Wednesday Addams

Hello Anon! Sorry for taking so long. I hope your exams went well! 

I was hyped about Pugsley in the recent movie until his plan didn’t work and Wednesday swooped in to save the family; that ruined everything it did for him before that, in my opinion. 

To each their own; they’re so different that I think it’s not unlike a matter of if you like milk or dark chocolate. If you ask for one and someone gives you the other, you’re going to be a bit annoyed. 

I do not want to give up hope; there are still creators out there that want to produce incredible content, I know it because I see quality creators writing here every day. If they’re on this site, they’re bound to be in the real world too, and some of them must be interested in creating wonderful Addams adaptations. Hah. Addams Adaptations. Alliteration. Nice.

Haha! Well, ah, as for peaking.... I like the 60s show far more than the movies, Anon, so we may have some difference of opinion over what’s been the best so far there. However I feel like when you say something has peaked, you lose hope for future content. While I’m not the biggest fan of the Addams Family’s recent content (musical, 2019 movie, uh, even the 90s movies), I’m hoping that as our generation ages we take a good look at what’s been done and how to do it right in a new and innovative way when we try again. 

Wednesday isn’t one of the more interesting characters, she’s one of the more relatable ones and is thus a fan favorite. She’s young and female, something a large number of viewers can connect with. She’s also a good candidate for the romanticizing of violence, something a lot of people find alluring (again, something I understand, but still not great). I’m not saying she’s not interesting... but the other characters are just as interesting, if you ask me.

As for cliche plots, they can be done well. Unfortunately, they haven’t been (in my opinion). I think the first step in writing good cliche plots is to examine why you’re writing them, though. Is it because it’s a part of that character’s natural life? No? They wouldn’t normally do that? It’s just because the audience would think it’s funny? Because you can’t figure out what else to write a story about? Boo.

The thing about cliche plots is that people (sometimes) write them because it’s easy to do a mediocre job writing them, and sometimes that’s good enough. It’s hard (but rewarding!) to write them well, though.

Hi Anon! You’re making my day, distracting me from those awful final exams. :) 

I do get somewhat frustrated when I see interpretations I don’t agree with, but I pick my battles, and for the Addams Family the battle I mainly choose to pick is about Pugsley. In the original comics, and in the 60s show, Pugsley is the genius. Most people, due to the 90s movies in my opinion, fail to really embrace that. The recent movie is great about respecting that, but then has his plan fail and Wednesday saves the day. People are constantly out here doing this boy wrong. 

Hi Anon! Always feel free to use however many asks you want ;) 

I don’t think it is overly sensitive. I am also frequently disgusted or made uncomfortable by it. I hate seeing her s*xualized and it does happen often, but while I understand your wariness, I think it’s important to consider that characters can be aged up for other purposes and so long as s*xualization is not one of those purposes and is not a frequent product of those purposes, then it is worth consideration. I add this second part because it’s easy for people to claim s*xualization is not their purpose and this is a swift way to ensure someone is not consciously or unconsciously in denial about it being one.  Note: I don’t know much about the reboot. 

The problem I find is that in most of the content you’re talking about, she’s really only aged up for it to not be super fucking illegal to be into. Guess what, folks? If you’re saying it’s okay because in your mind you’re telling yourself this fictional character is of legal consenting age (fucking barely, usually, but tacking on a few years in your head to tell yourself it’s not barely ALSO doesn’t fucking count), it’s NOT okay. If you’re saying you’re into it because she’s a hot (stop right there already, because she’s a child, so she’s not hot) goth chick, what about Morticia? You know, the insanely stunning, s*x positive goth woman? Why can’t you be a random other s*xy goth woman? Why does it have to be a canonical child? If you want to draw her, fine. If you want to dress up as her, fine. But do it in the same way you would draw or dress up a child. Would you put a six year old in fishnets? No? Then don’t draw/wear fishnets. Never make the art or costume more immodest than the character-- and Wednesday is very modest. She wears opaque tights, a loose and almost knee-length dress, with a collar up to her neck and sleeves down to her wrists. 

Hello! 

I know I haven’t been here much (blame grad school) but it’s a complete delight to get asks. Brightened my morning when I saw this! 

I’m not entirely sure I fully understand what you mean, so if I miss answering your question, please feel free to pop into my asks or DMs to talk more! 

I suppose the first thing to acknowledge is, yes, Wednesday is given more attention than other characters (ex. Pugsley, Lurch, etc.), each to a different degree. I like to think that I’m fairly good at separating this from my perspective, though, at least when it comes to the 60s Wednesday that is my muse. 90s Wednesday is the fan favorite, I think, so I kind of just.... don’t pay as much mind to some Wednesday things if I can tell they’re 90s inspired, and it’s usually pretty easy to tell. 

