More headcanons: when things are slow in the bustin’ biz, Patty leads walking ghost tours that are chock full of obscure historical information and then offers everyone a chance to join her book club online to find out even more after the tour.
New headcanon: Patty has connections. All sorts of connections.
The other ladies aren’t sure how she knows so many people or how many favors she holds in order to get all sorts of obscure equipment or access to generally inaccessible places (because oy the paperwork with Homeland Security is a nightmare and it’s always easier to ask forgiveness during the cleanup), but she always seems to “know a guy” (or girl) and stuff just happens.
It turns out there’s no real secret – everyone just really loves Patty and loves to hook her up with stuff because she’s one of the nicest, friendliest, most-considerate people they know. Those kind of genuinely lovely people are just human magnets for favors and friendship.
Okay but just imagine young Patty Tolman growing up in NYC and going to some crappy public school but she loves to read and gets exciting about all the things she reads (and she’ll read anything) but her peers pick on her for being so weird and excited about “stupid” stuff and then puberty hits and she’s all a foot taller than anyone, so she learns to kind of hide her intelligence and love of learning because she’s already an easy target due to her size.
And maybe she comes from a family background where college is expensive and not exactly expected and because she’s not poor enough she doesn’t qualify for much student aid and because she went to some crappy public school she can’t get a scholarship. So she finds a job that allows her to keep reading and learning and takes online classes but gets so distracted by all the different classes she can take that even though she has hundreds of hours of credit, she still doesn’t have the certain set of credits required for a specific degree.
But she doesn’t care because learning and experiencing new things are much more fulfilling than some piece of paper.
Then eventually she becomes a Ghostbuster and later on Erin discovers what a crapton of classes Patty has taken and realizes that she’s just missing some gen-ed science requirements to complete her BA, and the three PhDs are like “no worries we got you” and Erin uses her connections with Princeton to get Patty an Individual Study credit for Science thanks to her hands-on experience in the scientific exploration of paranormal studies.
And they all go to Patty’s graduation ceremony and there’s a moment of awkwardness because her uncle is still annoyed they lost his hearse, but everyone’s so proud of Patty that bygones are bygones, especially when they convince Homeland Security that no really it’s important for them to buy a new fleet of hearses because it’s that’s the only vehicle the undead will be contained in, yeah, that’s it.
Then everyone goes out to Patty’s favorite restaurant to celebrate and Erin is already trying to convince her to get her MA because academic prestige is still very important to Erin so she assumes it’s important to everyone else, and Holtz shows off some new invention to the awe and amazement of all of Patty’s little nieces and nephews and cousins. Abby engages in a very serious discussion with Patty’s uncle about where to find the best Chinese food in the city while her mother still sighs over the fact that her daughter left her cushy MTA job to join these crazy white girls hunting for something that does’t exist and making a fool of their family on national television (all the while being secretly proud that her daughter graduated with full honors).
But Patty’s favorite restaurant is also one of the most haunted places due to it’s notorious history as a speakeasy in the 1920′s-30′s, and suddenly the ladies find themselves bustin’ some gangster ghosts. Patty’s mother still isn’t impressed, and just wants know if ghosts give pensions.
It’s the best day the women remember having in a long time, though, and Patty’s niece, who also loves to read and inherited her aunt’s height, can’t stop talking about what happened, asking her aunt a million questions, so Patty tells her to never be embarrassed about her body or her intelligence and to do whatever it takes to get a scholarship and go to college. Then she secretly sets up a college fund from whatever earnings she makes from bustin’ (which isn’t a lot, being subsidized by the government and all).
When Holtz finds out, she digs around in her pockets and shoves a fistful of whatever cash she has towards Patty, telling her to add it to the fund, since she also remembers being the awkward one that everyone picked on and knows that mentors are important. Then all the ladies decide to set up an official Ghostbusters scholarship and Patty’s niece becomes their first intern.
The other ghostbusters are scientists, right? They’re there because Science!, or maybe in Holtzmann’s case because Boom!. Basically all the plot has to do for Abby and Erin is dangle the chance to do real, replicable science in front of them while removing any excuse to drag their feet. So tangible ghost + fucking fired = done.
But Patty’s not a scientist. Patty’s got a decent job, even if it’s obviously not what she wanted out of life. Patty’s motivation appears to be that she’s basically just a good person and responsible citizen? I mean, obviously she wants some excitement, and to feel like she’s making a real difference, but seriously.
We first see her stuck in her little booth, trying to be cheerful and positive at commuters who appear largely indifferent, until one guy comes along who’s clearly having some sort of mental health crisis. She stays pretty cheerful, she’s kind to him, and then she gets out of her booth and goes looking for him when he disappears and she reasonably assumes he’s in trouble.
Like, she could very easily have called it in and washed her hands of the situation. It’s not her fault/problem that maybe the transit cops won’t get there in time to help if this guy’s suicidal or delusional. I’m pretty sure people doing her job aren’t even supposed to leave their booths on-shift. But no, she gets out and goes after this bro just in case.
And meets a ghost. A terrifying ghost. Who scares the dick out of her.
I mean, what happens in the Aldrich Mansion? The tour guide tells his boss, who goes to Erin. Then they stay as far as possible from the scene while the women investigate. Patty goes herself, on her own time. Maybe her bosses didn’t believe her, maybe she knew she’d be dismissed and didn’t bother trying to explain what she saw, but she knows something’s up, and she takes it on herself to do something about it. And then she goes back to the scene of the haunting with them, to see what happens.
Every time they turn around, she’s handing them useful facts and history about the sites they’re investigating. Her interest in the city is keen and backed up by extensive knowledge. Hell, when she runs into something that shouldn’t be happening and she can’t explain, the first thing she does is head for the likeliest source of expertise to learn about it. She’s excited by it–it’s scary and maybe dangerous, but it’s new and interesting and she wants to figure it out.
Like, Abby might want recognition on top of that, and Erin so desperately wants to be believed that she risks the scientific mission for a shot at it, but Patty just wants to fucking know.
And she feels a genuine duty to help, too.
She might not be able to build a ghost-blasting plasma-cannon, but she
notices when a teammate’s mood is in the toilet and takes steps to
address it. She knows the ghost-booster isn’t supposed to be in her
subway, and that this is important. When things get ridiculously dangerous, and city hall’s smearing their names in the press, and she’s still not getting fucking paid for this, she never even looks tempted to say fuck this shit and go home. Her little monologue about going back to her booth is more to soothe/trick the ghost standing on her fucking shoulders than sincere.
Patty’s first instinct is to pool resources, and look after people, and encourage everyone to bring what they’ve got to the table. She might be disappointed or angry when nobody meets her halfway–the concert crowd drops her, and nobody acknowledges her compliments when she’s in her booth–but it doesn’t stop her from bringing her A-game. When the squad rolls out to save the world, it’s wearing her uniform and driving her car.
Just Patty Tolan, everybody.
All of this is perfect.
Also, it’s really important that Patty constantly acknowledges how terrified she is during everything that happens in the movie, but she still keeps going and she still fights the ghosts.
Unlike the rest of the group, she isn’t used to paranormal activity, she hasn’t been waiting for years to prove all of this ghost stuff true, and everything about it scares the shit out of her, but she never lets her fear stop her from helping people. She goes after Rowan because she’s worried about him, she slaps the ghost out of Abby and saves Holtzmann from falling out the window despite being absolutely terrified, and she squares off against ghost!Rowan to save Kevin because she cares about him, she cares about keeping people safe. Even when she wasn’t a Ghostbuster, she cared about keeping people safe.
The Obsessive Dilettante 