The Addams Family is the most refreshing take on the nuclear family unit, submitting a more dark and satirical inversion to the ideal American household for decades. From the Charles Addams cartoons of these unnamed characters in 1938, this sparked an inspiring goth cultured, thoughtful and loving family unit that were quite happy to stay in their own little world onto bigger things. From the small cartoons featured in The New Yorker to eventually spawning TV Series, films, books and even video games; the Addams Family inspired a whole network of finding interest in the unknown, the uncanny, and the downright strange to be deemed as normal. And from its roots up until now, this outgoing persona of being the ‘outcast’ has become more accepted by those who can relate, or to those who find death to not be the end. And in this day and age, it technically, depending on how you see it, still isn’t seen as the norm.
So let’s explore what the Addams Family can truly teach us about being a loving family. What lessons can we learn from their interpretation of the world today?
This is Two Takes. And this is One Shot. An analysis of films The Addams Family and Addams Family Values.
From seances, sword eating, fencing, descriptions of brutal deaths, the introduction of conjoined twins and Cousin Itt; The Addams Clan embraces the strange and celebrates the unusual, understanding the concept of death not being the end.
Both films centre around the bald and barrel shaped uncle and brother, uncle Fester. From the first film concentrating on long lost brother to Gomez coming back after twenty years, to the second film with Fester finding love in a murderer; the Addams Clan find their calling in basically being themselves and to unconditionally being there for Fester through loan sharks, thieving accountants and lying manipulative female killers. With Thing somehow always helping to save the day; lending a hand to quite literally being the most helpful ‘thing’ in the literal sense of the word.
Their bond is strong, their humour and wit is dark but their love is bright. This can be seen by the parents, with their undying love for each other, of public arrays of affection making people stare in awe; Morticia and Gomez Addams present an interpretation of a loving husband and wife, perhaps seen as overemphasised by their arousal in many scenes; especially when sex is an undertone when spurned by the possibility of torture and pain…and the use of speaking French, making Gomez go wild in kissing Morticia’s arms and neck.
Many people have their kinks, and it seems within moments, the burning desire these two have, jump off the page or screen to be seen as something envious.
But this is obtainable. The Addams Family bring forth the usual nuclear family unit whilst unleashing the underlining desires. There is the usual ‘husband’ brings in the money, the ‘wife’ takes care of the children and puts food on the table…But the Addams go further.
It’s not about what the husband does for a living, nor what beauty the home has or what the dinner looks like; Gomez is the eccentric multi billionaire, but his wealth is not talked about until others want to take it away. Money is not important here.
And Morticia, maintaining her appearance like any housewife, in the second film, exclaims that she is just another modern woman wanting it all, quipping at the end about wanting to join in with the dark forces and their hellish crusade.
They are both devoted to each other and their family. And what they choose to explore is their love and connection through communication. A nuclear family with modern ideals that have moved with the times from the cartoons of the Addams, still obtaining a realistic view on the fact that each character can somehow annoy the other, but it’s the fact that all of the clan accept each other and use empathy when no-one sees it, or least expects it.
A prime example of their empathy can be placed in various scenes; one being how Wednesday and Pugsley befriend Joel, the quiet reader, and then how they rally the rest of the supposed outcasts that are cast as Native American Indians in Gary’s play. The difference is hilariously obvious, what with the main protagonists being of dark hair and fair skin, whilst the campers are mostly blonde haired and tanned.
Another could be in the scene when Debbie explains her history and her need for love in slides whilst everyone is strapped in electric chairs. All throughout, the Addams sympathise with her, because needing to feel love is an important part of being human. And although Debbie tried to kill Fester, they can understand how important this trait is in their lives; without any kind of love in ones existence, it can be difficult to find the right path for living a good and wholesome life.
As Marianne Eliose from gamesradar.com quotes:
“When Charles Addams set out to invert the “ideal” family, he managed to highlight and satirise everything that’s wrong with it – reminding us that perfect is all about perception”
The Addams Family is far from perfect. Think of the siblings’ rivalry with each other when Pubert enters the scene. And the often unexplained scenes of mostly Wednesday torturing Pugsley, with the assumption lying in the fact that this is how she expresses her love for her brother. The same way she wants to scare Joel to death because she has a crush on him.
