When The Republicans Summoned “Beetlejuice”

In the 1988 horror comedy Beetlejuice, Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis play Barbara & Adam Maitland, an idyllic couple living in their idyllic country home in Connecticut. Through a freak accident they die only to discover that they are now left to haunt their own house.  Sometime later the rather avant-garde Dietz family move in with the intention of totally renovating and redesigning the house much to the chagrin of the Maitlands.  When their initial attempts to haunt the Dietz’s out prove unsuccessful the increasingly desperate couple turn to a poltergeist named Beetlejuice to remove the Dietzs.  Although warned not to summon Beetlejuice, the Maitlands brush aside any concerns in their goal to get the Dietz’s out of their house.  Of course Bettlejuice is let loose and madness ensues wrecking havoc on both families and their guests.

Re-watching the film recently I couldn’t help but see the parallels with the political drama that has unfolded in America the last few years.

The Maitlands embody the conservative America the Republican base dreams of.  Plaid shirt wearing Adam Maitland whiles away his time painting miniature figurines in the attic of the country home as Barbara, clad in a simple summer dress dotes on her husband as they enjoy the rustic life they made together. 

But then they die.

Now unlike the Maitlands, the Republican party may not be dead, but it certainly is dying.  From 1952 through the election of 1988, the GOP won 7 out of 10 of the presidential election’s popular vote.  In the next eight elections through 2020 however they have only won ONE of the election’s popular vote. (So it’s ironic the current GOP attack on the 2020 Electoral College vote as the Electoral College is the instrument that still allows a dying party a chance at the presidency)

Now, into that idyllic country existence barges the Dietzs who represent everything the Maitlands’ deplore.  They are elitist, smug know-it-alls who want to, with the help of their flamboyant (read “gay”) interior designer, remake the house in their own image complete with loud colors, wild designs, and gauche modern art.   

The idea of their quaint house and existence being upended by the Dietzs sends the Maitlands into a frenzied strategy to evict the intruders and Make Their House Great Again.  But like the Maitland’s crude attempts to haunt their uninvited guests out, the Defense of Marriage Act, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, abortion restriction laws, and policies designed to protect Christianity’s preeminent position in American society did little to slow the ever-increasing diversity and inclusivity that was transforming the cultural landscape.  

Then in the film along comes Beetlejuice, the demonic poltergeist, who begins to send advertisements to the Maitlands offering his unique services to do what they have been unable to do; clear the Dietzs out.  Likewise along came Donald Trump in 2011 calling into question Barak Obama’s heritage and place of birth. Although laughed off by Blue State America as nonsense, Trump successfully used the antic as a dog-whistle advertisement to a large section of Red State America who started to think this just may be the guy need to clear out the country’s infestation.

Of course we know from the film what happens.  Despite being warned of the awful consequences that may result the Maitlands summon Beetlejuice and the chaos begins.  At first the Maitlands are thrilled as Beetlejuice haunts, ridicules, and humiliates the liberal Dietzs’. The warnings were just Beetlejuice Derangement Syndrome and Adam & Barbara gleefully retire that evening that they picked the right man for the job.

But then things take a downturn as Beetlejuice’s antics begin to get more mean and more dangerous.  More chaos ensues, the stakes get raised, and then people start getting hurt.  The Maitlands begin to have second thoughts about the whole Beetlejuice thing.

On January 6 America looked on in horror as our nation’s capitol was ransacked at the behest of our very own poltergeist. What started out four years ago as enjoyably watching the “liberals” get mocked and ridiculed had turned violent and deadly.  Even some Republicans regretted having ever summoned Beetlejuice.

The film does have a happy ending though and suggest a possible way forward for America to heal and reconcile. The Dietzs and the Maitlands learn to live together.  Having together successfully banished Beetlejuice, Adam Maitland continues to while away the afternoons with wife Barbara creating his miniature model landscapes upstairs while the Dietzs’ enjoy their eccentric lifestyle as well downstairs.  Both families find a little harmony and maybe, just maybe, the other side wasn’t so bad after all.

The house it turns out in the end was big enough for both of them both all along.