Beetlejuice Beetlejuice co-writer Alfred Gough discusses how Lydia Deetz’s husband Richard died, teasing whether it was an unfortunate accident or something far more sinister. Tim Burton’s sequel to his 1988 horror comedy has Winona Ryder return as Lydia, now a television host, as she tries to grapple with the loss of her father, a strained relationship with her daughter, and the memories of her encounter with Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton). While Lydia is in a relationship with producer Rory (Justin Theroux), she was initially married to environmentalist Richard (Santiago Cabrera).
Gough opened up to Collider about Lydia’s relationship with her deceased husband, Richard. His death is often referenced in the movie, but true specifics about how he perished are kept to a minium. Gough explained he, Burton, and fellow co-writer Miles Millar intended to keep the cause of Richard’s death vague and up to viewers. He explained:
It’s very interesting, because that is something that, to be honest, I kind of remembered from the first. I’d say, I didn’t remember it. When I saw the movie again, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s aligned’, and then when you looked at all the people… And I think we wanted to intentionally keep that vague. It could have been an accident, it could have been something else. And we intentionally didn’t lean into that.
What Richard’s Death Meant For Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Richard Was A Sweet, Mysterious Figure For Lydia And Astrid
Though Beetlejuice Beetlejuice doesn’t reveal too much about Lydia’s life with Richard, the movie does give a very simple explanation about what her husband was like while alive. Well-loved by family and friends, Richard was a passionate advocate for many causes and took Astrid to various events as a child, as evidenced by a photo of them together at a rally. However, as he and Lydia’s love started to wain, he was killed in the Amazon, with his body never being recovered.
Despite the implications that Lydia and Richard fell out of love, they were on amicable terms and proud of Astrid.
However, when Richard appears in the Afterlife as an immigration office employee, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice gives the biggest indicator of what ultimately befell him. Much like the movie’s other dead cast members, Richard carries a reminder of what took his life. He still has piranhas hanging off his person, the fishes who tore him apart and killed him.
Our Take On Richard’s Potential Death
Richard May Have Been A Victim Of A Misunderstanding
In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, it is stated Richard’s expedition to the Amazon was to fight for a cause, in this case potentially the threat of deforestation. Despite this, nothing else is revealed about the event, setting up Richard’s fate as just an accident rather than him getting on the wrong side of a corporation with his protests. However, the original Beetlejuice may offer a hint about how he died.
In the original movie, it is heavily implied that most, if not all, government jobs in the Afterlife are performed by individuals who took their lives somehow. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice does muddy things with both Betelgeuse’s death by ingesting poisoned wine, and Wolf Jackson’s (Willem Dafoe) implied death by accidental grenade detonation, though these acts may be classed as self-inflicted, a testament to the Afterlife’s surreal organization. With Richard also in a government role, perhaps he fell into the water by accident, his death becoming another technicality that added one more soul to the Afterlife’s list of employees.
Source: Collider
