Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!
With the two having finally reunited on screen, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice writer Albert Gough explains the importance of Lydia’s age-gap jab at the titular spirit. The 2024 sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 horror comedy reveals that while he had been banished back to the afterlife, Michael Keaton’s Betelgeuse had been haunting Lydia through a shared psychic connection, eager to use their relationship to enter the world of the living. Despite his best attempts at sealing their marriage, Lydia and her family would once more send him back to the other side in the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ending, though their connection remained.
With Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ending with Lydia sending the Ghost With the Most back to the Afterlife, Gough sat down with Entertainment Weekly to explain how Lydia’s final line addresses the pair’s complicated past together. The writer explained that the line allowed the movie to tackle elements that hadn’t aged particularly well in a fun way. Check out Gough’s full response below:
As you know, when you watch something again [that’s] 30 years old, you’re like, ‘Wow! We were all okay with that in the ’80s. You forget sometimes, even when you show these movies you love to your kids. You’re like, ‘Oh! That’s a little questionable.’ But I think it is fun to not do a couple of those things [in the sequel].
How Does Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Explore Lydia & Betelgeuse’s Relationship?
The Sequel Dives Into Lydia’s fears
In the original Beetlejuice, Lydia and Betegeuse’s marriage is one of convenience, with the former wanting to save the Maitlands and the latter wanting to break out into the real world. Despite this, with the latter’s sleazy nature, treatment of Barbara (Geena Davis) and Delia (Catherine O’Hara), and his then-unseen wife, it is clear he had little respect for women and this treatment would extend to Lydia. As such, subsequent media like the animated series and Broadway musical, framed his relationship far differently to the movies, while Beetlejuice Beetlejuice would explore the long-lasting effects on Lydia.
Her final line to Betelgeuse is not only addressing her problematic relationship, but shows her finally facing her fears.
In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Lydia is shown to be fearful of Betelgeuse, panicking whenever he uses their connection to manifest in the real-world and pushing her to go as far as to attempt to destroy the Maitlands’ Winter River model to try and escape his grip. Despite this, the threat of Astrid (Jenna Ortega) being condemned to the afterlife leads to her facing her fears and calling upon him for help. As such, her final line to Betelgeuse is not only addressing her problematic relationship, but shows her finally facing her fears.
While certain fans and even Ryder herself are supporters of Betelgeuse and Lydia’s relationship, it is clear that the pair’s relationship in the sequel is still quite one-sided. Though there are parallels between their respective troubles with possessive partners who use them for their own nefarious goals, Betelgeuse is just as guilty, even if over 30 years of pining has allowed some genuine feelings to grow on his part. With this, Lydia’s final line to the Bio-exorcist in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a firm way to define their relationship.
Source: EW
