Tim Burton’s long-awaited horror-comedy sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice brought back both of the principal characters from his 1988 cult classic. Michael Keaton’s тιтular bio-exorcist Betelgeuse was summoned from the afterlife once more, as Winona Ryder’s central hero Lydia Deetz needed his help again. Now in middle-age and herself a mother to a teenage daughter, Lydia’s character inevitably changed 36 years on from the original Beetlejuice. Yet she hadn’t necessarily changed for the better, as the very qualities that made her so iconic in the first movie were distinctly lacking in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Whereas Betelgeuse himself was as darkly comic and roundly offensive as ever in the sequel, with his bawdy and creatively crude humor providing many of its best moments, Lydia’s strong-willed, rebellious, goth-girl persona was nowhere to be found. If anything, some of the characteristics we loved most about Lydia were now embodied by her daughter Astrid, played by Jenna Ortega. Although it’s natural that someone would grow out of their teenage rebellious streak to an extent, while pᴀssing it onto their child, Lydia’s fashion sense was the only thing left of her character from Beetlejuice.

Lydia Deetz Was Written Inconsistently Throughout Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Her Atтιтude To Ghosts And Her Relationship With Her Daughter Were Gray Areas In The Movie

Making such a definitive break with the persona a character is known and loved for is always a dangerous move for movie sequels. In the case of Beetlejuice 2 it led returning character Lydia Deetz to completely lose her way. The sequel started with a premise that looked like it could get the best out of Lydia, as her paranormal talk show “Ghost House” tapped into her special affinity for the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ in the first movie.

Yet this set-up barely featured after the opening minutes of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and Lydia’s atтιтude to ghosts during the movie was wildly inconsistent. She was supposed to be someone who’s become used to seeing ghosts for almost four decades, and actually makes a living out of talking to them. But instead she seemed to have become bored, tired, and even scared of the paranormal in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Lydia didn’t show any fear the first time she saw ghosts as a teenager in Beetlejuice, when the Maitlands appeared in the attic window of her new home in Winter River, Connecticut. In fact she reveled in being able to interact with recently deceased subsтιтutes for her unloving father and stepmother. It was her empathetic approach to the Maitlands, and the genuine care they, in turn, showed for Lydia, that made her such an intriguing character in the first place.

She appeared to have lost this empathy for ghosts in the sequel, even going as far as turning her back on them for good at the end of the movie. This change in atтιтude not only made her a less appealing character in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, but undermined her characterization as a ghost enthusiast in the first Beetlejuice.

At the same time, Lydia’s estrangement from her daughter Astrid at the start of the sequel could have been an important subplot for the movie to explore. But the estrangement is never fully explained, with their disagreement over Lydia believing in ghosts being cited as the main point of conflict. This superficial approach to Lydia’s Beetlejuice backstory is symptomatic of how her character was written in the sequel as a whole.

Lydia’s Characterization In The Sequel Was Such A Disappointment

She Was Nothing Like The Iconic Goth Girl From Beetlejuice

Lydia’s characterization in the movie was particularly disappointing given how she was depicted in Beetlejuice. In the franchise’s original movie, Lydia was a single-minded rebel who acted in defiance of her father and stepmother without the slightest fear of what she was getting herself into. Her strength of character as a teenager suggested that she’d grow up to be a strong woman who would never let herself be pushed around. Unfortunately, that’s not the Lydia Deetz we got in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Bizarrely, Lydia felt like a pᴀssenger for much of the second movie, when she ought to be its central hero. She easily succumbed to the will of her domineering boyfriend, Rory, and was repeatedly shown up by Astrid, who proved to be stronger than she was.

Lydia was so meek and helpless in Beetlejuice 2 that even her stepmother and former nemesis, Catherine O’Hara’s Delia Deetz, wondered what had happened to her. “Where’s the obnoxious little goth girl who tormented me all those years ago?” Delia asked Lydia. “It’s time to find her.” If only she’d found her, Lydia’s character arc throughout the remainder of the movie wouldn’t have been so disappointing.

The Biggest Issue Was That Lydia Never Got A Major Heroic Moment In Beetlejuice 2

It Was Her Daughter Astrid Who Took Center Stage In The Movie’s Climax

It’s one thing for Lydia Deetz to have retreated into her shell with age, but it’s quite another not to allow her a heroic payoff at the climax of the movie. Despite the return of Michael Keaton’s Betelgeuse, and the introduction of several new characters, Lydia was still supposed to be the central hero of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Yet, she never really did anything mᴀssively heroic to earn that status.

Yes, Lydia summoned Betelgeuse and revived the first movie’s plotline of agreeing to marry the ghost in exchange for a favor. But when it came to the ending of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, it was Astrid, not Lydia, who saved the day. Astrid unleashed a sandworm on Betelgeuse to stop him from marrying her mother, and Astrid pointed out to Betelgeuse that his marriage contract with her mother was null and void. Lydia ultimately made him disappear, but this was the easy part, and hardly an act of heroism.

In the original Beetlejuice, Lydia stood up to her father and stepmother, their interior designer Otho, and Betelgeuse himself, on numerous occasions. In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, she doesn’t really stand up to anyone, and only gets away without having to marry Betelgeuse thanks to the bravery and ingenuity of her daughter.

Astrid is a great addition to the Beetlejuice franchise, but her growth as a character comes at a cost to Lydia, who’s actually regressed as a character since the first movie. Lydia’s characterization as a wayward goth girl, indifferent to the living but with a unique relationship to ghosts, was one of the best things about the original film. The fact that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ruined this characterization is one of the sequel’s biggest weaknesses.