The Ultimate Revealing: Unveiling the Real Addams Family Myth vs Wednesday's Misconceptions

Summary

Wednesday changes the personalities and relationships of the Addams Family, making them less comical and diluting their love and respect for each other.

In Wednesday, the Addams Family is placed in a community of eccentric outsiders, which dilutes their distinctive qualities.

The chemistry between Gomez and Morticia is lacking in Wednesday, making them seem more like separate individuals rather than a passionate couple.

Despite its popularity as an original series on Netflix, Wednesday portrays the Addams Family with many discrepancies. Created by Charles Addams in the '30s as a comic strip, this eerie clan gained fame through a '60s television series and a trilogy of '90s films. However, they have appeared in various forms including cartoons and Broadway musicals prior to Tim Burton's creation of Wednesday. While the series primarily revolves around the teenage daughter, Wednesday Addams (played by Jenna Ortega), as she navigates Nevermore Academy for the gifted and ghoulish, all the main members of the Addams Family make cameo appearances.

Wednesday not only changes the personalities of the characters but also alters their interpersonal relationships, deviating from the established canon of Addams Family TV shows and movies. While these modifications were necessary for the specific storyline, they significantly differ from the versions of the Addams Family that fans have grown to adore. Some alterations contribute to Wednesday becoming a more complex and nuanced character, while others potentially diminish the enduring legacy of her family members.

10 Wednesday Makes The Addams Family Too Serious

The Addams Family is known for its great sense of humor, including Uncle Fester's dad-jokes that always make Lurch groan and the quick-witted banter between Gomez and Morticia, akin to the swift movements of their rapiers. Wednesday, on the other hand, mostly showcases deadpan sarcasm, which unfortunately diminishes the comedic element for the rest of the family, making them appear dull and lacking in vitality. However, Thing, Wednesday's friend and mentor at Nevermore Academy, manages to maintain some of the most hilarious moments, serving as a guide in navigating the social hierarchy.

9 Wednesday Changes Morticia & Wednesday's Relationship

8 Wednesday Changes The Point Of The Addams Family

On Wednesday, the dynamics of Wednesday and Morticia's relationship drastically transformed. What was once a secure and nurturing bond turned hostile and combative. Ordinarily, Wednesday holds her mother in high regard, admiring the passionate connection between her parents and the overall unity within the Addams Family. However, Wednesday now finds herself in the rebellious stage of adolescence, where she resents and rejects her mother's guidance and companionship. By portraying this strained relationship as the norm rather than the exception, the series weakens the foundation of love and respect that the Addams Family typically shares.

Instead of comprising a peculiar group of individuals in a "normal" world, Wednesday revolutionized the Addams Family narrative by immersing them within a larger network of eccentric nonconformists. None of them were deemed alien to a heteronormative society; instead, they were wholeheartedly embraced for their distinctiveness. While Wednesday remained the outsider at Nevermore Academy, Gomez and Tish thrived as the "popular" students. This infusion of the Addams into an environment where their mystique was not so prominent detracted from their inherent uniqueness, while concurrently delving into the emotionally intricate story of a more complex character.

7 Gomez & Morticia's Relationship Has No Chemistry

Gomez and Morticia have limited screen time in Wednesday, whether it's dropping her off at Nevermore Academy or appearing in flashbacks attending the academy themselves. Their role primarily revolves around providing structure to the franchise and reminding casual viewers of their position as Wednesday's parents. Even in brief scenes, it is crucial to depict their passionate and unbreakable bond. However, the Netflix series fails to portray them as a united pair who have vowed to stand together in eternal love and decay.

6 Wednesday Is Turned Into A Cynical Character

In the 1960s television series, Lisa Loring portrayed Wednesday as a cheerful and curious little girl, who had a fondness for all things strange and unusual. Later, in the 1990s films, Christina Ricci played a pre-teen version of Wednesday, characterized by her dry wit and sarcasm. Despite her aloof nature, she formed unexpected friendships and consistently made the right choices. In this iteration of Wednesday, she takes her sarcasm to a whole new level, bordering on jadedness. Her mean-spiritedness and disregard for the safety of her friends make her rather unlikeable. This suggests that Wednesday needs to undergo a significant transformation throughout the series in order to become a more personable character by the end.

5 Wednesday Doesn't Stand Up For What's Right

4 Pugsley Doesn't Relish Torture In Wednesday

Wednesday's initial lack of concern for those around her, coupled with her guarded and distant demeanor throughout the series, changes when her roommate is almost lost and death threats are made towards those who express care for her. This alters her perception of the world, prompting her to ultimately stand up for what is right and understand the advantages of allowing others into her life, concepts that were already familiar to other versions of Wednesday. In Addams Family Values, Christina Ricci's portrayal of Wednesday showcases her support for marginalized communities as she defends First American rights and disrupts a Thanksgiving play at her summer camp in their honor.

Although Wednesday briefly showcases her close bond with Pugsley, it fails to capture Pugsley's affinity for torment and chaos. Whether portrayed in the TV series or the recent animated films, Pugsley's enjoyment of devious methods to tease his sister (and vice versa) always brings out the imaginative and affectionate sides of both siblings. Wednesday treats these instances as a big sister indulging an irritating younger brother, but this approach fails to emphasize the enrichment they derive from their peculiar style of play.

3 The Addams Family Lose Their Charm In Wednesday

Every portrayal of the Addams Family onscreen, aside from

2 Wednesday Gives The Addams Family Superpowers

, has depicted the macabre and ghastly brood as joyful, lighthearted, and endearingly pleasant. Despite their monochromatic attire and their eerie collection of curiosities in their gloomy mansion, they behave like the Cleaver family, while their supposedly "normal" neighbors are portrayed as self-centered, manipulative, and unfriendly. This deliberate contrast emphasizes the importance of not judging people based on appearances and making misguided assumptions about their true intentions. However, Wednesday defies this notion by projecting a somber demeanor, thus challenging the established perception of the Addams family.

The supernatural has always been a part of the Addams Family's aura, but it has never been confirmed that Morticia is a vampire, or that her mother is a witch, or that Lurch is a cadaverous creation of a Dr. Frankenstein-like Uncle Fester. Wednesday discloses that Morticia possesses psychic visions, which she has passed down to her daughter, granting the Addams family the inherent superpower necessary to attend a prestigious institution like Nevermore Academy. Apart from their peculiar taste for all things ancient and enigmatic, they now require psionic abilities to truly distinguish themselves.

1 Gomez Is No Longer A Fencing Genius In Wednesday

During a flashback at Nevermore Academy, a young Gomez engages in a duel with Garrett Gates, but he falls short of being the skilled fencer that fans anticipate. It is Morticia who intervenes and rescues him, which contradicts the perception fans hold of him as a charming swordsman. This incident might have sparked his determination to become a proficient swordsman, although in the present day, portrayed in Wednesday, he appears to have no inclination towards fencing.