Why Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family has a cult following

“I’m not a freak — I’m a force of nature.” The unabashedly sharp-as-ever Wednesday Addams declares this memorable string of phrases within the 2021 film The Addams Family 2. A real reflection of the Addams’ resident genius, Wednesday’s diabolic smarts do make her a pressure to be reckoned with, and over time, the fictional character has gathered a cult following. A favourite within the household of “kooky” characters, Wednesday’s success as a character has primed her for the lead function in Tim Burton’s upcoming Netflix present, Wednesday.

Initially showing as a character in Charles Addams’ 1938 cartoons in The New Yorker, Wednesday subsequently grew to become a a part of a number of variations of TV exhibits and films over the subsequent few a long time, with a memorable, beloved efficiency from Christina Ricci within the ‘90s Addams Family films. Now, the iconic role will be played by Jenna Ortega in the upcoming TV series, which hits streaming Nov. 23. Despite appearing in comics in the 1930s, Charles Addams didn’t identify his comedian characters till the 1964 TV present adaptation. He notably named Wednesday after a line from the nursery line “Monday’s Child:” “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.” Easily acknowledged by her signature braids and goth aesthetic, the cult character is now a well-known favourite amongst many, and the fandom surrounding her has been additional ignited ever because the 2020 announcement of the present.

Blurring the strains between protagonist and antagonist in her personal macabre means is certainly one of her iconic logos, and this steadiness makes watching her exploration of the world round her extremely fascinating. She loathes colour, prefers her dolls headless and speaks in a signature drawl. Her traditional ensemble stays a standard costume each Halloween, with the #wednesdayaddams tag on TikTok accumulating an unimaginable 1.2 billion views and the character having her personal verified account with almost 70,000 followers on Instagram. (When you give her a stalk, anticipate finding her trademark gory humorousness and loads of Wednesday-centric memes.) 

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While Wednesday’s appreciation of torture and torment fluctuates in several display screen variations of the franchise, in standard variations she additionally usually struggles with feeling totally different than everybody else in her already one-of-a-kind household. Her endeavors in making an attempt to determine these emotions and discover her identification humanize her and remind audiences that she’s nonetheless simply a younger one who’s making sense of the world round her. This edifies her extraordinariness and kinds a connection between followers and Wednesday, making her an much more likable character. It gives the look that you just don’t must be precisely like Wednesday to get her. Instead, you simply have to understand what she represents: individualism and current exterior “the norm.”

For longtime fan Tatiana Tenreyro, Wednesday’s acceptance of being different was inspiring. “As someone who always felt like a misfit growing up and was bullied for not being like the other girls, Wednesday was my hero because she embraced being treated like an outsider,” she says.“For her, being different was a badge of honor. That mentality guided me through dealing with my toughest teen years.”

Ingrid Cruz, another fan of the cult character, shares similar sentiments. “I enjoyed watching Wednesday be free, creative and moody. It was the opposite of what I was taught to be. I could relate to her because I always hated smiling unless I had a reason, which really made it hard for me to interact with adults who insisted I should always be smiling,” she says. Cruz also added how Wednesday’s rebellion of the Thanksgiving play in the 1993 Addams Family Values made her ability to question norms a significant marker of her personality. 

The Thanksgiving play is a moment in the film at Wednesday and her brother Pugsley’s summer camp in which the campers are asked to put on a play that depicts a colonized, racist version of the first Thanksgiving. Wednesday, who plays a Native American character, rightfully thwarts the production by going off script and openly disagreeing with her camp’s portrayal of the holiday and its history. “You have taken the land which is rightfully ours,” she says in character, and simultaneously sends shockwaves through the audience. “Do not trust the pilgrims,” she declares in another changed lyric, leading to the start of a rebellion within the play. Cruz appreciated how Wednesday stood up for what was right, even though it wasn’t the majority opinion. Perhaps it is this exact combination of defiance and deviant justice she represents that makes her so enjoyable.

Being in an environment that encourages being different from what society expects of them already makes Wednesday stand out. And seeing her take on and embrace her alternative personality without bending to anyone else’s whims is a power move that people of all ages struggle to do themselves. “The Addams Family takes characters that would normally be outsiders in mainstream comedies and dramas and puts them front and center,” says Dr. Neil Fox, Associate Professor of Film Practice and Pedagogy at Falmouth University. “Wednesday has always stood as a beacon for those on the outside or fringes of what is considered cool or acceptable. She actively inserts herself as a chaos agent into established social hierarchies and truly doesn’t care what people think.” 

In the new Netflix rendition, her Latinx identity adds another layer for fans to connect with the character  For fans, it has been affirming to see the Addams family’s identity be acknowledged in the upcoming series. Tenreyro notes that being Puerto Rican and seeing that the previous movies portray the Addams as half-Latinx with a Puerto Rican patriarch made her feel seen. “It means a lot to me that Tim Burton’s new version of the Addams family retains that as part of the story,” she says. Similarly, for Cruz, seeing Wednesday unapologetically being herself in her ironically loving family was wonderful to watch. “As a Latina, it was common to have aunts and uncles play an important role in our lives, and seeing these relationships on screen, [like] in Wednesday’s relationship with her parents, Uncle Fester, and the rest, while watching Wednesday be herself, despite having a close-knit family, was game-changing for me,” she says.

Wednesday symbolizes many issues, however — most significantly — the flexibility to decide on the best way you need to take up area on this planet, no questions requested. Not solely is she a fabulous goth, alt-core vogue icon, however she can also be a comforting reminder that even if you really feel like an outsider, you might be legitimate, and also you matter. She is a reminder that not fulfilling the established order and sticking up for what you actually imagine in is without doubt one of the bravest issues you are able to do in a world that makes it so exhausting to exist exterior of the norms surrounding you.  She is highly effective in doing so, and that’s the reason she’s going to at all times be an awfully attention-grabbing popular culture icon.