Adding to this ship because I saw the movie and now Iām properly obsessed. I got major Gomez vibes off of Betelgeuse the entire film so I did a little comic of them as Morticia and Gomez (Addams Family). Hope yāall like, more to come āļø
*Edit* Shouldāve probably put Italian instead of French. Cuz BJ is Italian.
Attempt to re-create this: https://www.tumblr.com/theresaviolett/781922538021388288/inspired-by-the-painting-weightless-by-denis?source=share with acrylic paint/mixed media on canvas (small format).
THINGS I NOTICED WHILE WATCHING BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE AGAIN:
This is a very Beetlebabes-centric post, so if you donāt like the ship, please feel free to scroll away. <3
Beetlejuice cut Deloresā ring finger off, and while it was originally a fun joke in the first movie, thereās deep implications about that action when we look at it with the context of the second film. Beetlejuice attacked her after she betrayed him. Anyone would want to kill the person that poisoned them, but the fact that he took the time to find her finger and deliberately cut her ring finger off (and ONLY that finger) reflects how much that marriage meant to him. It also symbolizes that heās effectively dissolving their marriage. Heās cut off the physical representation of their love and taken the ring, which he tries to give to Lydia hundreds of years later. He held onto that ring for centuries in hopes of finding someone he deemed worthy of it.
He calls his dynamic with Lydia a long-distance relationship, which couldāve been a throwaway joke if not for the fact that when he clearly notices how hot Janet is, he never talks to her or gropes her like he did with Barbara prior to meeting Lydia. Keaton said BJ wouldnāt be politically correct, so this isnāt to reflect the current political climate, but rather to reflect BJās motivations.
Beetlejuice was jobless at the start of the first movie, and in thirty years heās built a company for his bio-exorcisms. Coupled with the picture of Lydia on his desk, itās possible he did this to impress her. After all, sheās famous and rich now. BJās gotta step it up, yāknow?
Probably overheard the convo between Lydia and Rory and deliberately bugged her at that time, because if he can possess the phone or whatever, he can probably use it to eavesdrop. This can be further supported by how he got rid of the influencers but kept the people that mattered to Lydia presentāDelia and Astrid.
We can also assume he overheard the conversation where Lydia said that Rory loves her and that has to be enough because of the panning to a gravestone. BJ has a special fascination with graveyards, even tiny model ones. If he did overhear them, it explains why he used the truth serum on Rory. Heās testing him. He wants to see if this guy actually loves Lydia or if heās using her, and then he gives Lydia the means to exact revenge on Rory rather than doing anything himself.
Lydia spends half the movie being strong -armed into a marriage with Rory, and in a way, itās reminiscent of the first movieās marriage attempt. Rory dangles their āloveā in front of her like a carrot, and if she doesnāt want to be alone, she has to accept his manipulation and agree to get married. Yet she immediately offers it to Beetlejuice, only sounding annoyed rather than terrified. And the movie spends a lot of time proving that BJ has sincere motives this time around, whereas Rory doesnāt. It pushes an underlying message that if one of these guys is going to be a better choice, itāll be BJ.
Despite Lydia having a tendency to back out of their deals, he still helps her first. He prioritizes saving Astrid even before finding his ārunaway brideā again.
Casually calls Lydia the love of his life, looks so sincere when he says heāll make her so happy. Clearly spent those 30 years planning that dream-dance sequence.
He doesnāt seem to care that Lydiaās sending him away. That coupled with the end scene illustrates how confident he is this time around. Lydia is still stuck with him, and even if he didnāt get her this time, he will eventually. But he also knows how spooked she is by marriage after being a snoop, so itās possible that heās just taking it slow on purpose.
In conclusion: Beetlejuice genuinely does want to be with Lydia and care about her. His feelings have evolved beyond permanent residence in the mortal world. If anything, if he still wants that, itās so he can be by her side.