The way the mother and father find this amusing when their children are just simply ‘playing’ suggests that Gomez and Morticia revel in letting their children have many forms of independence, which in turn, has both Wednesday and Pugsley being able to express themselves (if bitterly and bluntly) about how they feel about things. An example could be the scene of Morticia and Gomez asking their children whether they think one of them has to die when another child is born and so forth. Another could be when Pubert is about to be born and Wednesday knows where babies come from. The conversations are hilarious, but it has meaningful undertones of how open and communicative the entire family is about many topics. There is no sugarcoating and the children are accepting of this honesty.
This healthy honesty spans further into mental health, and under the sarcasm and bluntness, there is a certain solidarity about how each of the Addams clan comfortably know who they are. This could be shown in how their mental health is more important than the presentation around them. Even though the house shows the perfect portrayal of darkness, with its dusty, cobwebbed walls and dirty, dark undertones; the Addams family are enchanting and almost warming in their pride of themselves and each other.
Going back to the forms of love that are shown, whether extravagant and sexual, to downright torturous and in an act of ‘playing’, there is a fine line between any kind of love that might be perceived as hate. And compared to the loan shark, the accountant, the Chippewa campers, and Debbie in both movies, with them being the villains and how they use violence with the intent to harm, it can be seen that the torture and pain each Addams inflicts on each other is not in the same realm.
It can be seen through jest (like when Fester and Pugsley put an unidentifiable body part in Granmama’s cooking); through bonding (Pugsley taking road signs so that the entire family can listen for the crashes, almost like an achievement shared); through play (Wednesday and Pugsley ‘playing’ with Pubert with the guillotine); and through love (Moritica and Gomez commenting when torture is inflicting on them and how they want to do that to each other through sexual means).
It was important to show the difference. And the Addams Family films have shown that.
They think outside of the box when it comes to thinking out a problem or trying to subdue feelings of helplessness. A prime example is the conversation in the first film when the Addams are at a motel. Morticia asks her children and her mother about what they can learn about the tortoise and the hare. The usual answer would be that ‘slow and steady wins the race’, but they surprise us with the answer of killing, skinning and boiling the hare and putting the tortoise on the highway at rush hour. The lesson learnt, they exclaim, is that anyone can do anything to them; they are resilient, they will not bow down to anyone, and that they are survivors and will find a way out of something.
“Sic Gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc. We gladly feast on those who would subdue us”
And like Moritica explains, not just pretty words. They are willing to fight for their family and fight fire with fire.
You have to remember that there are many ways to torture someone, and it doesn’t necessarily have to only be physical; mental manipulation and despair can be torturous to some. And being an Addams shows that they can even overcome that obstacle as a unit.
This resilience to back down, to accept defeat could be interpreted in every day life in how people judge others by what they are interested in and how they present themselves. We are all know that the Addams are spooky, strange and unusual, but they love it. They have found what they like, they have found likeminded people to express themselves with (think of the parties with dozens of people), and so, the most prominent and repeated lesson is the act of never judging a book by its cover. Like so many people outside of the Addams clan, that ignore their remarks that don’t fit their social constructs, to downright calling them names and becoming angry with them; the Addams have proven that they are actually very sweet and welcoming people.
They see no reason to hide their true selves, even in the face of ridicule or in situations with people who find them odd and even creepy. They blend their dark enchantment of death and monsters into everyday life, even in normal conversations without hesitation or even a second thought. This is just who they are.
There is a certain attraction in that kind of quality.
All in all, the Addams family have found who they are a long time ago, they have found others that are likeminded and express themselves without distraction or fear from others.
They welcome anyone who are forthcoming, answer things honestly and sometimes bluntly, and are excited by things that are unusual and perhaps deadly. This might be the connection between giving love to something that is perhaps not loved enough, like the stems of roses whilst throwing out the roses themselves, because they understand and empathise with many people who might feel alone in this endeavour to truly find ones place in the world. Like Fester in the first film, under the persona of ‘Gordon’ until he got his memory back, there is a place for everyone.
Its the understanding and learning of oneself that inspires the journey to find people that help bring ones true self to the surface, and then the loving and satisfying connection of knowing where you belong, with the freedom to express yourself in a wholesome environment.
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