Tell Him About The Twinkie.
I originally wrote this in February 2014, right after the passing of Harold Ramis. It was posted very hastily on my old blogger account. With the release of the new Ghostbusters movie I wanted to re-share it.
In 1989, I went to the cinema for the first ever time. The memory of this night is naturally a bit hazy, since I was around four years old, and the full accuracy of it is up for debate. But I do have memories of this night, and found evidence of it in a diary my mam wrote at the time. It was the night when my Dad took my cousins and I to see Ghostbusters 2 (which he denies all knowledge of doing). Anyway ...
I spent the first half an hour cowering into my dad's lap and the other half staring, mesmerized at the huge screen and men in jump shoots with lazer beams. I shrieked as a bathtub tried to eat Dana's baby. Laughed as Slimer drove a New York bus. And cheered when the 'busters took down the treacherous Vigo. It was one of the most exciting and defining moments in my life.
After that day, I practically dedicated my life to the film medium and gradually became obsessed with comedy, writing, directing, acting, you name it. Most importantly, I became addicted to Ghostbusters.
Bill, Dan, Ernie and Harold are my version of the Beatles. That's why I received the news of Harold Ramis' passing yesterday with a heavy heart and great sadness, but also with fond reflection.
Ghostbusters has been one of the constants in my life. I can attach every important stage of my life and development to the franchise, and it means something different to me in each of those stages. It was the excitement as a child. To laughing at the jokes with friends as a teen. And even studying the intricacies of the film as an art form as an adult.
I own the film on every format possible (three times each on DVD and blu-ray - edit it 2021 - five times on blu-ray now), the soundtrack on vinyl (twice - three times if you include the second movie), t-shirts, toys, figures, film cells, posters, computer games, bed covers, backpacks, lunchboxes and so on (2021 edit - I also now have my own cosplay outfit). I even created my own set tour when I visited New York, including Hook and Ladder 8 and Tavern on the Green. But more importantly, I studied the film, picking it apart, noting down the jokes, deliverance of lines, the character development, use of music etc. Ghostbusters is a masterpiece of comedy film making in every area. Writing, acting, directing, FX, just to name a few. It was the inspiration for the direction I have taken as an adult - for whatever that says about me.
I still remember when I first saw the original film. My mam rented it from the 'video man'; a guy who would drive around with video tapes (the ones in those huge boxes) in the boot of his car. We were a weekly customer of his. I recall being surprised that there was another Ghostbusters film, and also feeling confused - Stay Puft the Marshmellow Man was a bad guy? But he was good in the cartoon I'd just watched. Where's Murray the Mantis?
We rented both films so much that one day the video man knocked on our door and told my Mother to just offer him a price and we could have them. Apparently we were hogging them all of the time. I still have the rentals, with the tip-ex/white-out code on the side.
Like any young boy at the time, I had the toys, the firehouse, the Ecto1 figure, the Mantis Beatle car and the Proton Pack etc. My cousin gave me his Ecto1 and we glued Dupolo pieces and bits of plastic to it, along with stickers from my Dads caravans to transform it into an Ecto1a. It looked phenomenal. My uncle also recorded the theme song onto a tape, and filled it up on a loop - I'd drive him crazy playing it over and over again. My plan was to even play it at his funeral when he passed ten years ago. I know he would have enjoyed the joke because he liked to bring it up to me often - I wasn't going to allow him to escape it that easily.
Even as I grew up, I tried to break a quote into a conversation whenever I could, and I wrote the script for my own version of Ghostbusters 3 over and over again. I was thrown out of a university lecture because I mentioned that Ghostbusters was my favourite film (during a class about Italian Neo Realism in the 40s). And when I was asked what my future plans were after being released from Metro Radio, I answered, "I'm taking the next few months off and spending the redundancy money on making my very own proton pack." That didn't happen, sadly. But I still have the schematics and plans that I downloaded from a GB props website. I have joined websites, message boards and still visit sites like Proton Charging on a daily basis. On my 25th birthday the local independent cinema also showed the first film at midnight. It was as if they knew.
You get the point. I was, and I am obsessed.
I think it's fair to say that Ghostbusters is Dan Aykroyd's baby first and foremost. He is the heart of the franchise, sure, but it wouldn't have become what it did without the involvement of Harold Ramis. One just has to read the original Ghostbusters script, with its awkward jokes and often long and rambling scenes. Although the heart was still there. Aykroyd created the concept and laid the plans - Harold Ramis, and to a degree Ivan Reitman, honed and executed it. They made it funny and quotable, and most of all they made it somehow relatable and at times poignant. Then Bill Murray and the supporting cast (Annie Potts, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson, SIgourney Weaver etc) arguably pushed it into legendary status.
I am forever grateful and appreciative of the franchise, and more so Harold Ramis' part to play in it. Bill Murray was always my on screen favourite, but secretly, Ramis shared that mantle for his off screen contribution. It was as if I was subtlety nodding to him every time I watched it. The film became the launching point for my interest in his career; his talents and legacy far surpass his work on Ghostbusters. As I got older, I started to explore behind the scenes of my favorite films and studied the works of their writers, directors, producers and actors. I quickly became amazed at the versatility and consistency of Ramis. I began to read articles, watch interviews and study his films. He was a true comedy all-rounder and I wanted to emulate that. Harold Ramis became my first major inspiration. He did it all.
It was upon discovering Ramis' work on Second City TV that finally convinced me to drop out of my first University degree and dedicate my life to what I truly loved. I still remember finding clips of him alongside John Candy on a late Friday night in my dorm and just being amazed, laughing hysterically. And it carried over. When I decided to direct my first film during the final year of my degree (the one I stuck with), I put on Stripes and watched the making of documentary. Then I watched Groundhog Day and listened to the commentary, using Ramis as my tutor. And low and behold, in the middle of the film, Ramis begins to talk about his role as a director. It was exactly what I needed to hear. In some strange way he was always there with something to show or say that has aided me in my career (if I ever actually do anything it, I'll thank him).
Ramis has left enough behind to carry on his legacy, but it's still strange to think that he's gone and unable to impart any more wisdom and advice. It's making me incredibly sad but also very grateful. He always came across as extremely humble and full of joy when being interviewed. He always appeared to live by the idea of 'we' rather than 'me.' He was always for promoting younger talent and collaboration. which is refreshing in Hollywood. He understood his role as a Hollywood filmmaker, once saying: "As much as we'd like to believe that our work is great, and that we're infallible, we're not. Hollywood movies are made for the audience. These are not small European art films we're making." He had no issues carrying the Hollywood stigma that many have tried to shake off and devalue. It didn't prevent him from saying something in his films and being proud of his work either.
This may come across as a soppy, over emotional and indulgent piece. I just didn't realize how influential Ramis has been in my life until I was given the time to reflect. It's only reinforced the fact that we have lost a very creative and important person in the film and comedy industry. It's wonderful to see so many across the world open up and pay their respects to him. Social media has been bittersweet these past few days.
I'll be watching my Harold Ramis film collection this week. I'll watch Ghostbusters a few times, of course, and I'll say thank you. Wherever you are, say hi to John Candy and Peter Falk for me, I'm sure you're all having a blast. Tell them about the Twinkie.
I'll finish with a quote from a Ramis interview on the show Storytellers in 2002. It is great advice for everyone to follow, one that I felt summed up his career and character.
"You have to live your life with a certain blind confidence that if it's your destiny to succeed at these things, it will happen. If you just continue to follow a straight path, to do you work as conscientiously and as creatively as you can, and to just stay open to all opportunity and experience. There's a performing motto at Second City...to say yes instead of no. It's actually an improvisational rule…It's about supporting the other person. And the corollary to that is if you concentrate on making other people look good, then we all have the potential to look good. If you're just worried about yourself—How am I doing? How am I doing?—which is kind of a refrain in Hollywood, you know, people are desperately trying to make their careers in isolation, independent of everyone around them.
And I've always found that my career happened as a result of a tremendous synergy of all the talented people I've worked with, all helping each other, all connecting, and reconnecting in different combinations. So…identify talented people around you and then instead of going into competition with them, or trying to wipe them out, make alliances, make creative friendships that allow you and your friends to grow together, because someday your friend is going to be sitting across a desk from you running a movie studio."
Goodbye, Harold Groundhog Day Ghostbusting-ass Ramis. You'll be missed.
