Tools of Characterization

Characterization in Beetlejuice

Clothing

There's a reason they give an Academy Award for best Costume Design: "Clothes make the man" applies to the dead, too. Aggie Guerard Rodgers did the honors for Beetlejuice. She didn't grab any awards for the film, but she created some memorable costumes—Betelgeuse's striped outfit probably being the most iconic.

• Adam and Barbara only wear two different outfits during the entire movie: the clothes they died in and their wedding clothes. Both are modest and country chic, which just shows how down-home and charming they both are. Barbara's look is totally Laura Ashley, and all the dresses had to be custom-made to fit the 6-foot tall Davis (source).
• Meanwhile, Delia makes a big splash with her sartorial choices. She wears gloves as a headband during the Cantonese dinner scene. She also sports Charles' red sweater as a pair of pants while she's prepping for the dinner party with Lydia in the kitchen. Delia's clothes tell us that she constantly needs to make a statement with her style. Guerard and O'Hara shopped at a bunch of high-end Japanese boutiques for many of her outfits. Tim Burton, thrift-shop devotee that he is, was shocked at how expensive they were. (Source)
• Lydia gives us a clue about her personality from the moment she shows up as the girl in black. She's Goth to the core: alienated, depressed, morbid, bleak, bleak, bleak.
• Betelgeuse, on the other hand, is dirty and rotting. He's got bizarre clothes like the black-and-white striped suit and the blood-red tux he wears to the wedding, all demonic and totally weird.
• Otho is so concerned about looking good that Betelgeuse decides to punish him in the end with a really awful baby blue leisure suit. That's much worse than death for the uber-fashion-conscious Otho.

Still hungry for clothing analysis? (Who isn't?) Check out some more Beetlejuice costume analysis here and here.

Family Life

The Maitlands are married but have no children, which is why it's important that they bond so quickly with Lydia. She's like the daughter they never had.

Meanwhile, Adam and Barbara are kind of like the parents Lydia never had. Charles is mostly interested in relaxing or exploring real estate deals and Delia is too obsessed with her art to care what Lydia is up to. This girl needs attention from a loving family and the Maitlands are there to provide it… even if they're dead.

Location

In a way, Beetlejuice is a movie about location. The whole film is one big turf war over a house in New England. Minus the drive-bys.

• The Maitlands live in a charming, old-fashioned country home. Their taste is classic and traditional which shows us that they're salt-of-the-Earth, relatable types. We like them. We really like them.
• The Deetzes, on the other hand, come stomping in from New York City. They're cosmopolitan and they want you to know it. Delia's ready to take this country manor and turn it into something you'd see in SoHo. She doesn't care that this doesn't fit with the style of the house or the town. She's going to impose her taste and her views wherever she goes. She and Otho reinterpret the New England home aesthetic and totally ruin the New England country style in the process.
• Betelgeuse lives in the Underworld. Under the ground, at least. He's moldy and dirty, like you'd expect from someone who's been buried for who knows how long. His character is totally consistent with someone who's crawled out of a hole in the ground.