‘Wednesday’ And The Enduring Appeal Of The ‘Anti-Cool Girl’
"We’re original thinkers, intrepid outliers .... we don’t need these inane rites of passage to validate who we are.”
When Wednesday debuted on Netflix last month, billions of dance videos on TikTok to Lady Gaga’s ‘Bloody Mary’ were spawned in honour of Jenna Ortega’s iconic dance moves, while style guides gushing over her sophisticated all-black style continue to abound.
The show, meanwhile, even beat out the likes of Dahmer in Netflix streaming records, reportedly amassing 1.02 billion of watch hours in its first three weeks of release.
For some, the success of the show — an interpretation of The Addams Family, from which the character of Wednesday is drawn — may come as a surprise. The three Addams Family movies, starring a young Christina Ricci, all dropped in the ’90s, with the latest of them coming out in 1998. Granted, it’s a great trilogy — but much of Wednesday‘s audience today would not have even been born when the films hit cinemas.
So, what is it about Wednesday?
Wednesday’s Child Is Full Of Foes
Despite her lack of popularity amongst her peers and an unhealthy interest in the macabre, Wednesday Addams has always been an icon of pop culture, partially due to Christina Ricci’s signature portrayal of the character in The Addams Family movies. Before the titular character’s resurgence into the zeitgeist following the Netflix teen series, Wednesday was a fan favourite due to her unapologetic attitude and her ability to undercut her opponents with a clever retort – even the adults. Continuing the legacy of fighting to be her ‘creepy and kooky’ pig-tailed authentic self — despite the derision of her peers and advice of her educators — there’s something undeniably charming about Jenny Ortega’s spin on the character and the way she leans into her Latin American heritage without it being heavy-handed.
In the recent iteration, despite the potential of being among ‘like-minded peers’ (as her mother Morticia describes it), Wednesday revels in others’ dislike of her: shying away from the addictive cycle of social media affirmation, and just like her predecessor, lightly joking about (and occasionally almost carrying out) murderous acts.
She has no desire to acquiesce to the conventional high school experience, rebuffing titles such as ‘queen of the dark prom’ and ‘captain of the fencing team’ claimed by her mother, even though it would help her acquire social status. When meeting the school’s self-appointed queen bee Bianca, she responds: “Interesting thing about bees. Pull out their stingers, they drop dead.” Operating on the fringes enables her to live by no one else’s expectations except her own.
Maternal authority figures in her life fail to understand her. Whether it’s her mother (Catherine Zeta-Jones), her principal (Gwendoline Christie) or her therapist, they fail to realise that despite their attempts to aid her emotional wellbeing, Wednesday thrives in morbidity and solitude.
Over time, we do so see Wednesday opening herself up to companionship, such as her burgeoning friendship with Thing, Enid, and Tyler; leaving her vulnerable to melancholy. For her appreciative fans in the real world though, Wednesday may be a fearsome person to befriend – unless you enjoy being smothered in your sleep.
Friend Or Foe: Anti-heroes Of Yore
Beloved anti-heroes with sardonic airs and deadpan humour aren’t new to popular culture, the most notable being the legendary Daria Morgendorffer of the excellent MTV series Daria and April Ludgate of Parks of Recreation.
Like Wednesday, Daria aspired to be a writer, and living on the outskirts of social acceptability enabled cynical yet astute observations of her peers and herself. April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation — in the role that launched Aubrey Plaza’s career — is also quick-witted and sardonic, with a penchant for people-hating and retreating from physical affection. All three adopt a monotonous tone that acts to amplify their brutal honesty and razor-sharp humour.
Wednesday also has a nose for investigation and drive for justice for those less powerful, often resorting to immoral tactics to reach her goals. Comparable to amateur private detectives such as Jessica Jones in the Netflix comic adaptation and high schooler Veronica Mars from the formative ‘00s series, Wednesday isn’t above lying, breaking in or torture while searching for the truth.
But for all of these women, their lone wolf nature is often a result of a traumatic experiences alongside the relentless bullying they endure in adolescence.
Wednesday, Veronica Mars, Jessica Jones and Daria have lived through a complex combination of familial relationships, dead loved ones and violent incidents (Wednesday’s pet scorpion did not deserve its fate). Their outward abrasiveness, desire for reclusiveness and unabashed individuality may to some extent have developed as a way for these characters to evade judgement, abandonment, and pain.
The complement to any anti-hero is an ally that either mirrors their morose mode or acts in juxtaposition with lightness or delicacy. Wednesday has Enid and Thing; Daria has Jane, Quinn and to a lesser extent Jodie; Veronica has her father, Mac and Wallace; and Jessica Jones has Trish and Malcolm.
Not only do these trusty pals prove useful in getting anti-heroines out of sticky situations, but they also often act as an advisor and help them become more attuned to their flaws. In essence, they’re an essential part of their character development and socialisation.
An Appreciation Of Brave And Flawless Women
The anti-hero acts as the antithesis of ‘the cool girl’ trope we often see on screen, which has been characterised as a projection of the male gaze. According to the monologue in Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, cool girls are: hot, understanding, never get angry, smile in a chagrined, loving manner and let their men do whatever they want.
In contrast, the anti-hero is created with a feminist lens, the potential of what women could be without patriarchal expectations and peer pressure. As Daria puts so aptly puts it: “Aren’t teen girls screwed up enough without you foisting your shallow values on them and making their lousy self-images worse?”
Even icons that emulate populism, such as Taylor Swift, a poster girl for the American teen and commoditised modern (albeit white) feminism embraces the anti-hero narrative in her latest album. There’s a level of self-acceptance of traits that may be deemed unlikeable by others – the metaphorical alter ego of ‘the monster on the hill’.
As a South Asian adolescent that relished her individuality and felt out of place for appreciating retro style, alternative music and independent film, Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday Addams is a refreshing non-white addition to the canon.
As she tells Eugene when they’re on a stake out about attending prom: “Listen, people like me and you, we’re different. We’re original thinkers, intrepid outliers in this vast cesspool of adolescence. We don’t need these inane rites of passage to validate who we are.”
Wednesday is now streaming on Netflix.
Vyshnavee Wijekumar is a freelance writer and culture critic. She is on the board of the Melbourne Women in Film Festival and is a fortnightly film reviewer for Triple R Breakfasters. She was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, and has lived in this country since the age of two. You can follow her on Twitter @vylentfemme.