Warning: Spoilers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s depiction of its dead characters doubles down on the biggest complaint about Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis’ ghosts from the original movie. The Beetlejuice sequel maintains a lot of the classic lore and iconography from the first film. Danny Elfman’s unforgettable theme music plays on the soundtrack and, once again, the characters have to say Betelgeuse’s name three times to make him appear. It brings back the model town in the Maitlands’ attic and Delia Deetz’s uniquely macabre artwork, and it practically turns the shrunken-headed ghosts into Minions this time around.
Although it updates the Beetlejuice cast and story to appeal to a younger audience, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice sticks to the original movie’s guns. It’s just as weird and just as creepy as its predecessor. Betelgeuse’s sense of humor hasn’t gotten any more politically correct and Tim Burton’s horror movie references haven’t gotten any less obscure. And on top of that, it tackles the biggest complaint about the ghosts of Adam and Barbara Maitland from the original film – but not by rectifying the problem; by doubling down on it.
Richard & Charles Aren’t Constantly Wet In The Afterlife, Despite Dying In Water (Just Like The Maitlands)
Everyone Dies In Water, But No One Is Wet In The Afterlife
One of the best running gags in the Beetlejuice franchise is that all the ghosts in the afterlife look exactly as they did when they died. A surfer who was eaten by a shark only has his top half in the afterlife. A competitive eater who choked to death during a hot dog eating contest has his mouth stuffed with hot dogs in the afterlife. So, since they drowned when they crashed their car into a river, the Maitlands’ ghosts should technically be wet throughout the afterlife.
Since they drowned when they crashed their car into a river, the Maitlands’ ghosts should technically be wet throughout the afterlife.
Adam and Barbara even arrived back at their house still soaking wet, but they dried quickly and stayed dry for the rest of the movie. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice addresses this inconsistency by embracing it completely. Two of its most important dead characters – Charles and Richard – both died in water: Charles was attacked by a shark and Richard was attacked by piranhas, but neither of them is wet in the afterlife.
Beetlejuice’s Water Deaths Have A Good Reason For Breaking The Afterlife’s Rules
It’s Not Practical To Keep The Actors Wet Through The Whole Movie
The Beetlejuice movies had a good reason to break the afterlife’s rules and let the wet ghosts dry off. It’s not an in-universe reason; it’s a behind-the-scenes reason. It’s just not practical to have the actors soaking wet throughout the movie just to keep that consistency. The production would have to employ a full-time crew member just to hose down the actors in between every single take. It’s worth having a slight inconsistency in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to keep the actors comfortable on the set.
