As far as American society goes about handling death it is done in an impersonal way. Death seems to be the fear on everyones mind but when faced with it people deny it. American culture seems to be one of few cultures in which death is not celebrated or used as a symbol of moving on to a better place. death is a character we fear in America, not revere and respect like in other parts of the world like Mexico, Puerto Rico and native American cultures. in other cultures, like in my own Chilean Culture death is not only a time for sadness and mourning but also of celebrating the persons life. When one dies in my culture you mourn the loss, but soon afterwards you celebrate it, you invite family and friends over just to talk about your loved one and all the special memories you all hold dear and remember fondly. In Beetlejuice we see the complete opposite, death is something the Maitland's can't stand, at one point Barbara says "She can't live like this anymore" besides being a pun its a direct statement on how Americans look at death, a burden. The Maitlands see death as another entrapment instead of a window to another world, one without responsibilities and worries, at least in the movie. Within Beetlejuice we not only see death as something Americans fear and want to avoid, we see how death is manipulated by American society. Beetlejuice himself manipulates how the Maitlands see death as a horrible thing and uses their hatred for the Deetzes as his window to work. Beetlejuice sees their loathing for their situation in the afterlife and uses it to his advantage,he even says "What do we got here? The Maitlands, uh? Cute couple. Look nice and stupid, too." he tricks and lies and all when seeing how desperate the Maitlands are in the afterlife. Not only does Beetlejuice manipulate the death of the Maitlands so does Jane, their realtor. She goes to check in on the Deetzes moving in and getting settled but barely mentions a word on how they were close, only that she decorated the entire house herself and passed on her card. Jane used death as an advertisement of herself, instead of respecting the dead, she used it as an opportunity to move up with clients. The entire film Burton shows us the ugly side of death but not in a sense of the ugly horror that Beetlejuice releases on the Maitlands and the Deetzes, but in the complete disrespect and fear Americans hold death to. Burton uses this film to comment on how as a society the scary things in death aren't the things we fear most about death, but death itself.
I like the points you made, especially about Jane. I really never thought about her just flippantly brushing off the Mathlids and advertising herself instead of showing real concern for the couple. She is so wrapped up in making herself look good she talks about their death as one would talk about the weather. It is noticeable how keen to detail you are about the movie with your examples of both the pun and Beetlejuice. I feel that you are right. Americans do see death as a burden, and you back you opinions up well. I also like how you are able to tie in examples from your Chilean background to discuss the warring opinions of death between both cultures. How do you personally feel about death? Do you see it as it more of a time of mourning and defeat or a time of celebration?
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