Why Walter Peck was wrong?

[Thebestoftherest]

The proton pack is a particle accelerator, it somehow (SCIENCE!) strips electrons from protons to fire a proton stream controlled by the "wand". The containment unit uses a laser confinement grid which is drawing power from Con Edison to operate. How dare the Ghostbusters use and pay for electricity to run lasers!
Of the two I am way more concerned about the proton pack, it fires a ionizing ray of nuclear particles that is not confined and is probably very hazardous to fire at people. We can see the property damage that being hit by the stream can cause. It is possible that they contain nuclear materials, which is a contamination hazard, but in that event they are likely more of a risk to the people wearing them than anyone else; radiation follows the inverse square law.

That is an interesting point, plus something else that needs to be mentioned is that we see them crossing the streams that blast probably would have blow up a small building at worst, at best the room they happen to be in.

I watched tons of times when I was a kid, both movies in fact, but now that I know the details, I not see the Ghostbusters are underdogs victims of the system, not when they have such powerful and unregulated weapons and basically nuclear reactor in their base, Beck is not the mindless idiot, he actually had valid reasons for his actions the movie treat him like a clown. And all comes to the background to this movie, to the ideology of the director, that he even admit it himself, loved Reagan policies, this is basically Law Abiding Citizen, great if you turn off your brain and not think about the details, that our hero is basically a cold blooded killer that killed some tugs when white collar crime, mostly bank executives kicking down grandmas of their own houses for a penny is the most common crime in the U. S., not petty crime, that is actually going low, and also there is the cherry on top that our beloved vigilante killer worked for the CIA. And never the less that make it justified his actions? Make justified that the District Attorney not make more deals with petty criminals? What about the banks that rob people of their homes, their work and their lives, that basically committed fraud and get away with it? They also wont have a deal?

Don't know the details well enough to know that there's a difference between a particle accelerator and a nuclear reactor. Again dude, the proton packs, that's *proton* pack there's a hint in the name, are not nuclear reactors.

Are they dangerous? Sure, but Peck never goes after them. He fucks with the containment unit which by his own reasoning about why he's there he has no reason to care about.

Maybe because it was a nuclear powered containment unit? That no one oversee and that could be a danger to the city? It pretty sensible why he shut it down. Who wouldn't do that when you have such dangerous device in the middle of Manhattan? Also, as mention countless times before, even that this movie is about ghost, they never acknowledge the consequences of such idea in the social spectrum. Because the director was such a right-winger didnt want to offend his precious Christian religion, imagine that, there is life after death, but is no paradise, you are stuck in this Earth even after you die wondering eternally doing the same thing, over and over, until some guys capture you against your will and put you in a prison for the only crime of being stuck in limbo forever. But the movies never acknowledge that, is all fun and games, until you think about it.

No it wasn't. Nowhere is it ever suggested the containment unit is nuclear powered. If it was, what Peck did was even dumber, cause you can't just flip a switch and shut down a nuclear reactor. There's a procedure, and it takes time and experts to decommission a nuclear reactor.

Like who wouldn't shut it down when it's in the middle of Manhattan? Me, cause I know what happens when you improperly shut down a nuclear reactor. (hint it fucking explodes radioactive isotopes don't have an off switch)

Thank you.

[Beastro]

Because the director was such a right-winger didnt want to offend his precious Christian religion,

His precious Christian religion?

You mean Ivan Reitman's? A Jew?

[Dilandau3000]

Like who wouldn't shut it down when it's in the middle of Manhattan? Me, cause I know what happens when you improperly shut down a nuclear reactor. (hint it fucking explodes radioactive isotopes don't have an off switch)

Although irrelevant since, as pointed out, it wasn't a nuclear reactor, but even a nuclear reactor doesn't normally explode if not shut down properly. Sure, it might meltdown, which isn't exactly good, but a Chernobyl-style explosion is essentially impossible without design flaws and serious mismanagement (and even Chernobyl wasn't anywhere near a nuclear explosion, "just" a regular explosion caused by overheating).

[Thebestoftherest]

Like who wouldn't shut it down when it's in the middle of Manhattan? Me, cause I know what happens when you improperly shut down a nuclear reactor. (hint it fucking explodes radioactive isotopes don't have an off switch)

Although irrelevant since, as pointed out, it wasn't a nuclear reactor, but even a nuclear reactor doesn't normally explode if not shut down properly. Sure, it might meltdown, which isn't exactly good, but a Chernobyl-style explosion is essentially impossible without design flaws and serious mismanagement (and even Chernobyl wasn't anywhere near a nuclear explosion, "just" a regular explosion caused by overheating).

He still should have done some test. That my problem with Keyser argument it basically our heroes might be making a mistake, if this was real we need to do something, this is something we should do it. I feel if it was dangerous they could have done some any kind of test to make sure.

[TrueMetis]

Like who wouldn't shut it down when it's in the middle of Manhattan? Me, cause I know what happens when you improperly shut down a nuclear reactor. (hint it fucking explodes radioactive isotopes don't have an off switch)

Although irrelevant since, as pointed out, it wasn't a nuclear reactor, but even a nuclear reactor doesn't normally explode if not shut down properly. Sure, it might meltdown, which isn't exactly good, but a Chernobyl-style explosion is essentially impossible without design flaws and serious mismanagement (and even Chernobyl wasn't anywhere near a nuclear explosion, "just" a regular explosion caused by overheating).

Right fair enough.

[DoctorWTF]

In the Boogeyman episode they accepted a very lower price than they normally would since it was kids needing help.

Well, that plus the fact that Egon had a score to settle, having been bullied by the Boogeyman as a child himself.

