‘Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’ Age Rating: Just How Scary Is It?
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice received a final trailer that treated fans to more of the plot, which looks to involve Michael Keaton’s Betelgeuse and Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz teaming up to save her daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), from dangers in the Neitherworld.
The newest trailer features an abundance of jokes, puns, and spooky setpieces, leaving many wondering just how scary and appropriate it is for children. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice carries a PG-13 MPAA rating, meaning some of the content may be inappropriate for pre-teens and parents/guardians should exert caution. In this case, the sequel earns its rating for violent content, macabre and bloody images, strong language, some suggestive material and brief drug use.
These warnings aren’t really a surprise. The original 1988 film features almost identical themes but managed to earn what is now a controversial PG rating. After all, Beetlejuice contains dark themes, plenty of suggestive material, and of course, two F-bombs, among other swearing. It’s not exactly what most imagine a PG movie to be like, but it wasn’t entirely unusual for the time. Plenty of movies earned questionable PG ratings upon release, including Poltergeist, Jaws, and Gremlins, to name a few. The MPAA’s standards have evolved over time, so Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’s PG-13 rating suggests the original’s essence will stay intact while making sure its target audience is a bit more appropriate.
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice shouldn’t be too scary
Viewers shouldn’t expect anything too scary in Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. Yes, it’s technically a horror movie, but it’s one that’s rooted in fantasy and comedy rather than blood, guts, and jump scares. If anything, audiences should expect body horror coupled with violence. Betelgeuse can shapeshift and contort his body. The original film has a lot of this (queue images of the face stretching scene), and the trailer teases similar gross-outs in the sequel. There’s also Monica Bellucci’s new character, Delores, who makes quite the impression by stapling a long gash in her face.
Body horror and gore aside, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice deals with dark themes of death and the afterlife. The first trailer opens on a funeral, and given the expected delve into the Neitherworld, macabre themes will certainly be present throughout the movie. That said, the franchise grounds itself in humor. Darkness is offered with laughs, and any gore usually has a cartoonish quality.
Those wondering what to expect in the sequel will likely find their answers by watching the 1988 original. Just don’t be deceived by the PG rating. Anyone watching Beetlejuice for the first time should expect something much closer to today’s PG-13 rating.
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