The Tragic Hero of Ghostbusters

            I love the movie Ghostbusters. I had a proton pack as a child. I dressed up as a Ghostbuster for Halloween. I had a replica of the Ghostbusters firehouse. I watched the movie—a lot, probably far too many times for a young kid. I have devoted much (definitely too much) thought to Ghostbusters and I know believe that the tragic hero of the film is none other than Walter Peck.

            Walter Peck, for those who don’t remember, is a bureaucrat from the Environmental Protection Agency who investigates the Ghostbusters, eventually turning off the environmental protection grid, and ends the film covered in a torrent of melted marshmallow from the recently incinerated Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. We need to examine the clues that the film provides to key us in to Walter Peck’s status as the tragic hero of our story.

The story of the Ghostbusters serves two purposes. First it details the journey of the Ghostbusters from exploited wannabe businessmen to capitalist giants. Secondly it demonstrates the folly of trying to regulate such big businesses. After the soon-to-be Ghostbusters lose their university grant, they decide to establish “the indispensable defense science of the next decade; professional paranormal investigations and eliminations.” They can only acquire the start up cash by using Ray Stantz’s house as collateral. Stantz agrees to take out a third mortgage on the house at 19% interest (a figure that Venkman does not even bargain over). The interest payments alone would amount to $95,000 over the first five years. The bank acted in its own self interest by offering a predatory mortgage to three men who should never have received on in the first place. Clearly the bank expected to profit from Stantz’s overextension of his own credit. They furthermore purchase a dilapidated firehouse, which Spengler wisely notes has, “serious metal fatigue in all the load-bearing members, the wiring is substandard, it's completely inadequate for our power needs, and the neighborhood is like a demilitarized zone.” Yet the real estate agent exploits the opportunity to unload a decrepit property, sensing the Ghostbusters’ desperate need for a place of business. After losing their university grant and before they start their business, the Ghostbusters are exploited by the greedy forces of the capitalist marketplace—forces that hope they will not succeed.  

Once they open their doors, the Ghostbusters become as predatory as those who bet on their failure. They charge the manager of the Sedgwick Hotel five thousand dollars for trapping and storing Slimer, the ghost. This price does not include the thousands of dollars of damage the Ghostbusters caused to the 12^th floor of the hotel and the main ballroom (not to mention the loss of the future business of Mrs. Van Hoffman whose event was ruined by the actions of the Ghostbusters). The Ghostbusters fame soon soars and they dart around Manhattan battling supernatural forces. They grace the covers of magazines, appear on television, and become celebrities in their own right. The exploited have become the exploiters.

            While the Ghostbusters battle it out with some pesky poltergeists, someone must look after the public interest and attempt to regulate this new industry. Enter our tragic hero, Mr. Walter Peck. Peck arrives at the Ghostbusters headquarters and asks, as a member of the Environmental Protection Agency, to view the containment facility for the ghosts. Since the Ghostbusters only trap the ghosts (and not kill them), Peck, wants to see where they are held. Peter Venkman denies Peck entry. Venkman, now a successful self-interested businessman and capitalist, recognizes that Peck represents a threat to the Ghostbusters’ growing and profitable business. So he throws Peck out. Thus Peck’s first attempt to regulate this booming industry fails.

Peck’s further attempts to regulate the paranormal investigations and eliminations business prove unintentionally disastrous. Shutting down the protection grid results in a proliferation of ghosts and other supernatural creatures that terrorize Manhattan. Walter Peck then confronts the Ghostbusters in the office of the Mayor of New York. There he suffers a series of insults from the Ghostbusters about his name and manhood. The Mayor, however, like any callous politician, acts in own self-interest, believing that the Ghostbusters plan of fighting the impending arrival of Gozer the Gozerian will lead to his own re-election. Now that the Mayor has hired the fox to guard the hen-house, Peck is left to wander the streets of New York City. He witnesses the destructive rampage of a gigantic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (conjured from the imagination of Ray Stantz). Peck suffers one final indignity for attempting regulate the new industry. After the destruction of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, through some dubious luck of crossing the streams and the door swinging both ways, Peck endures a cavalcade of marshmallow. The Ghostbusters, due to dumb luck and their own exploitative actions, receive all the credit for saving the city. Meanwhile the man who tried to protect the public, Walter Peck, receives scorn and derision. 

So next time you watch Ghostbusters, remember the tragic story of Mr. Pecker. I mean Peck, his name is Peck.