Science & Tech Quote by Ivan Reitman

Reitman’s sneaky flex here is that he’s reframing his “high-concept” comedies as science fiction without the genre’s usual chrome-and-lasers costume. “Junior,” “Twins,” and “Dave” aren’t sci-fi because they’re about spaceships; they’re sci-fi because they smuggle one impossible change into an otherwise recognizable world and then watch social reality wobble. A man gets pregnant. Two genetically engineered brothers exist. A random guy is swapped in as the President. Each premise is basically a lab experiment run on American normalcy.

The intent is partly defensive, partly proud: a way of saying these movies weren’t lightweight “star vehicles” so much as controlled detonations of a single speculative idea. Reitman is also drawing a line around his own brand. “Beyond Ghostbusters” matters because “Ghostbusters” is the one title that gets automatically filed under sci-fi/fantasy; he’s insisting the rest deserve similar credit, even if they look like mainstream studio comedies. That’s a bid for seriousness, but it’s also a wink at how arbitrary genre labels can be when marketing decides the shelf.

Subtext: the real special effect in Reitman’s filmography is the audience’s willingness to accept a ludicrous premise as long as the emotional texture stays familiar. These movies work because they treat the absurd as administrative. The joke isn’t just the impossibility; it’s how quickly institutions, masculinity, family, and power try to “manage” it. That’s science fiction’s core move, delivered with a sitcom smile.