Movie review
September 4, 2024 · 105 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a 2024 comedy-horror sequel directed by Tim Burton. It follows grown-up Lydia Deetz, now a widowed paranormal talk show host, as her family returns to Winter River after a tragedy and her daughter Astrid accidentally opens a portal to the afterlife while Betelgeuse schemes to marry Lydia. The film mixes gothic humor, family grief, and supernatural chaos in Burton’s signature style with no central identity-driven or activist messaging. A single brief, irrelevant climate activist reference for Astrid appears but carries no thematic weight or narrative role.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Woke representation / casting
Jenna Ortega brings visible ethnic diversity as Astrid in the Deetz family; no identity signaling, race swaps of canon characters, or quota emphasis, and casting aligns with Burton’s long-standing preference for story fit over demographic checkboxes.
Woke political dialogue
No activist or ideological speeches; one throwaway climate poster mention for Astrid has zero narrative weight or thematic integration.
Identity-driven story themes
Story revolves around family loss, generational conflict, and chaotic supernatural events without any exploration of race, gender, sexuality, or modern identity issues.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Afterlife depicted with bureaucratic absurdity and flawed characters for comedic effect; no reframing into critiques of patriarchy, capitalism, Western norms, or contemporary social institutions.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No documented anti-woke or conservative backlash claiming the film advances woke, DEI, or identity politics messaging; existing criticism targeted insufficient diversity from progressive sources.
Creator track record context
Tim Burton and primary writers maintain low woke profiles with documented pushback against PC casting; producers include Kleiner (28) and Gardner (31) from socially conscious projects, though their influence yields no activist content here.
Production
