The Anti-Religion of Ghostbusters

OK, so maybe I’ve gotten bored recently.

I’m already thinking about Ghostbusters, there’s an angle I never really thought about before: the fact that Ghostbusters is an incredibly athiestic movie.

I mean, let’s get right down to the main premise: three scientists proves that intelligence and awareness continue after death. Something religions and magicians have said for generations, but three scientists (well, two scientists and one slacker) take it from “faith” to “verifiable fact”.

This right here? This would destroy organized religion as we know it. Screw you, “Heaven Is Real” kid, the Ghostbusters have just shown you what really happens when you die. If you’re John Belushi, you haunt the 12th floor of the Segewick Hotel. 

After proving that souls exist, the very next thing they do is figure out a way to capture and contain them. Let me repeat that for you slowly: three scientists figure out how to measure, manipulate and contain human souls. 

There are two entities in the Western canon that can do this: God and Satan. Now, there’re some who would consider that this means that science is on the side of Satan. But what do Venkman, Spengler and Stanz do once they’ve figured out how to contain souls?

They throw ‘em in a goddamn box.

That’s right: we have just created an afterlife.  

This quite literally puts us on the same level as God. The only difference between Heaven, Purgatory, Hell and the Ghostbuster’s containment unit is the location (1980’s era Tribeca… make your own Heaven/Hell jokes here) and the available real-estate.

Like I said: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism… any religion with an afterlife just had a 40 megaton nuke detonated in the middle of it. Only the Shintoists are like “Please, we called this ‘boxing up ghosts’ shit years ago.”

But by the end of the movie, Winston Zedemore points out that maybe the reason they’re so busy lately is because it’s the Apocalypse. Y’know, the one from Revelations. When the dead rise from the grave. And yeah, it’s looking like it’s the end of the world alright with Gozer deciding to blow up the world as a 50-foot tall corporate mascot.

What do the Ghostbusters (again: three scientists and one average joe who work as pest control for souls) do?

They blow up a fucking god. 

The worst thing that happens? Half of Central Park West gets a marshmallow bukkake. God dying literally has less impact than Ron Jeremy at the crafts services table. 

In the rock-paper-scissors debate about the universe, Ghostbusters very firmly states that Science beats Religion.