I feel like in pop culture, Wednesday is definitely portrayed as being an iconic homicidal goth girl maybe even a little more than the 90s movies intend. Just the other day I saw a post about people loving little girls who kill, and 90s Wednesday was included in that list, but.... if I remember correctly (I don’t know the movies as well as the show) she never actually killed anyone? Even if she definitely tried. Neither did another on that list, but that’s not what we’re here about. I think that in some parts of our society and for some people, violence can be romanticized-- and I get that, I really do. The abstract concept of violence can be alluring and beautiful in a way I don’t fully understand (maybe I just need to go back to therapy), but it’s also really dangerous to do this. So I feel like people see 90s Wednesday, who is comparatively violent, and use her as a conduit for finding a character that fits with this romanticized idea of violence, but is still considered to be one of the “good guys” by the majority of people. 

Anyway, back on topic, I think that if you look at her from that homicidal goth kid perspective, it’s really easy to project that onto, say, the original comics, and characterize comic Wednesday as more violent. It’s not necessarily a wrong interpretation, but it’s definitely an influenced interpretation. I’d also say that because I mainly look at 60s Wednesday, I probably project more of the wholesome goth child onto the comic version of her than is strictly accurate. If I’m looking at a strictly accurate perspective, I think comic Wednesday is between the two, so it’s easy to be influenced either way based on your preferences.

I can’t really see a world in which 60s Addamses are a prequel to the 90s movies, though, and the idea of projecting 90s Wednesday qualities onto 60s Wednesday leaves a bad taste in my mouth. There is something to be said for character development as someone (particularly a child) ages, and while I think you could take the 60s kids in a darker direction as they age to get closer to the movies, I think it would be uncharacteristic to say that they make that complete transformation. Perhaps it’s because I think their views on violence are fundamentally different, so I can’t see that changing (60s sees violence as not actually violent, 90s sees violence as amazing but still violence, if that makes sense?) But, hey, that’s just my view on it. 

Hi! I’m sorry it’s taken me a while to get to this. I have a bit of a long rant on my thoughts on this here so there’s that, but I can summarize it for you! I haven’t seen ALL adaptations, some (The New Addams Family) I just couldn’t get through, others I couldn’t find, others I just got too busy for, but here’s a run down of a few: 

Comics: I haven’t seen a ton of her, I can’t afford to buy the books so it’s just been what I’ve been able to scrounge up online, but I like her. I’ve used the “child of woe is wane and delicate” line a few times. Would absolutely write a picnic or outing to the underground caverns. #2 

1960s: Love her. She’s sweet, precocious, and happy in her strangeness. She’s very obviously a child, she has her tantrums, pouts sometimes, needs her mother and father and family, but that’s to be expected. She’s growing into herself. I call her wholesome goth. Watch all of it over and over again. Some full episodes are up free on YouTube! 

1990s: Eh. It’s not the Addams Family I love. Wednesday is older, has none of her sweetness, and all in all stole Pugsley’s genius and became increasingly violent. She clearly means to frighten, which is something The Addams Family should never do, IMO. Their whole thing is that they don’t know they’re weird, this Wednesday... does. Also I’ll never forgive what they did to Pugsley. 

Musical: No. Remember that thing I just said? That their thing is they don’t know they’re weird? No. Some of the songs are nice enough, but just no. I haven’t actually seen it, I was supposed to earlier in the year but ~things happened~ so, yeah, but... from what I know, I dislike it. 

2019: You asked about Wednesday so I won’t go into my Pugsley, Morticia, and Gomez complaints here as they are plentiful and detailed in the other post. Wednesday is both over emotional and dispassionate. Re: Addamses not knowing they’re different complaint again. Just not that into her. 

“Do not be alarmed, we are only little children.” 

-Pugsley and Wednesday Addams, Halloween with the Addams Family, 1964

Happy Halloween, Everyone! 

I know I haven’t been around much, but I hope everyone has a wonderfully spooky holiday. I hope to manage a few wicked things today if possible, but I have to find my way out of this coffin school has trapped me in, first. 

If you’re looking for a fun way to celebrate, there are many full episodes of The Addams Family available for free on YouTube-- legitimately, too, from MGM. Their Halloween episode is even available!

              “Is it…” the name was familiar; he recalled Professor Slughorn’s face and immediately realized it must have been an ingredient in some potion; was it medicinal? What a strange thing for a child to make. When he lifted the glass he noticed it was heavier than it ought to have been and he gently waved the glass from side to side, spying something dark and jagged peeking through the thick liquid.

              “… How do you take yours, Wednesday?” was she going to drink this, herself? Was it even edible? “And—good Merlin, is there a person in that box?” Regulus had been introduced to many an oddity but his family never had strange hands peeking out of ornamented containers.

“No, that’s Thing.” Wednesday shook her head, giving Regulus an odd look. A person hadn’t peeked out of the box, only Thing had. And how silly it was to think that someone like she or Regulus could fit inside such a box! 

Wednesday took her glass without making a further fuss, though-- it would be rude to assume that Regulus’s family was... well, of the lineage that would have someone like Thing. Her father had always reminded her, not everyone had quite as much as they did. They were very lucky to be able to have all their nice things, like nailbeds, and dolls, and good help like Lurch and Thing, Wednesday recited in her head.