead people to move on as traping dangerous trespassers. On the second one that's another issue (but as mentioned before there's nothing preventing ghosts from moving on to the next realm while inside the unit).

** This troper was under the impression that the ghosts from the first movie are different in nature from the ghost of the second movie. The ghosts from the first movie (minus the Librarian) were all or mostly interdimensional beings or spirits who enter our dimension due to Gozer's increasingly weakening the borders between dimensions due to its imminent visit, whilst the ghosts from the second movie were indeed spirits of the dead resurrected due to Vigo's influence (probably as a dark magicians was also a necromancer and new how to bring back the dead, needing their energy for his purposes). And probably this troper is not the only one who thought that as it was mentioned in the commentary of Ghostbusters 2 by the guys of WebVideo/RedLetterMedia. Therefore the busting of the ghosts from the first movie were not so much avoiding dead people to move on as traping dangerous trespassers. On the second one that's another issue (but as mentioned before there's nothing preventing ghosts from moving on to the next realm while inside the unit).

*** Also, come on. This is absurd. The movie is unarguably pro-capitalism, but to suggest that it takes place in a pure unfettered Reaganite wet-dream is just pure ax-grinding. There is clearly a regulatory framework at play in this film, and it is clearly supposed to be set in more-or-less "our" reality, it just stretches things so that the heroes can operate as all stories do. We can critique the politics of the movie without going to ridiculous extremes about it.

** it’s really nothing like the police arresting criminals. For a start, most criminals are eventually set free.

* ''Headscratchers/GhostbustersAfterlife''

* I know Ray Stantz said to Peter Venkman, "Don't move it won't hurt you.", when staring at Slimer. But why didn't Peter Venkman RUN when Slimer came after him? Ray's advice be damned. Peter wasn't exactly trapped in a Dead End and could have easily turned the corner right behind him. Taking a few steps back then just standing there screaming is not exactly escaping a slime bath.
** He was paralyzed with fear. Apart from the librarian, that was the first ghost Peter had ever seen, and this time he was all alone with it. He just lucked out in that the ghost happened to be, well, Slimer.
** Run where? Slimer is clearly faster than any human being ''and'' can pass right through solid matter. Where could Venkman possibly hide from him?

* When Venkman and Peck first meet, why didn't Venkman just show Peck the containment facility? If it was just Peck and Venkman, no cops or electricians, Venkman could have just bullshat his way through explaining that it was safe and Peck would have a much harder time convincing anyone else that he had probable cause to prosecute.
** Because while Peck might have a point about his concerns about the containment facility, Peter ''also'' has a point that this guy has no right -- legal or general -- to suddenly appear in his life and start arrogantly throwing his weight around making demands and threats. Plus, considering how Peck later shouted down the Con-Ed guy who was also making noises about how it might not be safe to shut it down, chances are showing Peck around might have strengthened his convictions to get everything shut down; he's not exactly an open-minded guy.
** The novelization states that Peter was exhausted from multiple shifts of ghostbusting and lost his temper.
** In addition, Peck is apparently not aware that "magic word" means "please" until explicitly told so. Even then, his tone of voice when he says "please" doesn't exactly scream "polite and considerate". Peter likely thought that he was an asshole and there was no reason to humor the guy whatsoever.
** While Venkman probably could / should have just bitten the bullet and let Peck take a quick look (if only to get him off their backs for a while), Peck doesn't exactly conduct himself in a way that's calculated to win Venkman over. Chances are, had the EPA sent around a pretty woman, or even just a more reasonable guy who wasn't a total dickhead, Venkman would have had no problem showing off the containment grid (or at least would have probably framed his refusal in a more diplomatic, less confrontational way). His issue seemed to be more with Peck being a pompous jerk rather than opening up the Ghostbusters facilities to inspection.
** Even in the film, Venkman is clearly exhausted and in no mood to put up with bull. His coping mechanism for stress is humor, and Peck turns out to be the perfect target for Peter's brand of jerkassery. And Peck isn't the kind of guy to respond well to that, and takes personal offense. And of course, Peter was highly offended by Peck right off the bat. "Exactly what are you a doctor of, ''Mr.'' Venkman?" Not using a person's proper salutation is a really good way to get on their bad side, and Peter wasn't about to take Peck's dismissal lying down. As has been pointed out, if Peter had been in a better mood, had Peck been less of a jerk, the whole thing could have been settled amicably (well, up until Peter got to the unlicensed nuclear accelerators, at any rate).

* The question always bothered me: how did Vinz Clortho know "the signal" would have been the release of the ghosts from Ghostbusters central. Could he read the future ?!?
** No, you're misunderstanding it completely. He didn't know, in advance, that the signal would be that exact event. He was waiting for a signal, any signal, which would mean Gozer was returning. I'd say the huge plume of ghosts exploding out of one place and going on to rampage throughout the city can be pretty easily interpreted as such a signal.
** When he's talking to the horse, he says something like, "Soon all our prisoners will be released," which could only refer to the containment unit. Maybe if Peck hadn't shut it down, the ghosts would have escaped soon anyway.
** Maybe he ''could'' read the future. However incompetent Gozer may have been (his servants certainly were--judging from Vinz's antics with the horse and at the firehouse, and that Zuul didn't even seem to recognize Peter was the same man who'd just said he wasn't the Keymaster or understand what he was doing since she (?) let Peter inject Dana, they had the intelligence of dogs or less as well as the appearance), he was still a god. Deities tend to have divinatory powers, and one who was summoned periodically to destroy a world would need to be able to see the future to know when the time was right and all prophecies/rituals had been fulfilled.
*** To be fair, the fact that Zuul can't tell that Peter is the same guy who just said he wasn't the Keymaster may not indicate incompetence so much as foreignness. Remember, Zuul is some sort of demon-dog from another dimension. When they were still in dog form, could you tell the difference between Zuul and Vinz Clortho? They probably can't tell the difference between human beings either. They may also have a different sense of time, so from Zuul's perspective, the fact that sometime after a human who said he wasn't the Keymaster left, another human who said he was the Keymaster arrived. Did they look alike? Well, all humans look alike to them. How much time passed? Hard to say, time passes differently here. They also might not exactly know who the dominant species on our world is. The horse was larger and in front, so maybe Vinz just assumed that he must be the one in charge.
*** Also, the demon-dogs possess people. For all Zuul knew, Vinz Clortho could've jumped Peter the second the door was shut and taken over his body.
** New theory - Zuul was told to wait for Clortho, Clortho was told that he had to find Zuul and that the sign would be a pillar of light and that "all prisoners will be released." However, he didn't know the context - the containment field being shut down and the ghosts busting loose. He knew ''what'' would happen, just not where or when it would happen.

* One thing that's bothered me since I was a kid: how do the busters ''avoid'' crossing the streams? Have you '''seen''' those things? I'm not even sure how they ''aim'' with the beams lashing every which way.

*** Agreed. They are made of ectoplasm, a spiritual substance formed from powerful emotions. Much like the constructs from GreenLantern, most of the ghosts can be thought of as just wild animals formed from concentrations of emotions in an area. Given that they are made of powerful emotions, they probably act to increase powerful emotions in the area in order to feed. And what's a powerful emotion? Fear.

!!Specific films: