- TV Show
- Rated PG
- Reviewed by Kit
The following are out of 5
Racial Representation: 5
LGBTQ+ Representation: 0
Disability Representation: 5
Body Size Representation: 5
Gender Representation: 5
Socioeconomic Representation: 2
Mental Health Representation: 0
Religious Representation: 3
Own Voice: No
Extreme Ghostbusters is the sequel spinoff to The Real Ghostbusters focused on a new generation of Ghostbusters-in-training after the original team disbanded. The protagonists: Rowland, Kylie, Eduardo and Garret, are college students who sign up for a paranormal studies class taught by Egon, who’s reluctantly retired from Ghostbusting. When spirit activity starts to pick up for the first time in a decade the new team are abruptly thrown into their new role of protectors of the city. The plot is surprisingly dark and mature with strong character chemistry and some well-done aesops. Extreme Ghostbusters is one of the earlier kid’s shows to take a stab at being diverse and going against stereotype rather than having single shallowly-written tokens and it’s aged gracefully in that regard. None of the protagonists are copy-pastes of the original team. Rowland, the awkward but multi-talented resident technology prodigy is Black (subverting the franchises problems with underutilizing black characters) and Eduardo, the supposedly uncaring hanger-on who secretly cares deeply about his teammates and downplays his range of unexpected skills is Latino. Kylie, the morbid, gothy, and sardonic paranormal expert, avoids all the token girl clichés common in female cartoon characters of this era. She’s never forced to feminize herself and while she has romantic tension with Eduardo, she’s not reduced to a love interest role. Garrett, the team heavy who is completely immune to angst and fear, is one of the best disabled characters to appear in any cartoon ever. His disability in simultaneously a realistic limitation and not a barrier to being an active team member. There is an episode focused on racism and anti-Semitism (one of the better cartoon bigotry aesops) where the new Ghostbusters help to protect a synagogue from a group of neo-Nazis. In a refreshing twist of how these things are treated in fiction when Rowland senses hostility from the group before the acts of bigotry start, he’s shown to be right instead of him being seen as over-sensitive.
Sources:
Diversify the Media Narrative 