As I mentioned in my previous post, I will watch anything related to Halloween. Any movie or TV show with spooky looking characters tends to catch my attention.
However, I’ve noticed an ongoing pattern in “spooky” type media that’s marketed toward children and families.
It’s almost always about humans and “monsters” (or otherwise spooky characters) learning to coexist. I can think of several examples of this just off the top of my head. Halloweentown High, Hotel Transylvania, Monster High, and even the Disney Junior series, Vampirina, come to mind right away. And the story is almost always the same. The humans are appalled at first, then someone befriends one of the monsters, or one of the monsters ventures out to befriend a human, and we’re meant to come away having learned to be accepting of other’s differences. Cue whatever version of “Kumbaya, My Lord” fits the situation, and fade to end credits.
I’m not saying that this isn’t a valuable lesson to instill in our children. I wish more spooky children’s characters had existed in my youth. Maybe then I would’ve had the guts to be the goth I always wanted to be in my teen years, or not just bite my tongue and answer “Christmas” when someone asked me what my favorite holiday is. (I wrote a poem once, around the age of twelve or thirteen, that contained the line, “I’m tired of saying that Christmas is best, just so I don’t stick out from the rest.”) I would most likely appreciate the concept more if I were in the target audience for these types of stories. I fully understand that I’m sometimes watching things meant for people many years younger than myself, so I try not to judge too harshly.
However, last night I finally got around to watching last year’s animated version of The Addams Family.
Now, the Addamses were kind of the quintessential spooky family of my younger days. When I was very little, I watched reruns of both The Addams Family and The Munsters, but it was The Addams Family that stuck around a little longer and made more of an impression on me. In 1991, when I was six years old, the movie was released, and I think from then on, Wednesday Addams was sort of my secret idol. I saw in her a spooky little girl like myself, for the first time, and on some level always wished to be like her, even though I didn’t have the guts.
I had a feeling this new adaptation of The Addams Family would be silly, hence why I was in no particular rush to watch it. I try very hard to be open-minded about remakes and reboots (I’m one of few people you’ll find who will actually defend what Rob Zombie did with his Halloween remakes.) but I guess on some level, you can’t help but be a little more critical when it comes to a character you grew up with and idolized for so long. I did actually very much enjoy this new movie, but I almost wish it had been something else and not The Addams Family, because there is a part of me that was almost appalled by what they did with Wednesday’s character.
I got the sense right away, from the moment she was introduced on the screen, that something was just wrong with her. Not the way she looked. I loved how all of these characters looked like the original comic versions of themselves, and the nooses at the end of Wednesday’s braids were the cutest touch, but just the way she spoke. This girl seemed bored with her life and family, which is not at all the proud spooky ghoul I grew up idolizing. The Wednesday Addams that I knew always was happy, or well, as close to happy as Wednesday gets, to just be her best spooky self. When I saw this character staring longingly past the gate of her home, seemingly wondering if there was something else that wasn’t quite so dark and scary on the other side, it just didn’t work for me. Wednesday Addams isn’t a bored, adventurous Disney Princess who’s stuck in the same place against her will. She doesn’t crave interaction with the outside world or wish to be anyone other than who she is!
A little while later, it became clear why this Wednesday was so different than what I was used to: She was being set up as the major pawn in yet another “Humans and ‘monsters’ can coexist!” story. Once I realized for certain that this was the direction the story was headed in, I naturally became a little “meh” about it. But things only got worse for our dear Wednesday.
The middle portion of the movie essentially became about Wednesday wanting to change herself and be more like the other kids at her junior high school...a school which she actually begged to go to herself! Now, as someone whose most-watched piece of Addams Family media is probably Addams Family Values, you can imagine how that alone shocked me. Wednesday’s stint as the odd girl out at a summer camp she was forced to go to is nothing short of iconic. The idea that the same character would actually elect to go to a public junior high school is about as believable to me as a flying pig. She had a few moments as herself while attending said school, but then watching her start wearing pink and try to rebel against the family? These just aren’t things that Wednesday Addams does! Even if she did start making friends outside the family, I have no doubt in my mind that her policy would be something along the lines of “either accept me as I am, or stay away from me”. And I’m also certain that any real act of rebellion from her would be far more grand (and deadly) than putting on a pink dress and a unicorn hair clip.
Now, I know it’s not outside the realm of possibility that a child born into a more unconventional family wouldn’t take an interest in more “normal” things as they grew up. And it’s true that even the most unconventional parent could be unaccepting of their child suddenly adopting a new style. These plot points were actually very real, and I will say that this is definitely my favorite human/monster acceptance story that I’ve seen in recent years. It just seems wrong somehow, though, when I think of the fact that the driving force in this story was taking an iconic character known for never conforming or even considering conforming, and making her desperately want to be normal for a little while. As I said before, it’s a concept that works, but not for someone like Wednesday Addams. It’s just not who the character has ever been.
I’m not saying the movie is bad. It’s perfectly fine for what it is, and for all of the portrayal of Wednesday’s faults, most of the other characters were pretty spot-on (though the other Addams child’s obsession with bombs was a bit more Rocket Raccoon than Pugsley Addams) and quite frankly, the movie was hilarious. It’s perfect if you’re in need of a good laugh and a little spooky during these uncertain times. And as I said previously, I do believe this movie did the whole human/monster acceptance thing better than most. I’m just personally a little tired of the concept. All in all, it’s most definitely worth a watch, and will certainly appeal to those who are new to the Addams Family franchise. I don’t think it would’ve struck me as so outlandish if I didn’t have such prior knowledge of Wednesday’s character. It’s truly a fun movie. I just wasn’t expecting to spend so much of it mentally yelling “Remember who you are!” at my childhood idol, who always seemed to be the ultimate nonconformist.
And after making such observations, I believe now may be a more appropriate time than ever for me to end a blog post by saying...
Stay spooky, my friends.
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