I have always enjoyed Beetlejuice but there's a lot of things about the movie that I never got, things which seemed random, including for example the ending, which always seemed kind of abrupt and random to me (why the big deal about the song?). Until...
...until I watched The Exorcist. Well, okay, until I bought The Exorcist and skimmed through it looking for interesting or scary parts, mostly the very beginning and stuff towards the end. (I was testing a mental technique to use against fear, long story.) I feel like I at least got the sense of the show, and I think Beetlejuice can best be viewed as an answer to The Exorcist and its whole genre.
For example, "Beetlejuice" is kind of a weird title for a movie that isn't really about Beetlejuice, right? It's mostly about Adam and Barbara Maitland and their afterlife, including their interactions with the living family the Deetzes. Beetlejuice himself isn't even really in much of the movie, he's onscreen maybe 15% of the time. I think "Beetlejuice" is a linguistic stand-in which is supposed to remind us of "Beelzebub," a name for evil/the devil, and the theme of the movie is basically:
"What if the supernatural isn't inherently scary after all? What if evil spirits are definitely evil, but in a pervy, used-car salesman kind of way? What if possession isn't scary per se? Being made to dance a musical number might be kind of fun, especially if you can't normally sing or dance! What if there's nothing magic or scary about death and what lies beyond it?"
The character arc of the movie is for the characters (especially Adam, Barbara, and Lydia) to realize this, accept it, and resume living their lives without worrying too much about death.
I think there are other tie-ins to Exorcist-like themes as well, such as the random wedding-proposal from Beetlejuice to Lydia, which in a movie like the Exorcist would be painted as a horrifying act by Beelzebub which co-opts an innocent girl as the Devil's Bride forever, and mortals are helpless to resist, mwahahaha, but in Beetlejuice it's a clownish affair which the characters successfully fight off by playing by the rules and eventually by ramming Beetlejuice with a toy car and then a sand worm. Beetlejuice/the Devil has more powers than the Maitlands have, but ultimately he's just one pervy creep and he can be vanquished.
Also, Juno's line about Beetlejuice being her ex-assistant who's now been fired makes more sense in this context: Juno is a thematic stand-in for God, and Beetlejuice getting fired = Lucifer's fall from heaven.
Anyway, no wonder the ending always seemed abrupt and random to me, and no wonder I always enjoyed the movie anyway! I already bought into that premise from the very beginning. It was preaching to the choir all along, in my case. But now I understand the Exorcist-like viewpoint it was trying to disprove.
-Max
--
I could not love thee dear, so much,
Loved I not honor more.
...until I watched The Exorcist. Well, okay, until I bought The Exorcist and skimmed through it looking for interesting or scary parts, mostly the very beginning and stuff towards the end. (I was testing a mental technique to use against fear, long story.) I feel like I at least got the sense of the show, and I think Beetlejuice can best be viewed as an answer to The Exorcist and its whole genre.
For example, "Beetlejuice" is kind of a weird title for a movie that isn't really about Beetlejuice, right? It's mostly about Adam and Barbara Maitland and their afterlife, including their interactions with the living family the Deetzes. Beetlejuice himself isn't even really in much of the movie, he's onscreen maybe 15% of the time. I think "Beetlejuice" is a linguistic stand-in which is supposed to remind us of "Beelzebub," a name for evil/the devil, and the theme of the movie is basically:
"What if the supernatural isn't inherently scary after all? What if evil spirits are definitely evil, but in a pervy, used-car salesman kind of way? What if possession isn't scary per se? Being made to dance a musical number might be kind of fun, especially if you can't normally sing or dance! What if there's nothing magic or scary about death and what lies beyond it?"
The character arc of the movie is for the characters (especially Adam, Barbara, and Lydia) to realize this, accept it, and resume living their lives without worrying too much about death.
I think there are other tie-ins to Exorcist-like themes as well, such as the random wedding-proposal from Beetlejuice to Lydia, which in a movie like the Exorcist would be painted as a horrifying act by Beelzebub which co-opts an innocent girl as the Devil's Bride forever, and mortals are helpless to resist, mwahahaha, but in Beetlejuice it's a clownish affair which the characters successfully fight off by playing by the rules and eventually by ramming Beetlejuice with a toy car and then a sand worm. Beetlejuice/the Devil has more powers than the Maitlands have, but ultimately he's just one pervy creep and he can be vanquished.
Also, Juno's line about Beetlejuice being her ex-assistant who's now been fired makes more sense in this context: Juno is a thematic stand-in for God, and Beetlejuice getting fired = Lucifer's fall from heaven.
Anyway, no wonder the ending always seemed abrupt and random to me, and no wonder I always enjoyed the movie anyway! I already bought into that premise from the very beginning. It was preaching to the choir all along, in my case. But now I understand the Exorcist-like viewpoint it was trying to disprove.
-Max
--
I could not love thee dear, so much,
Loved I not honor more.
No comments:
Post a Comment