It's hard to miss all the talk about money in Ghostbusters. We hear it on the small scale with the Ghostbusters spending most of the movie scrambling for cash to spend, and the tax accountant Louis Tully bragging about his savings on generic Tylenol.
On the larger scale, we see big whopping symbols of overblown commercialism like the corporate mascot Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, who tromps through the Upper West Side, wreaking havoc like Godzilla. While nobody is going to label Ghostbusters as a political satire on the excesses and disparities of 1980's America, the financial concerns of the nation are on full display.
Questions about Wealth
- What is the purpose of all the money talk in Ghostbusters? How does it comment on the time in which it was made?
- What are the biggest symbols of commercialism in the movie?
- How does the fact that the Ghostbusters are a for-profit business affect their status as heroes?
- Which characters are most closely connected with the quest for money?
Chew on This
The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is a symbol of the crushing power of corporations and capitalism run rampant.
The filmmakers made the Ghostbusters a private business to ground the movie in the common concerns of the decade.