"we need to discuss this film. It's shit."
Thank you for saying this. I appreciate it so much more than you can know. KF is the only place where people aren't engaging in toxic positivity.
Aside from his handful of early classics, I have always actively disliked Burton’s schtick. The “Johnny Depp and HBC, all the time” era was especially irksome. I think he's pretentious AF and full of shit.
Newbie and longtime lurker here; if anything about my post is incorrect I will be happy to edit or delete. This will probably be my only post here because I don’t have much to contribute to the Farms, but I’ve been desperate to find somewhere I can express a negative opinion of this movie without being downvoted/dogpiled/hated/dismissed or laughed-at. I certainly can't do that on Reddit or FB.
I will try to make this post relevant in a larger sense and not just a personal rant, but please bear with me.
I am a lifelong hardcore fan of the original 1988 movie, basically a superfan. I hate the fact that this “sequel” exists. I cannot overstate how much I hate it. I am devastated, gutted.
I have not watched it and I refuse to ever watch it. It is an inherently terrible idea and the fact that it got made at all is a total dealbreaker to me, a tragedy. This feels like the end of an era and the loss of something special.
If that sounds excessively emotional, please read on, because there’s a message here. Rate me lunatic if you need to, but like I said, I’m just passing through.
My overwhelming dislike of this sequel has led me to reevaluate how I interact with media. It has shown me that I need to be careful and self-aware about how I engage with pop culture.
It seems like everyone claims to love the original 1988 movie and this character, even if they barely remember it or only know of it through general pop culture osmosis.
But I played with those ugly Kenner action figures when I was kid. I dressed up as Beetlejuice for Halloween several times when I was a kid, and I have also done so as an adult. (These days I don’t do the hair/makeup/teeth/nails, I just have a high quality version of the striped suit with some accessories. TBH it looks fantastic and I receive(d) many compliments.) Am I gatekeeping? I sure am.
I know, I know, "True and Honest fan!!11!" mentality. I'm trying to move past that. But I'm dumbfounded at the number of people who claim to have grown up with the original and are okay with this sequel and enthusiastically praising it. Why are our standards so low? Why is "just okay" good enough? Why is "just okay" a strong enough reason to make a "sequel" to an almost 40-year-old movie?
Keaton's performance as Betelgeuse in the 1988 original is endlessly fascinating to me. There's something transcendant about it. For whatever reason, it grabbed hold of my imagination and wouldn't let go. He became a talismanic figure to me, a sort of personl mascot that I held very dear and very close.
That moment where Davis and Baldwin first meet him and he surges up out of his grave, flying? Pure magic.
But now it seems like they've taken this amazingly powerful and impressive character and turned him into just another schlubby low-energy guy like Krusty the Klown or something.
The fact that they've given Betelgeuse a backstory/origin story is what I was dreading most of all, and these idiots went ahead and did it. I genuinely believe this is one of the worst decisions in pop culture history. Like the song goes, you don't tug on Superman's cape and you don't pull the mask off the Lone Ranger. Of all the characters who don't need and shouldn't have a backstory, Betelgeuse/Beetlejuice is near the top. For me, this destroys the whole appeal and mystique of the character, undermines it almost completely.
The entire point of this character is that we know almost nothing about him; we dont't know who or barely even WHAT he is. He's mysterious and unknown and that is his appeal. Is he a ghost, is he a demon, is he human? Where did he come from, how did he die, when did he die, what does he do and where does he go when he's not in his coffin? To what extent is he sinister or friendly, harmful or well-meaning? What are his real motivations or intentions? What will he do if/when he escapes from the Model Town? Is anything that he says about himself actually true, or is he just rambling and lying?
It's fun to theorize and imagine and wonder and speculate, to make fanfiction or fan-art, to have ideas and headcanons. That's the essence of fantasy and fiction. We don't need everything spelled-out for us. This takes a magical, inscrutable, complex, multi-layered character and makes him ordinary and drags him down to earth. Where is the fun in that? It assumes that the audience has no imagination and needs hand-holding and spoon-feeding, no ambiguity allowed.
I've been noticing a trend of Hollywood wanting to "explain" characters whose appeal lies in being mysterious--Beetlejuice, the Grinch, Willy Wonka. Like we need everything to be very literal and obvious with no unanswered questions.
IMO everyone involved in this flick has tarnished their reputation, Keaton especially. What was he thinking??? He seems like a smart and grounded person. But again, that's parasocial to think we can know a celebrity's thoughts, when we don't actually know them as a person.
What is with these actors in their 70s and 80s thinking they can seamlessly resurrect their most iconic characters from thirty, forty, or even fifty years ago? Why the fuck can't Michael Keaton and Harrison Ford go play golf together or something and let us have our childhood heroes preserved in memory, undiminished? Why the fuck do we have a digitally de-aged Robert Dinero??
This isn't just any role, it's a wildly physical, hyperactive, kinetic, chaotic, frenetic, aerobic type of character. A character whose look, voice, body language, mannerisms, clothes, etc, are highly specific. Keaton looks great for his age and I'm sure he can still play more normal, human types of roles. But his wrinkled face in that white makeup? Disturbing. A 73-year-old can't do it. Betelgeuse is dynamic, not static.
Ghosts don't age. I know that sounds autistic or whatever, but that's the crux of the matter. Surely Betelgeuse is immortal and ageless. Ghosts don't age, actors do. Everyone involved in this thing should've had the grace and humility to recognize that the window of opportunity had passed.
AFAIK Jim Carrey hasn't been attempting the same intensely physical antics he was known for in the '90s. Likewise, Will Farrell refused a sequel to Elf (another absurdist, cartoonish, slapstick character) and for that I can respect him. (Though it appears he's down with the troons now, unfortunately...)
At some point, fandom becomes less like an outlet for creative expression and more like an addiction. If you feel yourself heading down that path, take a step back. That’s what I’m choosing to do now, because this meddling with a beloved childhood movie has provoked such a strong reaction in me and I don’t want to be that way or feel that way.
I don't want to be Annie Wilkes and I sure as hell don't want to be that Wogglebug chick.
TL;DR: Do not become overly attached to fictional things. Do not let yourself hyperfixate on fictional characters. You are inevitably setting yourself up for disappointment. Pump the breaks on your obsession(s) while you still can.
Maybe in 5 or 10 years we'll be able to watch the original 1988 Beetlejuice again and smile, and forget about this "sequel." But for now I am taking a break from this fandom, because I recognize that my level of investment is unhealthy. Hollywood can't leave well enough alone with these endless sequels/remakes/reboots and the only sane solution is to opt out. I'll probably always love this character, but instead of rekindling my interest, this "sequel" has pushed me away from it, and I doubt that's what the makers anticipated.
That's why I made "Recovering Fangirl" my handle. I care too much about such things and I'm trying to cultivate a healthier perspective. But damn it, there shouldn't be a "sequel" to a 40-year-old movie. And this one seems to be full of retcons and stuff that contradicts the first one and overwrites what made the character interesting in the first place.
