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In Ghostbusters (1984) when Gozer asks the 'busters to

"choose and perish"

Venkman clarifies by saying

If we think of J. Edgar Hoover... .J. Edgar Hoover will appear and destroy us

... so why does the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man appear instead of J. Edgar? I know Ray thinks of Stay Puft but Venkman must have thought of J. Edgar first in order to mention him.

I don't think Gozer would allow a freebie to allow you to understand the question!

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Gozer wanted them to make a conscious choice about the form that it will take, to literally be the means of their own undoing. Merely mentioning J. Edgar Hoover (or in the original script, Puerto Rican Hall-of-Fame right fielder Roberto Clemente) isn't enough. A choice has to be made and an image concentrated upon.

Ray makes that choice and concentrates on that image and hence chooses the form that Gozer takes.

Stantz was intrigued. Sort of like a last request “You mean if I stand here and concentrate on the image of Roberto Clemente, Gozer will appear as Roberto Clemente and wipe us out?”
“That appears to be the case.”
“Wait, wait,” Venkman said quickly. “Don’t think of anything. Clear your minds. Blank ’em out. We get only one crack at this.”

Ghostbusters: Mueller Official Novelisation

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  • Val to the rescue again. I don't read novelised version of films so do they tend to fix plot holes (not saying this question is) and expand on loose threads?
    – Seamusthedog
    Commented Sep 9, 2018 at 19:48
  • @Seamusthedog - The Ghostbusters film is a glorious mess of inconsistency. It has two novelisations, the Mueller one based on the final draft script and then another one (Milne) which was based on the completed film. They're both pretty faithful to the film and neither have a considerable amount of additional detail.
    – Valorum
    Commented Sep 9, 2018 at 19:52
  • @Seamusthedog - In general, for the novelization to come out when the film does, the novel has to be written based on the script, not on the final film. So, there are differences because the script undergoes final changes, and there are differences because scenes are cut from the final film.
    – RDFozz
    Commented Sep 9, 2018 at 19:56
  • @RDFozz - It's quite rare for a second novelisation to be written though. Typically they re-release the original novel (with extra pictures) to coincide with the sequel
    – Valorum
    Commented Sep 9, 2018 at 20:00
  • @Valorum - Depends on the movies. I know the original Star Wars trilogy all had novels, as did at least the first several Star Trek movies.
    – RDFozz
    Commented Sep 9, 2018 at 20:16

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