Three Charts Show What 'Ghostbusters' Means For Young Girls

The “Ghostbusters” reboot hits theaters Friday, but it’s already stirred up conversations fueled by nostalgia over the original 1984 version. (And by “conversations” we mean “yelling on the internet.”) In its new form, the film presents Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig armed with proton packs and pseudoscientific knowledge on destroying the supernatural.

The science may not be real ― although director Paul Feig said Tuesday on AOL Build that he wanted to make it as believable as possible ― but it may have a very real effect on young audiences in the hands of lady Ghostbusters. When you think about it, ghostbusting is a STEM (science, technology, engineering or math) career. There are (admittedly outrageous) formulas and rules of physics to back up those portable particle accelerators, and three of the characters ― the ones played by McKinnon, McCarthy and Wiig ― are scientists.