A friend of mine who is a Ghostbusters fanatic — the song was performed on his wedding day — once observed an overlooked theme in the 1980s classic.

“It’s a pretty libertarian movie,” he told me.

My friend is not a libertarian, mind you. But he was onto something.

The first time we get a glimpse of the theme in the movie is after the original three Ghostbusters—Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Dan Akroyd), and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis)—get fired by the university that employed them.