25 reasons why we still love Beetlejuice

Screenshot of official Beetlejuice trailer on warnerbros.com.

17. Winona Ryder as Lydia

Lydia, played by a teenage Winona Ryder, is the third member of the Deetz family in Beetlejuice, and the one we rooted for back in the ‘80s. With her all-black wardrobe, somber attitude, and biting wit, she’s a parody of teen angst, but with a gothic twist. Her bangs are sharpened into pointy black strands that look like spider legs. She wears dark hats and veils that hide her face, like she’s in perpetual mourning.

In contrast to her stepmother, who hates the Maitlands’ house at first sight, Lydia likes its spooky quality. “I could live here,” she says upon seeing a spider on the wall.

Lydia’s hobbies include being morose and dabbling in photography. She’s the snotty teen all parents fear. “My whole life is a dark room. One big dark room,” she says, accentuating each word at the dinner table.

She also has an extrasensory perception that none of the other mortals, save Otto to a slight degree, seem to have. When she captures the legless Maitlands on film, hiding under designer sheets to scare the family away, she’s totally chill. “Are you the guys hiding out in the attic?” she says, in a voice that passes as almost excited for a very bored person.

They express shock that Lydia is able to see them so plainly. “Live people ignore the strange and unusual,” she explains. “I myself am strange and unusual.”