The Blue & White

by Sloan Farrell

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a comedy above all.

Overall, the film is incredibly commercial, as more airtime goes to the makeup line and merchandise associated with the series than the film itself, only spanning 104 minutes. Despite this, I have seen the film twice and I’m obsessed.

The movie tells the story of the Deetz family, an odd collective of Lydia Deetz’ dramatic artist stepmother, Lydia’s daughter, Agnes, Lydia’s newly deceased father, Charles, Lydia Deetz, herself, a once-psychic medium turned ghost-talk-show host, and her codependent fiance, Rory.

The story is the second in the series, 24 years after the original. Lydia and Agnes must return to their hometown to attend Lydia’s father’s funeral while Lydia is haunted by the demon, Beetlejuice.

The most thrilling part of this film was the introduction of a I’m-not-like-other-boys, Dostoyevsky-reading, Pixies-listening teen, Jeremy, Agnes’s love interest. Jeremy swept Agnes off her feet and into his tree house but there was a twist. Spoiler alert, the real evil that Jeremy was guilty of was his corny method to lure Agnes in on Halloween and a poorly decorated bedroom.

A lot of the movie was filled with purposeful wig slips and Rory’s enabling of Lydia which both contributed to a funny and ironic film that has my personal stamp of approval. There is a certain level of appreciation that is important for films that are not Oscar-winning but, nonetheless, entertaining and fulfilling.

This movie is certainly worth a watch if you’re looking for a laugh, whether at the 80s-style filming, Beetlejuice’s crude sense of humor, or the tortured adolescence of Jeremy and Agnes.