Winston Zeddemore (portrayed to perfection by Ernie Hudson) had no reservations when he entered the Ghostbusters’ New York firehouse headquarters to inquire about their job posting. Asked by their receptionist Janine (Annie Potts) if he believes in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trance mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis, Winston famously responded, “If there’s a steady paycheck in it, I’ll believe anything you say.” That’s stereotypical of a Black character, isn’t it?
Created by Dan Aykroyd and the late Harold Ramis, 1984’s supernatural comedy classic Ghostbusters introduced the world to a number of memorable characters, none more cherished than its main ghost busting heroes. Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr. Ray Stantz (Aykroyd), and Dr. Egon Spengler (Ramis) were endowed with all the technical knowhow and historical textbook references to battle rouges of the spirit realm.
When Winston came in off the street he brought every-man sensibility to the team.
Remember Winston’s words to Ray after the film’s villain Gozer nearly ended their lives with violent beams of lightning? “Ray, when someone asks you if you’re a god, you say YES!”
Winston’s personality and relevance was further fleshed out during another memorable scenes. In it he and Ray discussed the biblical ramifications of their increased workload as they drove across the Brooklyn Bridge the night before their rooftop showdown with Gozer.
Stereotypically, Zeddemore would not have survived the events of Ghostbusters.
Black characters + ghouls and ghosts = Black characters die first, right?
Winston bucked the trend, proving pivotal in their victory, living on to continue their spook-vanquishing adventures in ‘86s popular animated television follow-up The Real Ghostbusters (the character voiced by Arsenio Hall) and the hyped up ’89 theatrical sequel, Ghostbusters II.
Winston Zeddemore’s no different than the rest of us. We all want to get paid for our work and live to tell about it. |THIS
[Written by Mr. Joe Walker | Follow THIS on Twitter @THISENT1]
