Why Ghosts are no Longer the Bad Guys #BeetleJuice 

Hollywood has given ghosts a bad name. So much so, that Tim Burton wanted to make the original Beetlejuice into a dark and twisted horror. Beetlejuice was supposed to be a ghost who spoke in a black soulful vernacular. I am so glad that didn’t happen. His main goal was to murder the Deets and rape their teenage daughter Lydia. Luckily, someone talked some sense into Tim Burton, and as a result, Beetlejuice became much more family friendly. Yet, the problem remains. What kind of movie is Beetlejuice? Is it a horror movie about displaced spirits? Is it a movie about a haunted house? Is it about a séance? Or is it a movie about a spirit who enjoys haunting both humans and ghosts alike? Well, I believe that the movie is about all these things. Most importantly, Beetlejuice is a celebration of not only goth culture, but our ability to bond with spirits. I will explain how and why in this video, so please stay tuned.  

Okay, the secrets out, I am a mystical bitch, and yes, I do believe in ghosts. Why? Well because there is overwhelming evidence that they exist.  

And no, I am not talking about Barbara and Adam walking around in three-hundred-dollar sheets. I mean that virtually all cultures, all over the world, believed in some sort of supernatural beings. Some called them ghosts; others called them ghouls or even spirits. Indigenous people in Africa and in the Americas believed that these spirits were our ancestors. Once our family members passed on, they would guide us from the other side. In Mexico, there is a whole holiday dedicated to the dead, called the Day of the Dead. This is a day where family members put up altars to honor loved ones that have passed on. Tim Burton even confessed that the American view of death is grim and despondent. He went on to say that he enjoyed how people from other parts of the world didn’t mourn their dead but praised them. Western funerals are often dark and dreary. But those who honor their dead believe funerals to be more of a fiesta, where both the living and the dead come together to celebrate.  We all know that ghosts, ghouls, zombies, and witches, have gotten a bad name over the years. Hollywood has made a pretty penny depicting ghosts as the bad guys. They are often viewed as demonic spirits that need to be exorcised from human hosts.  

There are countless prayers, rituals, and ceremonies to rid our homes from evil wicked spirits. But we have very few rituals in place to welcome them.  

In Tim Burton other projects, such as Wednesday. We see the main protagonist experiencing psychic visions. Wednesday’s visions are not beckoning her to destroy or even harm others. Rather, her visions help her to connect with her long-lost ancestor.  Contrarily to popular belief, her ancestors don’t try and possess her, taking over her mind, body, and soul, and forcing her to do evil acts. Rather, her ancestor guides her. She helps Wednesday put together the pieces of a murder mystery that is plaguing her school and town. Wednesday’s ancestor is not mean or demonic, or even evil. Rather, she is an entity that guides Wednesday from the afterlife. She helps her make friends, and yes, some enemies, all while helping her find herself in the process. Sadly, Tim Burton is the only artist who makes films that portray spirits, ghouls and ghosts in a good light. And that includes Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice was a movie about honoring and respecting the dead, as opposed of being afraid of it.  

Like Wednesday, virtually all the characters in Beetlejuice needed some guidance from the other side.  

Poor little Lydia was distraught and alone. She turned to goth culture, simply because her daily life was miserable.  Mrs. Deetz wanted to be a famous artist and grace the covers of Vanity Magazine. Yet, her work lacked depth. She was too shallow and superficial to create real art. Mr. Deetz was washed up real estate mogul, hoping to get his second wind.  Otho was pompous and pretentious, unaware of his flaws and misdeeds. And the Maitland’s died, a premature death, only to come back as ghost, to help the Deetz become better people. Only the Deetz didn’t believe in ghosts. They only believed in power and money. The Deetz were amused by Maitland’s party tricks. And instead of fleeing the house. They concocted a plan to exploit them for money. The Maitland’s had no choice. They had to pull out the big guns and summon the spirt, a free agent who simply went by the name of Beetlejuice. Unlike the Maitland’s, Beetle Juice was going to do whatever it took to get the job done. And much like the Deetz, Beetlejuice would use, abuse, and exploit people to get his needs met.  

When I first watched Beetlejuice, he reminded me of a backwoods preacher, spewing lies about death, spirits, ghouls, and ghost, all so that he could amass or maintain power.  

Or, worse, a preacher who could make a pretty penny exorcising demons and ghost from their homes. In short, Beetlejuice is not only a manifestation of the Deetz greed and misdeeds. Beetlejuice is a reflection of how society feels about death. We are intrigued by it. Yet, we are afraid of it at the same time. And the only way that we can totally accept death, is to have control over it. Sadly, humans can never truly understand the ways of the dead. Yet, if we sit back, and accept our ignorance, then we can allow our ancestors to grab hold of the wheel.  They can transform Otho, by showing him just a little bit of humility. They can help Mrs. Deetz become a better artist through inspiration. Mr. Deetz can get a sense of self-worth by just resting in peace. And Lydia, she can get the parental guidance and love that she craved for. Ghosts don’t have to be our enemies. They can be our allies, our friends, and even our family.