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Apr. 5th, 2014
No Love for the Underachiever
Apr. 5th, 2014 07:34 pmThanks to, ah, recent events (Miss you, Harold), I fell down an odd rabbit hole fueled by a Mack truck representing my childhood, and ended up both heavily rediscovering the cartoon "Real Ghostbusters", and coming nose to muzzle with Peter Venkman who, in the cartoon was hilarious and extremely good looking.
In an online culture where video game characters, WB minks, and Little Ponies are crushed upon and loved up every day, I think I fall in line perfectly. I have my cartoon crush. <3
After doing more research, however, the poor dude really got the short end of the stick in a lot of areas, and from what I've been able to find, he's not that popular or well liked. Not even the writers were as interested in him as the other 3. In a behind-the-music styled documentary on the Real Ghostbusters, everyone talks very fondly about why they love writing for each character. But Peter (or just "Venkman" as everyone referred to him) is just politely glossed over, and his segment is more of a eulogy for the late Lorenzo Music.
Out of all the characters in the show, Peter's the least interesting and least pleasant. He's not as bizarre as Egon, as enthusiastic as Ray, or as down to earth and sensible as Winston. He's not as determined as the other three, he's a bit of a slacker, and most of the things that come out of his mouth are derisive in nature. He's emotionally stunted, and rarely thinks anything through before doing it. He's not particularly good at anything (though he's quick to brag about his doctorates and role as a scientist when he's trying to get attention).
The only things he had going for him were his dry wit, and hilarious one liners, and Lorenzo Music's memorable voice. But when ABC stepped in, got rid of Music, and softened all the edges to make the show more kid-friendly, Peter lost both of those strong points and wasn't really left with anything to fall back on. The dry wit turned into a weird sense of insecurity with generic, wooden quips thrown in, he lost his feisty confidence, his voice turned into a goofy Bill Murray impression, and he ended up being reduced to something similar to Derpy Hooves. Present, and good for a canned laugh or three, but more or less just along for the ride. (On the bright side, at least his built in, standardized "cute factor" remained in tact. ;))
As far as fandom goes, what little following "Real Ghostbusters" had faded away around 2009 or so. A mixed blessing, since most of the fan produced creations that focused on Peter either had him subjected to horrible emotional abuse, or being something fun for Egon to...uh....yeah. (Side note: I hate slash fiction.)
So yeah. Pretty bumpy ride for Peter, here. But in spite of all of that, I just adore him. I think his design is very 80s and fits in well with bands like Wham, Heaven 17, or Duran Duran. I like his childlike enthusiasm for things he does like (e.g. his fascination for trains), I like how occassionally he'll show a soft spot for kids or the elderly. I like how he really doesn't put up with much, and I like his independant streak.
True, he may be the least popular character overall. But someone's got to show him a little love. Might as well be me. I'm glad I picked him out.
Besides. He'd probably REALLY enjoy the attention. ;)
In an online culture where video game characters, WB minks, and Little Ponies are crushed upon and loved up every day, I think I fall in line perfectly. I have my cartoon crush. <3
After doing more research, however, the poor dude really got the short end of the stick in a lot of areas, and from what I've been able to find, he's not that popular or well liked. Not even the writers were as interested in him as the other 3. In a behind-the-music styled documentary on the Real Ghostbusters, everyone talks very fondly about why they love writing for each character. But Peter (or just "Venkman" as everyone referred to him) is just politely glossed over, and his segment is more of a eulogy for the late Lorenzo Music.
Out of all the characters in the show, Peter's the least interesting and least pleasant. He's not as bizarre as Egon, as enthusiastic as Ray, or as down to earth and sensible as Winston. He's not as determined as the other three, he's a bit of a slacker, and most of the things that come out of his mouth are derisive in nature. He's emotionally stunted, and rarely thinks anything through before doing it. He's not particularly good at anything (though he's quick to brag about his doctorates and role as a scientist when he's trying to get attention).
The only things he had going for him were his dry wit, and hilarious one liners, and Lorenzo Music's memorable voice. But when ABC stepped in, got rid of Music, and softened all the edges to make the show more kid-friendly, Peter lost both of those strong points and wasn't really left with anything to fall back on. The dry wit turned into a weird sense of insecurity with generic, wooden quips thrown in, he lost his feisty confidence, his voice turned into a goofy Bill Murray impression, and he ended up being reduced to something similar to Derpy Hooves. Present, and good for a canned laugh or three, but more or less just along for the ride. (On the bright side, at least his built in, standardized "cute factor" remained in tact. ;))
As far as fandom goes, what little following "Real Ghostbusters" had faded away around 2009 or so. A mixed blessing, since most of the fan produced creations that focused on Peter either had him subjected to horrible emotional abuse, or being something fun for Egon to...uh....yeah. (Side note: I hate slash fiction.)
So yeah. Pretty bumpy ride for Peter, here. But in spite of all of that, I just adore him. I think his design is very 80s and fits in well with bands like Wham, Heaven 17, or Duran Duran. I like his childlike enthusiasm for things he does like (e.g. his fascination for trains), I like how occassionally he'll show a soft spot for kids or the elderly. I like how he really doesn't put up with much, and I like his independant streak.
True, he may be the least popular character overall. But someone's got to show him a little love. Might as well be me. I'm glad I picked him out.
Besides. He'd probably REALLY enjoy the attention. ;)
