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| Beetlejuice |
Death is one of the few areas that, like many Americans, I have yet to
fully come to terms with. This fear of death, however, is routed in more than
the actual act of dying but in the fear of never accomplishing all that I want in life and the unknown that will follow. I believe that this fear has
been embedded into the “American Dream” and, therefore, into the American way of
life. We live in a fast-paced society that leaves little room to contemplate
the inevitable reality of death. However, if Americans
actually had the time to reflect on their life, they may not be too content
with the structure that has been created for them.
Beetlejuice explores this exact
concept as Americans and many other societies assume that after death, your
worries will dissipate. They ignore death because of its looming mystery and,
instead, focus on getting everything that they “have to do” done with in life, despite not necessarily enjoying it. Beetlejuice takes the assumed
concept of death being the end and flips it to make death a parody of life where a
bureaucratic society remains and your problems do not go away. The tedious
tasks of life simply continue in the after life, which makes death seem to be a
continuation of life instead of an ending. This creates a denial of what death
represents to many and poses harsh questions towards viewers about their own
life.
In order to get ahead and accomplish
our goals in life, we believe that we must obey the greater authorities and
complete tedious functions of society. Americans especially deny death because
of their focus on attaining this “American Dream” and functioning in a
capitalist society. In “Beetlejuice,” the goals of the living and the dead
juxtapose one another, despite both resembling a bureaucracy. The living
Deetzes’ are constantly searching for a way to monopolize and increase their
wealth. While living the Maitlands, although less drastically, enjoyed controlling
their little model of the town and took pride in their idyllic home; however,
they immediately changed their priorities in the afterlife. Things that made
one deny death and focus only on getting ahead in life became irrelevant when
death became an extension of life. Overall, “Beetlejuice” denied death by
making it a continuation of bureaucratic life but commented on our denial of
death and questioned our priorities in life.
