Gender Swap Reboot, Film Consumption and Social Activism in Ghostbusters (2016)

In this paper, the authors will try to better understand the phenomenon of gender swap film reboots by offering insight into why gender swap films are made in the first place, their purpose, and the role they play in Hollywood regarding gender equality and diversity. Since most gender swap reboots are adaptations from well-known franchises, it could give a new perspective and dimension to the story by telling it from the viewpoint of different genders. We assume that gender swap reboots were made to diversify movie casts by having female actors replace male actors and normalize the idea that women can do the same things as men. To prove our hypothesis, we will use a literature review and Netnography. In our study, we discovered that a handful of internet personalities and fans alike reject the idea of Ghostbusters (2016) because it has a different image from those they knew, which we argue is due to the gender swap factor itself. On the other hand, social activism also interplayed with gender swap phenomenon.