Read this: Turns out a bunch of the bad guys in ‘80s movies were actually right
Many heroes featured in ‘80s action and comedy movies encapsulate a Reaganesque flavor of American exceptionalism: the maverick cowboy with authority problems. Take Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman, one-fourth of The Ghostbusters. The movie opens with him flirting with a student volunteer while simultaneously torturing another. Venkman has zero respect for his customers, coworkers, or government agencies. And we love him for it, because he’s funny and charming. In fact, we love all of the Ghostbusters, not just despite the fact that they are a bunch of bumbling idiots recklessly following their own dream, but because of it. In contrast, William Atherton’s Peck is a bit of an ass, but we mostly hate that he’s smothering individualism with all of his concerns about environmental damage. Concerns that are the primary function of his job. He’s neither funny nor charming; he’s the enemy of funny and charming, and we hate him, despite his good intentions.