Editorials
Why Lydia Deetz from ‘Beetlejuice’ is Forever My Goth Girl Hero
Beetlejuice turned 31 this past weekend, and that makes sense because it’s been a part of my movie-loving memory as far back as I can remember. Both of my parents dug Tim Burton and Danny Elfman, so the slightly strange cinematic dreamscapes of the director and composer were intertwined with my early memories of fairy tales and spooky stories. I started watching the Beetlejuice cartoon in syndication on Nickelodeon when I was five, and there she was: Lydia Deetz.
In the cartoon series, Beetlejuice causes a lot of trouble, but he and Lydia are basically friends. He’s a chaotic influence, to be sure, but Lydia almost always saves the day using wit and tenacity. She’s a goth Lisa Simpson, and I latched onto the character with everything I had. I begged my mom to let me watch the movie, but it turned out to be too scary for me. A few years later, emboldened by my newfound love of The Addams Family, I gave it another try. Wednesday seemed like spiritual sisters with Lydia, and I needed to know if she was as wonderful in the movie as in the cartoon series.
Winona Ryder’s performance and Lydia’s characterization made me feel seen in a way that hadn’t happened since Princess Leia said “someone has to save our skins” in Star Wars. This was different, though, because Lydia wasn’t a space-rebel princess or a warrior princess or a princess at all. She wasn’t supported by a perfect magical family like Wednesday and she didn’t have superpowers, but she was still the coolest person I had ever seen.
By the time I had finally gotten up the nerve to sit through all of Beetlejuice, I was 8 or 9 years old, and I had realized that I really wasn’t like a lot of the other kids in school. I grew up in a family that embraced all things spooky, but I started to feel like we were our own Addams family. My female friends were starting to become obsessed with boys, MTV, and fashion magazines. My male friends were starting to treat me differently, and they were becoming obsessed with sports. I was left with my Nightmare Before Christmas fanart, my Batman Forever soundtrack, and no one who understood my weirdness.
There’s a line in Beetlejuice that’s never left me. When newlydeads Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam (Alec Baldwin) ask Lydia how she can see them despite their ghostliness, she laughs and points out a line in the Handbook for the Recently Deceased.
“Live people ignore the strange and unusual”, she reads. “I myself am strange and unusual.”
That line cut through me and nearly took my breath away. That summer I had gone to visit relatives and toured the family business – a funeral home. It began a morbid fascination with death and the dead that’s never left me, but I had been somewhat ashamed of it before Beetlejuice. Before Lydia, I thought being strange and unusual only meant you got your school lunch thrown at you. After hearing those six words, however, I embraced it.
When I was a bit older, Winona Ryder would give me another massive inspiration with her turn as Veronica in Heathers – another teenage girl possessed by her own macabre free spirit. Lydia is still her crowning achievement, however, giving goth femmes around the world a heroine to idolize. She’s snarky but surprisingly warm, capable of making mistakes and owning up to them. Lydia is the flawed kind of female protagonist more movies need.
It’s not difficult to see Lydia’s impact on pop culture. She’s the matron saint of goth girls, from MTV’s Daria to the girls in The Craft. She’s smart and savvy while still being genuine to her teen girl roots. More than any character in cinema, Lydia Deetz made me feel like it was okay to be strange and unusual, and she showed me that you could look damn good doing it, too.
No conversation about cartoons based on live-action movies is ever complete without mentioning The Real Ghostbusters.
This animated continuation is, warts and all, a notable example of turning a hit movie into a hit series. And although the new target demographic skewed a little younger, even kids-at-heart could partake in the further adventures of Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore and Egon Spengler.
For a good part of its run, the show required fans to wait at least a week for more Ghostbustin’. That’s torture for a kiddo. Luckily, though, the entire series, or at least most of it, is now available for streaming.
So, as you revisit The Real Ghostbusters on Tubi—for now it’s just the first five seasons there—use this guide to help prioritize some must-see episodes.
The Boogieman Cometh
“The Boogieman Cometh” (Season 1)
Season One’s “The Boogieman Cometh” is a classic episode featuring one of the show’s more iconic villains. It’s hard to forget the unique character design used for the Boogieman (whose creepy voice was provided by Ray and Slimer’s actor, Frank Welker). In this story, Egon is reunited with that bump-in-the-night entity who haunted his own childhood, all while trying to keep him away from his latest targets: the brother and sister claiming to have the Boogieman in their closet. Although the Ghostbusters do save the day here, the Boogieman eventually returns (“The Bogeyman Is Back“). That same episode also features the love-’em-or-hate-’em Junior Ghostbusters.
Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream
“Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream” (Season 1)
You could say the namesake of “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream” had good intentions for putting mankind to sleep for the next few centuries—he wanted to end war and keep everyone dreaming. Sounds nice until you remember that whole free will business. But when it seems like the Ghostbusters have lost to their latest foe, the last one standing, Winston, gains a sudden ally. Janine’s dream of becoming a Ghostbuster is manifested, and she helps put this rogue spirit to bed.
When Halloween Was Forever
“When Halloween Was Forever” (Season 1)
Before the show’s execs capitalized on Slimer’s popularity by making him the focus of later episodes, early stories like “When Halloween Was Forever” better utilized that gooey ghost. Here, the spirit of Halloween itself, Samhain, hopes to make the holiday a permanent thing by stopping time. And who does the embodiment of All Hallows’ Eve use in his nefarious plot? Slimer, of course. Thankfully, the lil’ green bud knows where he really belongs, and Samhain is banished (at least until Season 3’s “Halloween II 1/2“).
Night Game
“Night Game” (Season 2)
Because Season Two was rather long, in comparison to other seasons, it accumulated quite a few solid episodes. One of the most beloved, though, is that ultimate good-versus-evil story, “Night Game“. Winston gets to shine here as he participates in a battle that was 500 years in the making. Except this time, the fighting is done on the baseball field. The other-dimensional settings in The Real Ghostbusters are always great, but the one here is particularly memorable.
Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin
“Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin” (Season 2)
Not all ghosts and whatnot were bad in The Real Ghostbusters. As “Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin” showed, some were actually benevolent. Sadly, it took a lot of convincing, and one very heroic act, for Peter and the others to see past this goblin’s grotesque appearance. The heroes find more than one shapeshifter at a sideshow carnival in the Poconos; a sinister Class-4er called the Metamorph does a swell job of menacing the Ghostbusters before they finally realize Drool’s not their culprit. The good guys indeed win here, but that victory is a bittersweet one.
The Collect Call of Cathulhu
“The Collect Call of Cathulhu” (Season 2)
While “The Collect Call of Cathulhu” does misspell “Cthulhu” in the title (probably to avoid legal issues), it is clearly the Old One in this Lovecraft-inspired episode. The story kicks off with the Necronomicon being stolen by the deity’s modern-day cult, who then raise their ancient god at Coney Island. From there, the Ghostbusters’ typical methods don’t work on the big guy, so they seek advice from an old issue of Weird Tales (or “Wierd Tales”, as it’s spelled on screen). That build-up to the finale comes with a decent amount of dread before the Ghostbusters, as well as a scholar named Alice, face off with one of the show’s most powerful entities.
Knock, Knock
“Knock, Knock” (Season 2)
A number of Real Ghostbusters episodes could be reworked into big-screen features, but perhaps “Knock, Knock” is the most hopeful. It helps that this story feels in step with the first two movies. Here, some ignorant construction workers accidentally uncover and open an ancient door in the subway. What’s behind said door is none other than those unspeakable evils that only the Ghostbusters can quell. A good deal of the imagery here is prime for adaptation.
The Grundel
“The Grundel” (Season 3)
One of the darker episodes, which was written by the prominent J. Michael Straczynski, is “The Grundel“. Here, a boy is being influenced by the titular entity, a type of ghost who ultimately turns his targets into new Grundels. The episode does have something of an after-school special quality to it, but that doesn’t take away from the eerier moments. For more Grundel lore, be sure to check out the episode “Grundelesque” from the sequel series, Extreme Ghostbusters.
Standing Room Only
“Standing Room Only” (Season 4)
It’s no secret that The Real Ghostbusters experienced multiple changes after the second season. Out of all of them, though, retooling the show so that Slimer would get more of the spotlight is maybe the most egregious. Thankfully, Season Four (the first to be called Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters) didn’t completely obey that new directive; episodes like “Standing Room Only” felt more like the old days. The focus here was on the well-being of the city and its people, rather than on the series’ green mascot (or the Junior Ghostbusters). In the episode, Peter’s new ghost attractor isn’t to blame for the ensuing chaos; the ghost-eating Mee-Krah is what’s really imperiling everyone. And the Ghostbusters must dish out everything they have to avoid a doomsday situation.
The Halloween Door
“The Halloween Door” (Season 5)
While many fans will skip the later seasons in their rewatches, episodes like “The Halloween Door” are still worth checking out. This colorful helping of Halloween pandemonium premiered on primetime, so the animation is better than usual. And save for a random musical moment, it’s an enjoyable event. Here, a group of anti-Halloweeners tries to cancel the holiday, but they only end up making things worse by unleashing a baddie named Boogaloo.
The first five seasons of The Real Ghostbusters are available on Tubi, starting on July 15.
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