WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Beetlejuice 2 (2024)!The primary conflict for Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz inBeetlejuice Beetlejuicerevolves around her strained relationship with her teenage daughter, Astrid, but one of their biggest points of contention could have easily been resolved by Delia. Over 36 years after the original movie, Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, and Michael Keaton return inBeetlejuice 2’s castas the Deetz family returns to their haunted Winter River house for the funeral of Lydia’s father, Charles Deetz. When the movie kicks off, tensions are already high among the Deetz family, withLydia’s teenage daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) resenting her and denying her ghost-seeing ability.
Though Lydia built a famous television career around her gift to communicate with ghosts, which originated with the deceased Maitlands in Winter River, Astrid never believed the ability was real until she metJeremy’s ghost inBeetlejuice 2. Before developing the ability herself, Astrid denied that Barbara and Adam’sBeetlejuiceghosts ever existed. Lydia’s inability to see Astrid’s dead father, Richard, made her believe that her mom had always been lying, and Lydia couldn’t convince Astrid otherwise. However, Astrid failing to believe Lydia about the Maitlands makes little sense, asshe wasn’t the only Deetz who saw ghosts inBeetlejuice.
Delia & Charles Easily Could Have Proven To Astrid That The Maitlands' Ghosts Were Real
Delia & Charles Saw & Decided To Live With The Maitlands' Ghosts In Beetlejuice’s Ending
While Lydia and Astrid’s problems are still rooted in the teen resenting her mother for her response to Richard’s death, sending her away to boarding school, and making choices for their family that Astrid doesn’t support (such as marrying Rory), theDeetz family members’ conflict over the truth of Lydia’s ghost-seeing ability could‘ve easily been resolved years beforeBeetlejuice 2. Teenage Lydia may have been able to see the Maitlands throughout the 1988 movie due to her acceptance of death and “the strange and unusual,” butBeetlejuice’s original ending culminated in Delia and Charles finally seeing the ghosts as well.
Not only did Charles and Delia actually see and engage with Adam and Barbara’s ghosts at the end ofBeetlejuice, but Lydia’s father and stepmother also opted to peacefully cohabitate with the Maitlands after defeating Betelgeuse. A subtle background detail inBeetlejuice’s endingreveals thatDelia even made the front cover of anArt in Americamagazine issue showcasing her sculptures and experiences with the afterlife. Not to mention, Delia and Charles’ colleagues, such as Otho and Maxie Dean, were all possessed by the Maitlands, saw their ghosts at the “seance,” and were terrorized by Betelgeuse in the 1988 film.
In Defense Of Astrid’s Attitude Toward Lydia In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Astrid is notably cruel to her mom, Lydia, for much of Beetlejuice 2, but the sequel examines why Jenna Ortega’s character is no average teenager.
Astrid’s anger toward Lydia throughoutBeetlejuice 2is still valid, but the idea that she truly didn’t believe that Lydia could see ghosts doesn’t track with the outcome of the original Tim Burton movie.This conflict could have been put to rest by Delia and Charles sharing their own experiencesand explaining to Astrid that the ghosts were real. Astrid even notes after Charles’ death inBeetlejuice 2that he was the “only semi-normal person” in the Deetz family, so she would have been more likely to believe in his account of meeting Adam and Barbara Maitlands’ ghosts.
Bernard
Dick Cavett
Theabsence of Adam and Barbara Maitlands’ ghosts inBeetlejuice 2was a convenient way to avoid the issues with Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis’ real-life aging, as well as adding another reason for Astrid to deny Lydia’s ghost-seeing ability. Still, it could have been fixed by just a few words from Delia before her ownBeetlejuice 2death, as she clearly hadn’t forgotten about Betelgeuse’s terror at the Winter River house when Lydia told her she was having visions of him.
