Is Beetlejuice the comic king of parasites?

What comes to mind when you think of parasites?

Is it blood-sucking appendages, gaping, saw-toothed mouths, or too many flickering hairs on too many legs?

Or perhaps you think of parasites from outer space – the kind that turn their hosts into pimpled zombies – or worse, body snatchers.

Such dramatic and cinematic visions of horror do not fairly portray parasites – these organisms are an important part of the ecosystem, with impressive healing abilities, mind-altering behaviour and stunning abilities to evolve and change. As award-winning parasite-positivity champion Professor Alexander Maier points out, parasites are far more interesting than their negative portrayal and poor reputation would suggest.

Before the word ‘parasite’ found its way into the natural sciences in the 19th century, the term had social dimensions and theatrical associations. A parasite was a jesting buffoon or proto-clown, who provided entertainment in exchange for free food.

In his influential book, The Parasite, French philosopher Michael Serres writes that the parasite “goes on stage, sets up the scenery, invents theater, and imposes theater. He is all the faces on the screen. If he is a man, he is at the origin of comedy, tragedy, the circus and the farce.”

Serres also explains that ‘parasite’ has three distinct meanings in French, depending on context. There are biological parasites and social parasites, and the term can also refer to noise or interference within a channel of communication.

“The noise is a joker”, as Serres writes.

Enter Betelgeuse.

“Be warned, it’s intense.”

Betelgeuse, the charming but disgusting “bio-exorcist” in Tim Burton’s fantasy comedy horror films Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) and Beetlejuice (1988), belongs to the world of the dead but wreaks havoc in the world of the living.

Resembling a deceased clown – who occasionally appears as a black-and-white striped sandworm – Betelgeuse (played by Michael Keaton) turns every situation into a grotesque escalation and is the comic king of pop culture parasites.

Mr Juice, as he is called in the new film, is a theatrical trickster and charismatic miscreant, who acts as a portal between the eccentric reality of the Deetz family and the hyper bureaucratic Afterlife.

His humorous superpowers and comedic potential embody the concept of the entertaining social parasite.

The Juice is loose

When Betelgeuse leaves the door between his two worlds open for ghosts to join the human Halloween – as in the new film – or when he uses his powers to cause others to freeze, dance and sing involuntarily, the clown parasite is using disorder to create a new kind of order.  

As Serres explains, the parasite “intervenes, enters the system as an element of fluctuation. It excites it or incites it; it puts it into motion, or it paralyzes it. It changes its state, changes its energetic state, its displacements and condensation”.

The asymmetrical relationship of taking without giving is the basis of this model of parasitism. Betelgeuse is seeking this kind of relationship through his quest to marry a human – a move which would allow him more freedom to cause mayhem in the mortal world.

In the Beetlejuice universe, love is the quintessential parasitic relationship.

This is a lesson that Astrid (Jenna Ortega), a third generation Deetz, must learn the hard way when a ghost masquerading as a love interest tricks her into losing her earthly existence. The deception leads to hilarious encounters with the dead, violent delights and new insights into why family matters.

The Beetlejuice franchise is all about the function of parasitism as a relational and relationship phenomenon.

By means of dark comedy, Burton’s films explore (after)life amidst parasites. Viewers see different facets of how parasitism can be performed and experienced. They also see examples of how being parasitised can lead to new ways of experiencing one’s self. After all, according to Serres, the goal of the parasite is not just to ridicule a system, but also to give it a new, unfamiliar way of looking at itself. 

So, not only are parasites an important part of our ecosystem, where they display mesmerising super-abilities, they are also a cultural force in mainstream cinema, larger than life through humour.

Learn more about cultural ideas of parasites on the ANU Popsicule website.