[MafiaKirby]

Sure, when everyone is dead by a nice nuclear explosion in the middle of New York because no one was there to oversee the operation of so called scientist. Who you wonna call? The Ghostbusters.

Even their backpacks are nuclear powered even that is never explain, because conservatives not understand the concept of science or science fiction, they never explain it, because it was never a factor, they never give a shit about science or regulation of any kind.

Yeah, that’s the reason that the director didn’t go into the scientific details. Why didn’t they go call an actual expert in ghost contqa? Darn conservatives...

Remember that weeks before when Chuck was ranting about how science can fall down because pure greed in his Jurassic Park review? When used in unethical and unregulated ways? And now he is doing the complete opposite argument, wow, how consistent, dear professor.

Science can fall down because of pure greed. Bad things can happen because of greed. That does not mean that any person who claims to be trying to reign things in is in the right.

Walter Peck's behavior is not consistent with EPA jurisdiction, not consistent with EPA policy regarding evidence, not consistent with any sort of regulatory training whatsoever, and ultimately not even consistent with his own stated motivation. Your argument seems to be coming down to

1) The director was a conservative and thus would have been motivated to portray a government regulator in a negative fashion.

and

2) The Ghostbusters were doing something that could have had dangerous consequences.

Neither of which prove that Peck was in the right.

Once again, let's use the very unabashed propaganda film "God's Not Dead" for comparison. Like Walter Peck, Professor Radison does a job that is necessary. Like Walter Peck, Radison’s actions are consistent with a stereotype of people in his profession, more than what they are (at least supposed to) do. Like Peck, Radison’s behavior leads to negative effects for him, and for those he is supposed to be helping.

Professor Radison is, undeniably, in the wrong. While there is an exercise philosophy professors use similar to the one depicted in the film, it has nothing to do with getting students to deny religious faith. If Radison were a real person, his behavior would be both illegal and immoral. The fact that philosophy professors exist, and Radison is depicted as being in the wrong because the production team wanted to portray one negatively, has no baring on whether or not Radison is RIGHT. The fact that Pure Flicks is a Christian evangelical film studio doesn’t mean that it’s okay for Philosophy professors to engage in harmful behavior. It means it’s not an accurate portrayal of atheist philosophy professors.

In the same way, Walter Peck may not be an accurate portrayal of an EPA worker, but he’s not therefore a GOOD GUY.

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Let's consider Peck's potential beliefs.

1) The Ghostbusters are using dangerous and illegal chemicals: He claims he believes this because of wild rumors and speculation. This is not enough for Peck to get a court order to permit him to investigate as part of the EPA. It might be enough for him to open an investigation, ask what they have, and perhaps monitor the shipping of chemicals to their premises. But not to shut down their tech.

2) The Ghostbusters are using nuclear power irresponsibly: If that is the case, then he should report that to the NRC, and perhaps he will become part of a joint NRC-EPA investigation into the Ghostbusters. It’s possible that the EPA was chosen because nuclear stuff isn’t his jurisdiction, but Chuck pointed out the equally possible alternative that the EPA was specifically chosen because that’s a group that would have no authority, and the fact that Peck has no authority and knows it is the point.

3) The Ghostbusters are scamming their clients. This would be hard to prove, since Peck would need to prove that not only do the Ghostbusters use a pointless lightshow, they actually KNOW THAT THEY’RE DOING THAT, but even so, that’s not a matter for the federal EPA. That’s a matter for the city’s DCWP (Department of Consumer and Worker Protection) or the state CPB (Consumer Protection Bureau.)



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Because the director was such a right-winger didnt want to offend his precious Christian religion, imagine that, there is life after death, but is no paradise, you are stuck in this Earth even after you die wondering eternally doing the same thing, over and over, until some guys capture you against your will and put you in a prison for the only crime of being stuck in limbo forever.

The Ghosts portrayed in Ghostbusters are not consistent with any form of Christian teaching I'm aware of. Not that I'd expect Ivan Reitman, the Jewish son of a holocaust survivor and a resistance fighter, to be up on Christian systematic theology.


Edit: Also, you're not 'doing the same thing over and over.' There doesn't seem to be a YOU to do things. To be a bit crass here, if you fart and leave the room, and your fart sticks around, you're not still in there farting. That's just gas.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Keyser94, whatever Doylist objections you have to the ideology of the film's creators, from a Watsonian perspective, Peck is still very much in the wrong. Even if we take the premise that the ghostbusters are 100% the bad guys, that doesn't mean somebody trying to stop them is the good guy. Peck is, at best, a reckless asshole messing with some other reckless assholes.

[Robovski]

The containment grid is only nuclear powered in as much as the municipal electricity of New York city is powered in part by nuclear power. There are reactors in the state, and it's not like we've built loads of new ones since the 80's. Here's one that they plan to decommission soon near New York https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Po ... rgy_Center but the Ghostbusters do not have a reactor on-site.

[DoctorWTF]

3) The Ghostbusters are scamming their clients. This would be hard to prove, since Peck would need to prove that not only do the Ghostbusters use a pointless lightshow, they actually KNOW THAT THEY’RE DOING THAT, but even so, that’s not a matter for the federal EPA. That’s a matter for the city’s DCWP (Department of Consumer and Worker Protection) or the state CPB (Consumer Protection Bureau.)

As I recall, Peck specifically claimed that the Ghostbusters were putting hallucinogens into the water supply to make people see ghosts (though that may have been just when they were all in the mayor's office after Peck set all the ghosts free). Which sounds like it would be a matter for the DEA, as well as possibly regular old police. That is, of course, it would be if there were any real evidence beyond naked speculation.