# Viewing works differently as you age **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 1, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394 "2012-02-01T05:14:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/21 "2012-02-02T17:58:31Z")
deleted . ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/22 "2012-02-02T18:06:24Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > I don’t remember that being said on screen at all (the possess the baby bit)…but that actually makes more sense then somehow marrying her will release him. Because him appearing after you say his name three times somehow makes sense? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/23 "2012-02-02T18:12:50Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I’ll probably have to re-read Flicka. I don’t think that I’ve read it since I started using double digits for my age. I bet you’d like it now. When I was a kid all I remembered about the parents was that Dad was West Point stern - they’re so much more interesting now. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/24 "2012-02-02T18:20:22Z")
Ah! Viewing _works_ differently as you age. I get it now that “works” is a noun in this sentence. I had been reading the sentence with “works” as a verb, like “viewing operates/functions differently as you age.” No wonder I was confused. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/25 "2012-02-02T18:49:48Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > This is nonsense IMO. Had no one been tipped where the witness was stashed and had the witness himself not unlatched the door then nothing would have happened. Obviously. If the hit men hadn’t located Ross, he wouldn’t have needed any protection at all. But if a possible tipoff wasn’t considered to be within the realm of possibility, why were they bothering to guard Ross in the first place? And Rennick unlatching the door from the inside was inconsequential. The crummy little chain lock wouldn’t have survived the first kick. . ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/26 "2012-02-02T19:19:36Z")
> [@boozilu](#): > > I loved My So Called Life when it first came out. I recently re-watched the first episode – and still loved it. However, this time all of my sympathy was with the mom when the first time I was totally feeling it for Angela. Same here…I knew I was getting older when I found myself yelling at the teenagers, “You stupid kids, _listen to your parents!_ They know what they’re talking about!” ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/27 "2012-02-02T19:22:32Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Because him appearing after you say his name three times somehow makes sense? 😉 Yes, it actually does - it has significant legendary and fictional precedent - ‘speak of the devil’, ‘Hastur, Hastur, Hastur’, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/28 "2012-02-02T19:29:22Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Yes, it actually does - it has significant legendary and fictional precedent - ‘speak of the devil’, ‘Hastur, Hastur, Hastur’, etc. If we’re going to go there, then Beetlejuice becoming free upon getting married also makes sense: there is no shortage of fairy tales where “love” breaks all kinds of spells. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/29 "2012-02-02T19:41:47Z")
There’s a significant difference between ‘love’ and ‘marrying an unwilling partner, and then pissing off without even consummating the marriage’. The closest thing I can think of to ‘ghost marrying living person to get out of the afterlife’ is, interestingly enough, the story that inspired another Tim Burton movie, the Corpse Bride - the dead woman wanted to marry the man who accidentally married her, presumably coming back to the land of the living to live with him (or, perhaps, bringing him into the land of the dead to live with her), and he was in serious danger of having to actually go through with it (in the end a group of rabbis come to the conclusion that since she was dead, and he didn’t do it knowingly or willingly, their marriage wasn’t valid)…but, the intent was for them to lead a completely normal married life, including having sex and kids. Even the standard ‘marrying an unwilling partner’ story (someone marrying a princess/queen/heiress in order to get access to the money and power she has) contains the implicit need to consummate the marriage (ie, a rape). ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/30 "2012-02-02T21:49:20Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > :rolleyes: > > Nope. As **Koxinga** said, his reason for wanting to be married was so he could be released; he makes lewd faces at Lydia to be funny, but there’s never any indication that he wants/plans to ever have sex with her – let alone against her will. If it was simply the marriage that would make him mortal again why would Lydia care? She does not strike me as the type to care whether a potentially dangerous creep like Betelgeuse was running around, she’d say sure I’ll go through a sham wedding as soon as you get lost afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/31 "2012-02-02T23:03:46Z")
> [@grude](#): > > If it was simply the marriage that would make him mortal again why would Lydia care? She does not strike me as the type to care whether a potentially dangerous creep like Betelgeuse was running around, she’d say sure I’ll go through a sham wedding as soon as you get lost afterward. After snarking “did you watch the movie?”" you said “He says the reason he is marrying her is to impregnate her and then posses the child as his new body.” Can you point to a clip or an online script that supports your snark? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/32 "2012-02-02T23:50:24Z")
