Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Introduces A New Wrinkle To The Ghost World
This article contains spoilers for "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire."
In the universe of "Ghostbusters," the supernatural entities take a variety of forms. Most notably, there are Ectoplast creatures like Slimer, Muncher, and Pukey who look like gross-out, cartoonish blobs. A more malicious spirit like Gozer the Gozerian is a Class 7 Deity of Destruction, while the Grey Lady (aka the Library Ghost) is a Class 4 Semi-Anchored Entity. Gertrude Aldridge in "Ghostbusters: Answer The Call" is similar to the Grey Lady, but fluctuates between more of a poltergeist (aka Class 2 or 3 entity, noncorporeal and telekinetic) and a Class 4 Semi-Anchored Entity. And then there's Egon Spengler himself, one of the original Ghostbusters who appeared in "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" in a spiritual form ranging from Class 2 or 3 before fully manifesting as a Class 4 Full Torso Apparition.
This is to say, "Ghostbusters" has played around with the various levels, presentations, and styles of ghosts for the last 40 years, and is still finding new ways for humans to interact with the great beyond. "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" introduced not just one, but two completely new approaches to these groovy ghoulies — technologically and ideologically. When Pheobe Spengler (the heir apparent to the Ghostbusters legacy) is left out of her family's New York City ghostbustin' adventures due to child labor laws, she passes the time hanging around Central Park where she meets Melody, a Class 4 Full Torso Apparition who behaves unlike any of the previous ghosts of this class that we've seen before (including the Jogger Ghost in "Ghostbusters II"). When Phoebe decides this newfound connection is worth taking the ultimate risk, she plays with a bit of Ghost Tech that adds an entirely new wrinkle to the ghost world.
A matchbook romance
Most of the ghosts shown in the "Ghostbusters" franchise are ones that need to be captured or taken out, typically locked up in the Containment Unit storage in the firehouse or defeated completely. In the case of Egon Spengler, he appeared as a ghost long enough to help his family but then passed over. In "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire," Phoebe Spengler describes the process as beautiful, and that passing over involves all of your particles becoming interwoven into the fabric of the universe.
With some ghosts being the souls of the deceased, some being from other dimensions, and others taking on the personified form of events/emotions/ideas/etc., they don't all play by the same rules. Slimer is a ghost but is fully capable of eating anything and everything, kept on Earth by his worldly need to feed. But when it comes to Melody, she's here because she has unfinished business and a small, physically tangible matchbook related to the fire that took her and her family's lives.
Phoebe's encounter with Melody changes her feelings about ghosts in multiple ways. First, when Melody discusses how difficult it is to remain on Earth while the rest of her family has already crossed over, it sparks a bit of an ethical crisis for Phoebe. Is it a good thing for her family and the rest of the Ghostbusters to be capturing and containing these spirits? Or should they be approaching things from a more rehabilitative angle? Not to mention, Melody's connection to the matchbook ultimately serves as the key to how she eventually crosses over, using the flame of the match to assist the Firemaster in his battle against the evil Garraka, who intends on freezing over all of humanity.
But Melody also serves as Phoebe's first real crush, and she goes to extreme lengths in an attempt to connect with her on her own plane as a ghost.
Temporary ghost in the machine
"Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" introduces a new paranormal research center and storage facility in New Jersey run by OG Ghostbuster Winston Zeddemore, which has an extraction chamber that can pull spirits out of possessed objects or even temporarily pull the spirits out of still-living people. There's a two-minute maximum limit, but the machine allows Phoebe to step into the machine and "die" for two minutes, allowing her ghost to physically connect with Melody. Phoebe isn't about to risk her life to hang out with a ghost as just "gals bein' pals," which is all the proof in the world we need that Phoebe's feelings for Melody are serious. Now, this is a wildly dangerous thing for a person to do, but having lived through the experience of being a 15-year-old girl who completely ignores all logic in favor of embracing the overwhelming emotions of falling in love for the first time ... I can't say that I wouldn't have done the same thing. I guess when Ray Parker Jr. wrote the lyric "I ain't 'fraid of no ghost. Ooh, I hear it likes the girls," he was predicting Melody and Phoebe.
This machine is new to us as the audience, despite Phoebe knowing exactly how to use it, but it opens up a totally new area for the Ghostbusters to explore. Once the technology gets better and the machine is perfected, could the Ghostbusters fight spirits in the spirit world? If the two-minute time limit is expanded, couldn't Ghostbusters theoretically match wits with spirits without ever having to interact with them, disadvantaged on the mortal plane? There's no telling if there will be more "Ghostbusters" films moving forward, but if there are, this new machine just ensured the possibilities for ghost adventures are truly endless.
"Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" is now playing in theaters.