not in this timeslot, babes

In the scene where Lydia first meets Beetlejuice and he tries to convince her to summon him to the living world, Lydia tells Beetlejuice forlornly, “I’m trying to get in.” Beetlejuice is confused as to why she would want that—but then he drops it, saying “you have your reasons” and moves on, vaguely saying something about making a deal before they start playing charades.

It’s Lydia saying “I want to get it” that makes plain that both she and Beetlejuice feel they don’t belong in their respective worlds. Beetlejuice was murdered and he hates the paper-pushing buerocracy of the afterlife, while Lydia is strange and unusual, and is now trapped in a small, plain town with parents that don’t seem to care for her very much. They’re each alone, and because of that, they both want to be Over There. They have the same but opposite problem.

And so Beetkejuice doesn’t give her a speech about how suicide is not the answer, or even about how much being dead sucks (as would be more in his character). He understands what she’s actually feeling and respects that—because he shares that feeling with her.

I think this is why Beetlejuice says later, “I think she understands me.” This is what they share that allows for such understanding. He asks Lydia “Why?” at first because he genuinely doesn’t know why anyone would want “get in” to the afterlife, but once he realizes they have the same longing in them (what better word is there for it..?)…

Reader, I think that’s when it gets real.