Why Delia Never Stepped In To Correct Astrid In Beetlejuice 2
Delia Could Have Recounted To Astrid Her Experiences With The Maitlands
Delia understood that Astrid didn’t believe Lydia could see ghosts, but she never lent her own personal experiences to support the truth of Lydia’s gift to her granddaughter. Itseems that Delia never stepped in because she didn’t feel it was her place to correct the teenage Astrid, and didn’t want to become involved in that conflict. Delia also humorously implies that Astrid rejecting Lydia is a form of payback for Lydia herself rejecting Delia as a teenager, so Catherine O’Hara’s character likely just opted to leave that mother-daughter resolution for Lydia to work out herself.
Delia does ask Astrid to stop “torturing” Lydia when she arrives at her school. However, Delia notes that it typically “amuses” her when Astrid antagonizes Lydia.
Additionally, Delia quickly accepted that ghosts were haunting their attic inBeetlejuice.She may have thought that Astrid would eventually come around to accepting Lydia’s gift and Delia’s own eccentric interests, but figured it would be better for that to happen naturally than for her to directly try convincing Astrid about the truth. Delia and Lydia also eventually learned to get along and accept one another, so she may have believed the same would happen with Lydia and Astrid. Had he notdied inBeetlejuice 2, Charles would have been the most likely character to help Lydia convince Astrid.
How Much Of Lydia’s Ghost House Show Was Actually Real In Beetlejuice 2?
Why Didn’t Rory, Her Manager, Believe In Her Ability?
Astrid is eventually proven that Lydia’s ability to see ghosts is real beforeBeetlejuice 2’s ending, but there are still plenty of other skeptics out there in the Tim Burton movie’s human world. For one,Justin Theroux’s Rory disclosed under truth serum that he always believed Lydia’s ghost-seeing act was fake. Considering he’s her manager and helps run herGhost Houseshow, it would seem that Rory’s first-hand experiences with Lydia meeting these ghosts would make him more likely to believe in her ability. Unless, of course, theGhost Houseteam exaggerated elements of Lydia’s paranormal encounters.
Lydia and her team may have exaggerated the noisy paranormal encounter to boost their ratings.
Given Rory didn’t believe that the ghosts Lydia encountered on the show that he’s directly involved in were real, thisimplies that some of the footage fromGhost Houseis manipulated to make the paranormal entities scarier. At the beginning ofBeetlejuice 2, Lydia shows a recording of herself encountering a ghost in a couple’s home, which includes cabinets opening and closing and a dog being put atop a moving ceiling fan. Their viewers probably wouldn’t be interested in a benevolent ghost, so Lydia and her team may have exaggerated the noisy paranormal encounter to boost their ratings.
Why Lydia Couldn’t See The Ghost Of Astrid’s Father In Beetlejuice 2
Lydia is capable of communicating with ghosts in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, yet she can’t seem to reach Astrid’s father. Here’s what we know.
With Rory’s skepticism about Lydia’s gift, it seems that at least part of what appears on herGhost HouseTV show isn’t real. However, thatdoesn’t take away from the reality that Lydia can still see ghostsand, on certain occasions, may actually be able to document these cases for her show. The potential exaggerations of Lydia’sGhost Houseshow may also be another significant reason why Astrid didn’t believe her gift truly existed. Still, even if Lydia occasionally faked her gift for TV, Delia and Charles supporting her claims should have been enough to convince Astrid beforeBeetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Cast
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the sequel to the original Tim Burton classic that starred Michael Keaton and Wynona Rider in a horror-comedy that involved ghosts trying to scare off new homebuyers from taking their house. The sequel brings back Michael Keaton as the hilarious and sleazy ghost with selfish intentions, now joined by Jenna Ortega in a new role.
Beetlejuice
Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice stars Michael Keaton as the titular “bio-exorcist”, an obnoxious spirit who specializes in driving living occupants out of homes. When Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) die suddenly, they pass into the spirit realm, and must stay in their home. However, in the living world, the Deetz family purchases the house and moves in, prompting the Maitlands to enlist the help of Beetlejuice to drive them away.
