Suarez- Death is not an American Dream

I believe Americans refuse to incorporate any thoughts of death into their lives because it is too real. America is known for many things—one of those things being that America is able to spin the truth around to make things seem like they are not as bad as they seem. Death is something that you cannot run away from or spin around to be something different; it is what it is and it is inevitable. There is also no really nice way of expressing that someone is dead. Yes, often we use clichés, such as “they’re in a better place now”, and although I do believe in an afterlife, it is impossible to say for a fact whether there is life after death or not. So the reality of death is that someone dies and they are gone. Another thing America is known for is its ability to bully, and death isn’t something that can be bullied. Death is the ultimate bully.

In the film Beetlejuice, the Maitlands couple dies suddenly in a car crash after trying to avoid hitting a dog. Although dead, they are still able to interact with human beings, and are able to carry on with their day the way they please. Besides some extra supernatural powers, the Maitland’s life doesn’t change much. In fact, the end scene of the movie shows Mr. Maitlands doing the exact same thing he was doing at the beginning of the movie when he was alive, which is working on his model town. This is an act of death denial within the movie; there is no great change from life to death, just some powers. It’s actually almost ironic how things end up, because in the beginning of the movie, when the Maitlands were alive, they wanted to spend their vacation at home, and now they get to do just that for an eternity. It was also suggested that they were unable to have a baby, and in the end they have Lydia, who becomes like a daughter to them (this is assumed because they treat her like a daughter, studying with her all week for a test, and rewarding her or punishing her for doing well.)