Word Count: 1439

Introduction

This blog will be exploring the juxtaposition of Freud’s ‘The Uncanny’ (Freud, 1919) and comedy in the 1988 Tim Burton directed film, Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice, 1988). The aim of the research is to gain more of an understand how comedy can be embedded within the horror genre, and how this affects the audience of the text. Freud’s theory derives from an essay he wrote titled ‘Das Unheimliche’, which has been translated to mean the uncanny, familiar and unfamiliar. “His theory was rooted in everyday experiences […] related to what is frightening, repulsive and distressing” (Ruers, 2019). 

Slapstick humour includes melodramatic comedic actions, often violent, that are performed and executed in a way that would be almost physically impossible in real life, therefore offering comedic relief due to its absurdity. ‘Splatstick’ is a term that is commonly used to describe more bloody horrors (which Beetlejuice is not). Both Freud’s Uncanny Theory and humour are present in ‘Beetlejuice’. 

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Beetlejuice: Plot Summary

Beetlejuice follows the life and death of couple Adam and Barbara, who struggle to scare off a family who have just moved into their home after their death in a car accident. They befriend the troubled daughter in the family Lydia, who can see them as ghosts when no one else can. Her family are trying to make money out of the ghosts, so as a last resort they seek the help of Betelgeuse in a last resort attempt to get their house back.

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Beetlejuice and The Uncanny

Beetlejuice expresses multiple ideas of the uncanny theory. ‘Dismembered limbs, a severed head, a hand cut off at the wrist’ (Royle, 2003) are all examples of things that could be classed uncanny, at some point these are all present onscreen during Beetlejuice (See image of severed head). The ‘familiar’ can refer to places and themes we are used to seeing in day to day life. This for example, could be a safe space such as home or school, or our inanimate objects such as teddy bears and dolls. The ‘unfamiliar’ would be implied when something eerie or taboo starts happening in these ‘familiar’ circumstances, for example – inanimate objects coming to life, or paranormal things happening in your home such as cupboards opening of their own accord. This is when situations become uncanny, and therefore provoke a scared reaction from an audience. It intends to make the audience feel a false sense of security in their once familiar surroundings, to induce up fear. In Beetlejuice, one familiar place is the modern, colourful house that the film is set within, when the couple die, their modern house becomes intruded by a new family, although technically they are the ones haunting the house. As they become ghosts, the uncanny things begin to appear surrounding their death. They choose to haunt the new family with visuals that conform to the horror genre, such as monster like faces, blood and gore, body dismemberment etc… they make noises and bang doors, all in an attempt to scare the family away. 

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Beetlejuice and comedy

Although the iconography implies horror and obscene gore, Beetlejuice does not feel like a particularly scary film. This could be due to the slapstick gore and violence that runs throughout, not forgetting the witty lines. Funny sound effects are often used which takes away the audience’s element of fear and the likelihood of a scream being their reaction, but more likely replaced with a catharsis of laughter instead (see YouTube video). In the video, you can gauge an idea for the comedy elements by how fast paced and comedic the scene is, there is not time to build up tension or fear. I like the analogy that ‘Fear is a fertile womb for laughter’ (Sipos, 2014) because when watching a horror film, after a jump scare or a build-up of tension, it is extremely likely that the moment will be followed by a room full of nervous laughs and sniggers.Betelgeuse himself is intended to be a comedic character despite the makeup and prosthetics used throughout the film, he is full of amusing comments and sarcasm.

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Juxtaposing The Uncanny and Comedy

Referencing Michael O’Pray ‘material which meshes horror and humour, is more likely to be identified with the grotesque’ (Wells and Domaille, 2000) which could be argued in Beetlejuice. The Cambridge Dictionary definition of ‘grotesque’ is ‘strange and unpleasant, especially in a silly or slightly frightening way’ (Dictionary.cambridge.org, 2020). Some of the characters in Beetlejuice are extremely strange, particularly the ones that Adam and Barbara come across in the waiting room. There are people in the room with decaying skull faces, dismantled bodies, zombie faces etc… all which abide to the grotesque definition. There is a horrified comedic expression of Barbara and Adam in reaction to these characters, which gives the audience a sense of comfort. “Humour offers a unique and particularly effective way to reveal unfamiliar, awkward and disturbing (or uncanny) facets of people’s identities, relationships and difficult dynamics at work” (Plester, 2015). Throughout the film, it is clear that the uncanny situations always appear during very trivial events, for example in a waiting room or at a dinner party. Being in a waiting room is an extremely normal and familiar scenario to be in, however bringing in the grotesque characters takes that familiarity away. Similarly, the ‘living’ family host a dinner party which is interrupted by uncanny happenings, for example, bloody hands appear out of nowhere through the table, and all the dinner party guests get possessed by the ghosts and burst into song dance.

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Lydia and Suicide

Lydia, portrayed by Wynona Ryder, is the daughter of the family who move into the house. I feel she is worth mentioning in this blog because her input in the film is interesting and crucial. She is a teenager who feels trapped within her family, which consists of her dad and snobby stepmother. Lydia wears only black, which connotes darkness and depression, the black white and grey colour scheme is often seen within the horror genre. Lydia is the only person able to see the ghosts in the house, but is not once afraid, she admires and is fascinated by them. This subverts typical conventions of the horror genre, as ghosts are supposed to be feared, this gives us an insight to Lydia’s rebellious and curious personality throughout. There is a point in time in the film where the topic of suicide is toyed with. Lydia writes her family a note and plans to fall to her death, in order to pass over to the other side and be with the ghosts. It is interesting that a potential teenage suicide was written into a comedic horror, however it could be argued that Freuds uncanny theory could be applied here. The familiar is the family issues and neglect Lydia feels and the unfamiliar is the idea of suicide being the answer. It is a more literal take on the theory. The ghosts urge Lydia not to do it, as they always looked out for her. In Beetlejuice the ghosts are seen as the ‘heroes’ and the living are seen as the ‘villain’s, which is uncommon of the horror genre.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, the juxtaposition of the uncanny and comedy in Beetlejuice is executed well. The comedy and uncanny both appear during the same scenes, whenever something remotely horrifying or unsettling comes on screen, it is quickly debunked by something comedic, whether it be a witty one liner or a possessed flash mob. Although the storyline and concept of Beetlejuice seems slightly bizarre, it was a successful film, and one that is still loved by fans today. Tim Burton has excelled in his career as a director since Beetlejuice. It is still common for people to dress up as Beetlejuice and some of the other characters (such as Adam and Barbara with the scary mouth masks) for Halloween and film conventions etc… Beetlejuice is a successful horror comedy.

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Bibliography:

Beetlejuice. (1988). [DVD] Directed by T. Burton. USA: Warner Bros.

Freud, S. (1919). The Uncanny. Das Unheimliche.

Dictionary.cambridge.org. (2020). GROTESQUE | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. [online] Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/grotesque [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].

Plester, B. (2015). The Complexity of Workplace Humour: Laughter, Jokers and the Dark Side of Humour. Springer, p.129.

Royle, N. (2003). The Uncanny. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, p.142.

Ruers, J. (2019). The Uncanny | Freud Museum London. [online] Freud Museum London. Available at: https://www.freud.org.uk/2019/09/18/the-uncanny/ [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].

Sipos, T. (2014). Horror Film Aesthetics: Creating the visual language of fear. McFarland, p.25.

Wells, P. and Domaille, K. (2000). The Horror Genre: From Beelzebub to Blair Witch. Wallflower Press, p.28.