_One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest_. As I’ve aged I’ve lost any empathy I had for McMurphy (Nurse Ratched is still a bitch though.) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/33 "2012-02-03T06:14:30Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > _One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest_. As I’ve aged I’ve lost any empathy I had for McMurphy (Nurse Ratched is still a bitch though.) Same here. OFOTCN has been my favorite book for 40+ years, and I’ve read it about half a dozen times. The last time, a year or two ago, I was surprised by how my feelings for McMurphy had changed. Much less empathy and sympathy for the character. . ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/34 "2012-02-03T07:20:45Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Same here. OFOTCN has been my favorite book for 40+ years, and I’ve read it about half a dozen times. The last time, a year or two ago, I was surprised by how my feelings for McMurphy had changed. Much less empathy and sympathy for the character. > . McMurphy was a compete ass. I could see why she wanted to slap him down. Some guys just need it, sometimes. Nothing personal, but you do. And you understand it. More of my hypothesis that guys are just dogs with thumbs. You really, truly do not want to give dogs, or guys, thumbs. One can only iimagine what we will do with them, and it can’t be good. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/35 "2012-02-03T07:38:26Z")
> [@grude](#): > > If it was simply the marriage that would make him mortal again why would Lydia care? She does not strike me as the type to care whether a potentially dangerous creep like Betelgeuse was running around, she’d say sure I’ll go through a sham wedding as soon as you get lost afterward. There’s quite a bit of ground between, “simply making him mortal,” and “raping her so he can be reincarnated as a fetus inside of her.” It’s a safe bet that, had the marriage been completed, something bad was in store for Lydia, but it’s a little odd to jump straight to the rape scenario Also, I don’t know why you think she’d be okay with Beetlejuice running around. When she sees the Beetlejuice-snake attacking the guests, she’s genuinely horrified that they were in danger, and acts immediately to save them. When the Dietzs - whom she’d only known for, what, a month? - were shriveling away, she agreed to marry Beetlejuice in order to save them. She’s arguably the moral center of the movie. At least, she’s the only one whose motivations in the film don’t revolve around sabotaging someone else’s life. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/36 "2012-02-03T08:07:51Z")
Baldwin and Davis’s characters were the Maitlands - the Deetzes were Lydia’s family. And, again, while I don’t think grude’s scenario is correct, it is clear Betelgeuse wasn’t looking for a celibate marriage - looking at the scripts I don’t believe any mention is made of the marriage allowing him to leave the afterlife, just that he wanted Lydia for his wife, and he’s clearly no asexual who’d want a wife and not want to have maritals with her. And, if I am missing a reference to the wedding letting him out (or a reference was added after the script was finalized), that just makes the importance of a consummation higher - a forced, unconsummated marriage is going to have less mystical force than it does legal. ---
**Author:** ![Christopher\_Robin\_Davies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8dc957/32.png) [@Christopher\_Robin\_Davies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Christopher_Robin_Davies)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/37 "2012-02-03T15:42:56Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > There’s quite a bit of ground between, “simply making him mortal,” and “raping her so he can be reincarnated as a fetus inside of her.” It’s a safe bet that, had the marriage been completed, something bad was in store for Lydia, but it’s a little odd to jump straight to the rape scenario > > Also, I don’t know why you think she’d be okay with Beetlejuice running around. When she sees the Beetlejuice-snake attacking the guests, she’s genuinely horrified that they were in danger, and acts immediately to save them. When the Dietzs - whom she’d only known for, what, a month? - were shriveling away, she agreed to marry Beetlejuice in order to save them. She’s arguably the moral center of the movie. At least, she’s the only one whose motivations in the film don’t revolve around sabotaging someone else’s life. I think people are jumping to the rape idea because it is just the logical extension. It is not that Beetlejuice lusts after the Winona Ryder character because I do not think he really does and he does not even really hate women as such as most rapists do I think. But he is ruthless and since his plan required him to impregnate her he would force sex on her without qualm. That is the worst sort of evil I think because he did not see anybody but himself as mattering in the end so he neither hated nor loved he just amused himself. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/38 "2012-02-03T15:52:14Z")
Honestly, I’m curious, since there seems to be this idea floating around more than one person’s head, apparently – where in the movie is it ever implied that Beetlejuice’s plan involves impregnating her? Consummation, I’ll concede, since I can see that as having some implied magical significance. But knocking her up? Also, on reviewing IMDB quotes, I see he says something like “I’m what you’d call an illegal alien – I want to get out for good.” I don’t think it’s clarified exactly what that means, is it? I don’t think a return to a mortal body is necessarily what he’s after. ---
**Author:** ![Christopher\_Robin\_Davies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8dc957/32.png) [@Christopher\_Robin\_Davies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Christopher_Robin_Davies)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/39 "2012-02-03T16:16:03Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Honestly, I’m curious, since there seems to be this idea floating around more than one person’s head, apparently – where in the movie is it ever implied that Beetlejuice’s plan involves impregnating her? Consummation, I’ll concede, since I can see that as having some implied magical significance. But knocking her up? > > Also, on reviewing IMDB quotes, I see he says something like “I’m what you’d call an illegal alien – I want to get out for good.” I don’t think it’s clarified exactly what that means, is it? I don’t think a return to a mortal body is necessarily what he’s after. Cannot speak for others. I had gotten the idea from this thread and I just watched the end of the movie on YouTube again and you are right to say that it is not in the movie. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394/40 "2012-02-03T19:25:17Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > You really, truly do not want to give dogs, or guys, thumbs. One can only iimagine what we will do with them, and it can’t be good. Open beers. . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-works-differently-as-you-age/611394.md?page=3)