The new Netflix installment is more rooted in fantasy than the previous Addams IP. All the sirens, gorgons, werewolves, vampires, and homicidal monsters lurking at night aren't something you find in your average high school (although some will argue). Still, ironically, the creators of Wednesday brought the Addamses out of camp and grotesque somewhere in a more reality-adjacent territory.
You might celebrate this artistic decision or criticize it, but in my opinion, it makes the new Wednesday show more applicable to our lives and the main character herself more relatable. What hasn't changed, however, is that the kookiest family and one of its most mournful members have a lot to teach us.
Lessons from our gloomy girl Wednesday
Of course, being the point-of-view character, Wednesday has the most messages to share with us. Here are some of the valuable things to borrow from Wednesday Addams' book.
Own your weirdness
No matter what you look, talk, or move like, what your style or tastes are, you already have a place in this world. You don't have to change yourself to fit in. Wednesday refuses to pretend being something she is not and lets this be everyone else's problem – not hers. This applies to her personal quirks as well as her hobbies and fascinations.
Wednesday knows that success starts from standing your ground and living your truth. You can be a non-conforming essay writer free from conventions of recommended structure or style. You can be a makeup artist reinventing yourself anew with every new look. You can be a chef creating daring cuisine in your kitchen. Your true passion, no matter how silly, useless, or unorthodox it might seem to others, is what makes you strong, unique, and ultimately – you.
Trust yourself
First of all, Wednesday trusts her intuition. In the Netflix series, this takes the form of psychic visions. Still, perceptiveness is Wednesday's recurring trait throughout her many incarnations on screen and in cartoons. She is the only one who suspects imposters and gold-diggers from the get-go. She can tell when something is off. So can you! Intuition is something we are all born with, but due to society's mixed signals and conditioning, we get confused and lose this connection to our inner wisdom. Wednesday reminds us that we should listen to ourselves more often.
Another thing that Wednesday stands by is her values. Even when she insists on having nothing in common with her parents, she acts on the values they've instilled in her. She knows right from wrong and has no doubts about what she likes and doesn't like. She does her thing with confidence and doesn't need anyone's approval to do what she believes is right for her.
Cut the bull
Wednesday always says it like it is. Saying what you really think and how you really feel is the shortest way to get what you need. If she got a boring busy work assignment, she would say everything she thought about it straight to the instructor's face. While others begrudgingly waste their time writing cookie-cutter answers they are expected to give or buy assignment just to get it over and done with, Wednesday would call out the insult to her intelligence and ask for something more challenging. She values her time and lets no one waste it, be that her peers or figures of authority.
Yes, truth isn't always pleasant and sometimes cuts deep, but Wednesday isn't afraid to push people away with honesty. It saves time and effort. Those who understand her and value her for what she is will stick around while others… She has no use for others.
You will find your tribe
Wednesday knows her worth and prefers to be alone rather than in the company of toxic people who pressure her to conform. Yet it doesn't mean she is a loner. She comes from a tight-knit family and values loyalty and genuine connection. She only extends her friendship and protective care to people with similar values. When her seemingly complete opposite – girly and cheerful Enid accepts her no matter what, Wednesday lets her in. Of course, being reserved and sensitive, Wednesday tests Enid's patience and amiability more than once. Yet once her friendship is won, we know it's completely and irreversibly.
Wednesday starts her year in the new school, determined to run away, so she doesn't seek any connection. Yet she ends it by building a little tribe of her own. The key is staying true to herself. She attracts like-minded people, even if they don't look like her and don't seem similar at all at first blush.
Lessons from the rest of the Addams Family in Wednesday
Yet no matter how spectacular Wednesday is on her own, she is still a part of the Addams ensemble. Even fading into the background of the story, each stand-alone member and family as a whole provide valuable real-life lessons we should all take note of. Here are some of my favorites:
Family is where you always belong
Although Wednesday rebels against her parents in the series, wants nothing in common with her mother, and says hurtful things criticizing her family and their conduct, she is accepted, loved, and cared for regardless. We see that both Gomez and Morticia are concerned and saddened by her rejection, but they keep reaching out and leave their arms open for her. They don't mirror Wednesday's negative attitude escalating conflict but don't dismiss her either. They know teenagers push boundaries by trying to break them and test family values by rejecting and subverting them. This is how young people learn who they are as individuals standing on their own two feet.
In this challenging phase, they do what all parents should know to do – contain negativity Wednesday directs their way and answer with love. They patiently wait until this phase is over, and Wednesday comes back to them as a grown-up – on her own terms.
Be helpful and loyal for its own sake
I'm not absolutely sure whether Thing started off as a play on the expression "handmaid" or a disembodied "helping hand." Anyway, Thing was surely meant to represent a fittingly weird servant or an original spin on technology in Addams's unconventional household, but he became a true blue member of the family years on. The Addamses always reward him with a heartfelt "thank you" for every little assistance. Morticia refers to him as "dear, sweet Thing."
Thing is always there to do for Wednesday what she needs, even when she doesn't care to ask – because that's what Thing does best. When Wednesday fails to display her gratitude in a traditional family way and Thing sulks (who wouldn't?) Wednesday cannot "buy" Thing's disposition back with the promise of gifts. All Thing needs are the acknowledgment of his efforts and a "thank you" once in a while.
Always stay positive and good things will happen
Positivity is definitely not the vibe Wednesday gives off, but Gomez, Morticia, and uncle Fester are oozing it. Gomez is generous, hospitable, and optimistic. He never fails to smile, sees a silver lining in every dark cloud, and is ready to shower random strangers with money out of the goodness of his heart. Also, he is absolutely unrestrained in displaying his affection to everyone in his family (especially his wife), which is a great display of healthy and confident masculinity this world needs more of.
The family's matriarch, Morticia, is an embodiment of affirmative love she bestows on everyone in the household – from her adoring husband to her pets and plants. She loves and is confident she will always be loved no matter what. When you are so full of love, there is just no place for insecurity anywhere near you.
Uncle Fester is full of childlike enthusiasm and genuine kindness to everyone he meets. He is definitely positively charged. He cares about his family and will always do anything to help (even if it sometimes backfires).
Although Wednesday stays her solemn and menacing self throughout the series, we see her kindness and loyalty to people she cares about. Those stem from the same place as her confidence and straightforwardness – coming from a loving, positive, affirming home, albeit with some skeletons in the closet.
