Helen Sharp is a mess. When we first meet her in the 1992 cult classic Death Becomes Her, she’s a frizzy-haired, timid mid-list writer who loses her fiancé to a glamorous, narcissistic "friend." It’s a tale as old as time, right? But what Goldie Hawn does with the character of Helen transforms a standard 90s dark comedy into a bizarre, prosthetic-heavy masterpiece about the literal rot of vanity. Honestly, if you haven't revisited the Death Becomes Her Helen arc lately, you’re missing the smartest satire of celebrity culture ever put to film.
It's weird.
The movie, directed by Robert Zemeckis, was way ahead of its time. It used CGI that looked impossible back then, but the real heart of the film isn't the digital holes in stomachs or twisted necks. It’s the sheer, unadulterated petty energy Helen Sharp brings to the screen. She starts as a victim. She ends as a hollow, undying vessel of spite.
The Transformation of Helen Sharp
The movie basically breaks Helen into three distinct phases. First, there's the "Before" Helen. She’s drab. She’s insecure. She is constantly overshadowed by Madeline Ashton, played by Meryl Streep. When Madeline steals Helen’s fiancé, Ernest (Bruce Willis), Helen doesn't just get sad. She disintegrates.
We see her in a psychiatric hospital, clutching a VHS tape of Madeline’s worst movie, "Songbird," rewinding the scene where Madeline dies over and over. She becomes morbidly obese, covered in cat hair and frosting, living in a dark apartment filled with trash. It’s a grotesque, over-the-top depiction of depression that only a director like Zemeckis would dare to make funny. But then, the switch flips.
Helen disappears.
Seven years later, she resurfaces at a book party. She is thin. She is radiant. She looks like a literal goddess in a red dress. This is where the Death Becomes Her Helen character becomes truly iconic. She’s written a book called Confessions of an Eternal Girl, and she's there to rub her perfection in Madeline’s face. The catch? It’s all a lie. Well, the beauty is real, but the method is supernatural. She’s taken a potion from a mysterious socialite named Lisle von Rhuman (Isabella Rossellini) that grants eternal youth.
Why the "Hole in the Stomach" Scene Still Works
The middle of the movie is a fever dream of physical comedy. After Madeline kills Helen by shooting her through the abdomen with a shotgun—yes, really—Helen just... gets back up. There is a massive, gaping hole right through her midsection. You can see the library behind her through her torso.
Goldie Hawn’s performance here is incredible because she plays it with such nonchalance. She’s more annoyed about the ruined dress than the fact that she’s technically a corpse. This is the peak of the Death Becomes Her Helen evolution. She’s no longer human; she’s a living doll held together by spray paint and spite.
There's a specific nuance to the way Hawn and Streep interact. They aren't just rivals. They are two people who realize they are stuck with each other for eternity. Once they both realize they are "undead," the rivalry shifts into a twisted partnership. They need Ernest to maintain their bodies because he’s a world-class reconstructive mortician. He’s the only one who can make their graying, rotting flesh look like living skin.
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The Satire of the 90s Beauty Standard
Let’s talk about what this movie was actually trying to say. In the early 90s, the pressure on women in Hollywood to stay young was reaching a boiling point. By centering Death Becomes Her Helen around this obsession, Zemeckis and screenwriters David Koepp and Donovan Cook created a horror movie dressed in sequins.
- The potion doesn't stop death; it just stops aging.
- Your soul stays in your body, but your body can still break.
- If you don't take care of yourself, you end up looking like a cracked porcelain doll.
Helen represents the extreme end of the "revenge body" trope. She didn't get fit for herself. She didn't get beautiful to be happy. She did it to destroy Madeline. When she tells Madeline, "I have a hole in my stomach!" it’s not a cry for help. It’s an accusation.
Practical Effects vs. Digital Magic
While the movie won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, the character of Helen relied heavily on Goldie Hawn’s physical acting. The way she moved her neck, the way she handled the "rigor mortis" jokes—it’s a masterclass.
Interestingly, the "fat suit" Helen wore in the first act was actually quite controversial at the time. Some critics felt it was mean-spirited. But looking back, it’s clear that the film is mocking the perception of aging and weight rather than the person herself. Helen’s "fat" phase is her lowest point because she has given up her agency to Madeline. Her "beautiful" phase is arguably worse because she has sold her soul for a facade.
The Ending No One Remembers Correctly
Most people remember the iconic scene where Madeline falls down the stairs and her head turns backward. But the real resolution for the Death Becomes Her Helen storyline happens decades later.
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Ernest eventually escapes them. He refuses the potion. He grows old, has a family, and dies a "real" death. Helen and Madeline show up to his funeral. They look... terrifying. They are literally falling apart. Their skin is chalky, their joints are stiff, and they are covered in thick layers of heavy makeup to hide the fact that they are essentially statues.
They trip. They fall down the stairs. They shatter into pieces.
And yet, they are still "alive." Their heads, detached from their bodies, continue to bicker. It is one of the darkest, funniest endings in cinema history. It’s the ultimate "be careful what you wish for" scenario. Helen wanted to live forever so she could win. She won, but the prize was a never-ending existence as a pile of sentient ceramic shards.
Why Helen Matters Now
In an era of Instagram filters and "tweakments," the story of Helen Sharp feels more relevant than ever. We are living in the world Lisle von Rhuman promised. We have the technology to look 25 until we’re 70, but at what cost to our actual humanity?
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Helen is the warning. She’s the person who defines her entire existence by someone else’s success. If you spend your whole life trying to outshine a rival, you eventually lose the parts of yourself that were worth keeping.
How to Appreciate the Performance Today
To truly get the most out of the Death Becomes Her Helen experience, you have to look past the 1992 effects. Look at the eyes. Goldie Hawn has these massive, expressive eyes that go from vacant and depressed to sharp and predatory.
- Watch the "reunion" scene again. Notice how Helen mimics Madeline’s movements. She’s spent years studying her enemy to become her.
- Pay attention to the sound design. The clicking and creaking of Helen’s body after she’s shot is gross, but it tells the story of her physical decay better than any dialogue.
- Contrast the voices. Before the potion, Helen’s voice is high and breathy. After, it’s lower, more controlled, and dripping with sarcasm.
If you want to dive deeper into the production, look for the behind-the-scenes footage of the prosthetic work by Dick Smith. He was the legend who worked on The Exorcist, and his touch is all over Helen’s various "stages" of decay. The movie isn't just a comedy; it's a technical marvel that used Helen as a canvas for what was then the cutting edge of cinema technology.
Stop treating this as just a "campy" movie. It’s a tragedy. A very, very funny tragedy about a woman who literally refused to let go of a grudge until it broke her into pieces.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Cinephiles
- Seek out the Deleted Scenes: There is an original ending to the film that was much softer, involving Ernest running away with a bartender (played by Tracey Ullman). This version changed Helen’s fate significantly, but test audiences hated it. They wanted the dark, cynical ending we have today.
- Analyze the Costume Design: Johanna Johnston designed the wardrobes. Helen’s outfits transition from cluttered and chaotic to hyper-structured and rigid, mirroring her internal transformation.
- Study the "Shatter" Physics: The final scene where Helen and Madeline break was a landmark in digital physics. It’s worth watching in 4K just to see the "dust" particles that were revolutionary for 1992.
The legacy of Helen Sharp isn't just a Halloween costume or a drag performance—though it’s great for both. It’s a reminder that vanity is a trap, and revenge is a potion that eventually turns into poison.