The Power of Two!

As of today Fig Tree will no longer be a source for Christian knowledge and exploration. I have found my true calling critiquing movies! I know, I know. There are already a million people out there who give their two-cents regarding cinema. I know my niche'. As a minister, I already over analyze the scripture. It just seems like a natural transition to over to movie reviewing. 

Hopefully, we can make this transition without much fuss. I'm sure everyone is ready for something new. I know I am.

I wanted to start with something beloved by anyone under the age of 40 and hated by anyone over that age. No, I'm not talking about "Return of the Jedi." I'm talking Ghostbusters II. Since the new movie is coming out, and it already looks like, based on the reviews, that one is going to be the worst of the bunch, I thought it would be fun too take a trip back in Ecto 1, (the real one) and discuss an interesting point to the second move: The number 2. 

When I noticed the number two, I thought it was too obvious. Others had to have written on it. After some light research, I found nothing. It is so intentional, I'm sure it's a secret theme in the movie. On the surface there is the obvious call to two: 

The Ghostbuster Logo is making the number 2. They go all in on this, by the way. It's at the beginning of the movie. It's the new sign outside the Firehouse. It's on all of their uniforms. 

Actually, you'll find most things happen two times in the movie. This doubling happens so much, it has to be on purpose.

Oscar is stolen twice in a baby carriage. At the beginning of the movie, Oscar is whisked away in his actual carriage. At the beginning of act three he was stolen by a ghost form of Janosz. (How is that even possible by the way? Did he have an out of body experience? Why did he choose to dress up like a nanny? Yeah, this is one of those shark jumping moments for the movie. Even so, you wanna bet this kept me from getting too close to windows above the 5th or so story.)

Peter has two guests on his television show. Both predict the end of the world. I was first drawn to the overblown use of twos because I chose to watch this movie Feb 14,2016. That was the date the woman gave for the end of the world. 

The Ghostbusters (in some form) are blocked from seeing the mayor, by his assistant, not once, but twice. The first time is right after Peter finishes his show. The second time, the mayor had given them two minutes, and the assistant takes matters into his own hands. Oh, and isn't that another Murray in the second shot. I'd make a bigger deal about two Murrays in a movie, but it's so gosh darn common, I'll add it as a side note here.

We visit the river of slime twice. The first time, Ray is dropped down through an illegal hole from the middle of the ground. The second time they get through by following an abandoned rail line.

The Ghostbusters are arrested and sent to jail twice. The first time was for digging an illegal hole, among other unmentioned charges. The second time, they willfully went to the police and were institutionalized afterwards.

While on trial, two ghosts, who happen to be murderous brothers, burst out of the slime. I might also note, the judge gives two rulings too. First he orders them to jail at Rikers Island, then he overturns his ruling. Also, when we first meet Lewis in this scene, he walks in with two stacks of books.

Ray is mesmerized by Vigo twice. The first time, Peter is taking pictures of the painting. This only leads to Ray being dumbfounded, The second time, the look led to Vigo overtaking Ray's body. Thank goodness for positively charged slime. (Or is it really that Vigo hates singing. After all, he kinda lost control when the New Yorkers were singing in the new year. Also, the positively charged slime took on a life of it's own when music played.)

Although, none of the traditional Ghostbusters ever see him, Slimer shows up twice to Lewis. The first time, he was scarfing down Lewis' food. The second time, Slimer picks Lewis up in a bus to take him to the museum. 

The dome of slime around the museum is hit with power packs twice. The first time by the Ghostbusters. The second time by Louis. Did Louis really help with his proton pack? Maybe. I like to think the poor guy actually did chip in a little.

The Ghostbusters use positive slime to animate an inanimate metal object, you guessed it, twice. Yeah, the slime would have been washed away travelling through the water. Sure, having all of New York see four bozos basically destroy the Statue of Liberty would make them angry, not happy. Still, I loved this scene as a kid.

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This heretical movie screams of dualism. It makes it much more fascinating to watch when you are looking out for the doppelgangers. I purposefully left some of the doubles out. I stopped counting at 14 other dualities. Let us know if you catch them by leaving us a comment. Come on! Don't make me ask twice!