‘Wednesday’ Netflix’s New Addams Family Series
Netflix’s Newest Hit: “Wednesday” and the Controversy.
“Wednesday” Title Card From Trailer
Netflix has recently given its audience a new Addams Family series titled “Wednesday” and is Tim Burton’s newest piece of work. The plot following a thrilling murder mystery with a dash of romance.
The series was released on Nov, 23, 2022 and was already stirring up the community as far back as September all because of two characters and Netflix’s marketing of the series.
People became excited about the character Wednesday and a character named Enid being complete opposites yet still having a connection. Artists drew fanart of them together and edits were being compiled of the short time they were featured together in the trailers released, so when the series actually dropped and it was revealed that Enid and Wednesday were both set up with male love interests, the audience grew more wary.
In terms of production, the series is quite visually appealing despite the show having such dark hues. The jokes weren’t anything to fully burst out laughing at, but did get multiple chuckles from myself and those around me. And putting aside the romance aspect, it truly shines in the murder mystery part by leaving you guessing half the time and keeping you on your toes by ending the episode with eye opening cliffhangers.
The show obviously had its cons. It possibly could’ve had a better actor for Gomez, refined the looming threat, or touched on certain plot points for longer, but for an eight episode series all following a string of murders that are all connected to Wednesday herself, they really outdid themselves.
Now the real problem in the show is actually something that we never see. The show is facing a large amount of backlash due to their tactic of queer-baiting. To put it in easy terms, Netflix used its marketing to attract LGBTQ+ audience and didn’t deliver on the actual LGBTQ+ part. The only representation are a side characters same-sex parents.
This isn’t a big surprise for Netflix as they have a history of canceling or barely advertising LGBTQ+ media on their platform, but they consistently made tweets–Going through a period where their cover was “WednesGay”, that was a launch party featuring drag queens and queer performers–or retweeting about “WenClair”–Wednesday and Enid’s romantic relationship name–hinting at a queer relationship that was more entwined with the story.
These rumors spread quickly throughout the “Wednesday” community and with the little representation the queer community was given upon release, it caused Netflix to be flooded with hate. Especially since most in the show’s community see that Wednesday and Enid have much more built chemistry than their male love interests.
Looking at it for what it is, that being a murder mystery, it’s a good show that ended with a setup for a second season. It’s worth the watch if you don’t mind looking past all that happened and the few flaws the story itself has.
