Beetlejuice followed the chaos unleashed by the titled bio-exorcist (played by Michael Keaton), and at one point, his plan was all about marrying Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder). In 1988, Tim Burton introduced the world to Beetlejuice, a charismatic but dangerously chaotic “bio-exorcist” in the movie named after him. Beetlejuice took the audience to the town of Winter River in Connecticut to meet Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin), a young married couple who died in a car accident on their way back home but didn’t realize they had died.

The Maitlands realized they were trapped in their house and were now ghosts, and to make it worse, their house was sold and the Deetz family moved in. Refusing to share their house with The Deetzes and after their attempts to scare them away failed, the Maitlands turned to Beetlejuice, who had a more chaotic and disastrous approach. However, the Maitlands bonded with the Deetzes’ daughter, Lydia, and did their best to keep her safe from Beetlejuice. At one point, the bio-exorcist tried to marry Lydia, which would have benefited him.

Marrying Lydia Would Have Broken Beetlejuice's Neitherworld Curse

Beetlejuice Carried A Curse For Many, Many Years

Juno explained to the Maitlands that Beetlejuice used to be her assistant, but he decided to go out independently and become a freelance bio-exorcist to get rid of the living.

Despite being warned by Juno, the afterlife caseworker assigned to assist the Maitlands, about summoning Beetlejuice, Adam and Barbara still did it. Juno explained to the Maitlands that Beetlejuice used to be her assistant, but he decided to go out independently and become a freelance bio-exorcist to get rid of the living. Beetlejuice could only be summoned by saying his name three times, but saying it again three times sent him directly back to the Neitherworld. Beetlejuice was trapped in the Neitherworld and couldn’t cross into the human world unless summoned, and as part of the curse, he couldn’t say his name, either.

The Maitlands couldn’t control Beetlejuice after their initial , and he went wild against the Deetzes, despite the Maitlands not wanting him to do so. Barbara stopped him right before he hurt Lydia and sent him back to the Neitherworld, but when Otho’s unintentional exorcism almost ended with Barbara and Adam, Lydia summoned Beetlejuice to help them. Always a guy with a plan, Beetlejuice agreed under one condition: that he and Lydia get married so he could escape the Neitherworld and be free in the mortal world, thus breaking his curse.

Why Lydia Initially Agrees To Marry Beetlejuice

Lydia Had Strong Reasons To Agree To The Marriage

Lydia was visibly confused by Beetlejuice’s offer of getting married in exchange for helping the Maitlands, but time was running out.

As mentioned above, the Maitlands bonded quickly with Lydia, who was the only living person who could see them. Lydia was a lonely girl with an interest in the strange and unusual, and she wasn’t scared of the Maitlands. Although they became friends, Lydia felt betrayed by the Maitlands when Beetlejuice wreaked havoc on her, her family, and their guests, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to help them. With the help of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, Otho conducted a séance that was actually an exorcism, causing Barbara and Adam to slowly age and decay.

Not wanting her friends to die (like, for real this time), Lydia ran to Beetlejuice for help. Lydia was visibly confused by Beetlejuice’s offer of getting married in exchange for helping the Maitlands, but time was running out, and she agreed to it, not fully aware of the consequences of it. Beetlejuice is very charismatic but also a master of deceit, so he’s not fully honest all the time. Beetlejuice saved the Maitlands from disappearing but unleashed even more chaos for the Deetzes and their guests.

Now only with the Deetzes and Maitlands at home, Beetlejuice tried to marry Lydia while the Maitlands slowly returned to normal. It was during the wedding scene that it was revealed Beetlejuice had already married before, as he took out the finger of his ex-wife with the wedding ring. Beetlejuice’s ex-wife, Delores (Monica Bellucci), is introduced in the sequel, and she wasn’t happy at all with her ex-husband. In the end, the Maitlands stopped the wedding, and Lydia never married Beetlejuice, and his curse continued, sending him back to the Neitherworld.

Why Beetlejuice's Attempt To Marry Lydia Became Controversial

Beetlejuice & Lydia’s Marriage Is One Of The Most Disturbing Parts Of The Movie

As a ghost, Beetlejuice was many, many years old by the time of the events of the first movie, while Lydia was only 16-17 years old.

Beetlejuice’s sense of humor isn’t for everyone, but the movie does a good job of balancing his humor with other types of comedy. However, more controversial than some of Beetlejuice’s jokes was his attempt to marry Lydia. As a ghost, Beetlejuice was many, many years old by the time of the events of the first movie, while Lydia was only 16-17 years old. Lydia would have needed her parent’s consent to marry someone older than 21, and the Deetzes definitely never agreed to her marriage to Beetlejuice.

It’s important to that Beetlejuice is a trickster demon and has no morals.

Not only that, but Beetlejuice manipulated her and forced her to marry him, taking advantage of her vulnerability and desperation to save her friends. However, it’s important to that Beetlejuice is a trickster demon and has no morals, so to him, marrying a 17-year-old was nothing as long as he got what he wanted out of it, which was the end of his curse.