Shubert- America is in Denial

         Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. If only solving problems were as easy as saying something three times. Well, I guess it never is, even in the case of Beetlejuice. However, Americans try to find easy ways to do everything, including staying alive. They look for the latest craze whether it be drinking cranberry juice, skipping out on fast food, or taking loads of medication. They simply do not want to die. While it is a good thing to be healthy, looking to live forever is an unrealistic expectation many Americans fantasize about. Americans simply refuse to accept death and the reality of its forthcoming.
         This theory of death denial, especially in America, is exemplified in Tim Burton's movie Beetlejuice. While the two main protagonists are dead, the movie never really accepts death. In fact, the movie actually denies it. Although the Maitlands die within the first couple minutes of the movie, they live more in the following action than they did when they were alive. Instead of simply existing in the afterworld, the Maitlands try to save their house by becoming "ghosts." They even possess a dinner party in order to spook the residents so they will leave. They also dress in sheets and contort their faces so they are terrifying. These actions show them living much more than they did in their dull, boring lives before death.

         Furthermore, the movie sheds a bad light on death and the afterlife. This perspective makes it easy to see why death is an anathema in America. The Maitlands are killed tragically in the prime of their lives and then they are forced to sit in their own house for more than a hundred years while other people move in, change around their house, move their belongings, and disrupt their "peace." Lydia talks about killing herself because she is not happy living but the Maitlands persuade her to keep living. Death is again denied.

           Even in the final scene, Burton shows the Maitlands acting as Lydia's parents. She treats them as though they are alive. This furthermore shows our denial of death. The Maitlands coexist with the Deetzs as if they were living. The Deetzs, although they realize they are dead, don't really treat the Maitlands as if they are dead. Whereas in life the Maitlands could not bear children and were dull, in death they treat Lydia as a daughter and have more exciting, happy lives. The Maitlands themselves deny death.