Note for readers: At the end there is a very brief mention of suicide and how it gets portrayed in the movie so this is a trigger warning for anyone who might feel uncomfortable.
As spooky season approaches, I’ve been wondering some things: One, why don’t I ever watch scary movies? And two, why haven’t I ever watched Beetlejuice? The answer to those questions is very simple, I have always been too scared to do so. In the spirit of proving to myself that I can do hard things, I decided to give #2 a shot. I tried to watch this movie with my aunt when I was little and could not do it. ThenI tried again as a school assignment in high school and still couldn’t get through it. Something about the talk of the afterlife scared the living daylights out of me. However, in the year of our lord 2024, I am determined. No more living in the shadows of popular culture.
Picture from Pinterest
I want you to first understand why I never watched it. It wasn’t like scary movies were banned in my house or anything like that. My mom actually loved them and would try to get us to watch them with her, obviously I never did, but my sister never missed an opportunity. In my case, I just think I have always been quite scared of everything. I remember running to my room crying after watching Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video, and the voice at the end of it still makes every single hair on my body stand up. I have also never watched Coraline or The Nightmare Before Christmas because of the same reason: FEAR. However, at the beginning of this year, I told myself that I would take some time to face what frightens me, and I thought Beetlejuice would be a nice start to my journey.
First thoughts: I actually loved it! I have no idea what I was so afraid of. I think my favorite part of the whole movie was the few minutes in the beginning when they were alive, though. It’s just a preference of cadence in the style of filmmaking, but I enjoyed the whole movie, nevertheless. This film tells the story of a couple, the Maitlands, who dies in the middle of decorating their home. A new family moves in and starts tearing their home apart because of their eclectic style. The undead couple seek help in the afterlife, but are met with slow progress and bad advice. One day, a TV turns on advertising a bio-exorcist named “Beetleguise” and, in an attempt to make the newcomers run away scared, they enlist his help. The plot thickens when Lydia, the goth daughter of the new couple, forms a “strange and unusual” bond with the undead characters. By the end of the movie, they all learn to live together and Beetlejuice gets a taste of his own medicine.
Picture from Pinterest
I found the characters so fun and interesting. Especially Lydia; she reminded me so much of my best friend Llamaris, who would actually form a relationship with spirits if she knew for sure they had the right intentions in mind. She proclaims herself strange and unusual too, but I see her as the coolest girl in the world. She is different from Lydia in the sense that she has many friends, although she only keeps the really close ones near. Llamaris was actually the person who watched the movie with me so I wouldn’t get frightened. It really isn’t a scary movie, but she still decided to support me as I ventured outside of my comfort zone, and for that I’m extremely thankful. Another character that I found interesting was Juno, the Maitlands’ case worker, a no-nonsense and stern figure that wants to help people as well. I consider myself closer in personality to her. I’m an old soul and I love to help out, although, like Juno, I also don’t appreciate people who aren’t capable of listening or paying attention to me. The rest of the characters were amazing too, I just felt really drawn to those two specifically.
Overall, I really liked this movie. It’s full of chaos and comedy, while portraying well constructed critiques on modern culture and everyday life. In some ways, I felt like this movie depicted an anti-suicide message, especially when its mentioned in the waiting room scene when the Maitlands first get to the afterlife. The woman who checks them in is a victim of suicide and I thought it was really powerful when she said, “If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn’t have had my little accident.” This was followed by her raising her wrists and revealing her scars. Little moments like that make this movie worth watching and paying attention to. I’m really glad I gave this film an opportunity and I’m super excited for its sequel, which came out a little over a month ago. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take me another twenty years to watch that one.