THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1991)

Too Legit.

There isn’t much I can say about THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1991) that’s going to be covering new ground. It has been a classic from the moment it hit the screen, and the license continues to bring in new generations of fans. Expertly directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, brilliantly casting, and Caroline Thompson & Larry Wilson’s screenplay kept the feel of the original show while updating it for a contemporary audience. The overall production was meticulous, beautiful, wickedly stylish, and overall heartwarming. There isn’t anything I don’t like about it. I even love the end credit song “Addams Groove” by MC Hammer. It pairs well with the campy humor and fun charm. How do I pay tribute to a movie already well beloved? I do so by thanking it for teaching me about what makes a family.

If you were anything like me, you struggled to make friends as a kid. You never fit in and when you tried it only accentuated how awkward you were in social situations. Your interests didn’t follow the traditional path. Other kids did not know how to connect with you while you were pretend playing The X-Files or Ghostwriter instead of the childhood game of ‘House.” You dressed differently. Your humor was darker; but your heart was softer. You didn’t feel like you belonged anywhere. You were an outcast. You felt like an orphan. That’s how I remember childhood.

I was only six when THE ADDAMS FAMILY was released in theaters.

I don’t remember my first time seeing it, but I’m guessing it was something that my grandparents rented, because that’s how I watched most films then. I do remember that it became a tape I watched hundreds of times. I didn’t just watch the movie. I daydreamed about being in that universe.

I dreamt that I was an Addams. I dreamt that I had a family that understood and embraced me. I think that is the powerful magnetism of this film. Here was an outcast family with devious desires—yet they weren’t dysfunctional, depressed, or broken. They were loving, joyful, passionate, generous, and wholesome.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY was the first time I saw on screen that you could like all of these creepy and spooky things without having anything deemed wrong with you to make you that way. Their identity wasn’t based in their dance with the darkness. That was simply their natural state. Their identity was in their concept of family.

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

“We Gladly Feast on Those Who Would Subdue Us."

The Addams felt like an adoptive family who would let you stay up late reading Stephen King books on a school night. The Addams would hang up your monster drawings on the fridge. You did not have to be a spooky kid to love it though. I firmly believe that Morticia (Anjelica Huston) and Gomez (Raul Julia) would love any child that let their freak flag fly. It didn’t matter what kind of freak you were. Were you a crazed Lisa Frank kid? Paper those walls in neon tigers, girl.  Did you spend hours covering your hands in Elmer’s Glue just for the decadent feel of peeling it off? Dip yourself in a bath of it, baby. As long as you are a good-hearted, honest person, then the thing that mattered most was being true to yourself.

The strongest theme in this movie is that your family’s role is to embrace and protect your true self. Whether that family is found or biological, the purpose of the family is to lift each other. Multiple times throughout the film, we see the Addams venerate the accomplishments and quirks of their ancestors. Games like “Wake the Dead”, family dances like the Mamushka, and even Uncle Knick Knack in the attic remind the Addams that they draw their strength from their familial community.

When the Addams are forced to operate in the outside traditional world, it is this memory of ancestral pride that empowers them to reclaim what is rightfully theirs. Morticia’s speech at breakfast in the motel is downright inspiring. Even the depressed and broken Gomez is called to action (however meek). Interestingly, where does the power in her speech come from? It comes from simply invoking their name. There is so much strength in how we identify ourselves, but there can also be pain.

Upon rewatch, there is palpable tension in Uncle Fester’s face as the movie progresses, and he repeatedly gets called “Gordon.” This is not who he truly is, and something in his soul is clearly uncomfortable when being mislabeled. This is all too relevant now as society begins to better understand the power of how labels can either cage or empower people. The magic of this film is that it takes the negative connotation out of the word “weird” and flips it to mean “normal.”

The Addams aren’t the odd ones. It is everyone else. And, that’s how families should operate as well. Do not try to fit into a designated space in the world. Make the world give you the space you are owed. This starts by rewiring where you draw your power. It doesn’t come from the outside. It comes from the inside, and the people who are going to help you achieve that and protect it are your family.

As a kid, I thought the Addams were a perfect family. In that 99 minute runtime, I believed they had my back. I too felt empowered by my own weirdness. What an electric feeling to not only be seen but also embraced. Yet, this movie speaks to me as an adult as well. Probably the most underrated character in this movie is Margaret.

Margaret is introduced as flaky, naive, and somewhat simple. When we take a closer look, she is actually non-judgmental, genuinely kind, sweet, and has the same values as the Addams. She too is wholesome. So it is marvelously satisfying to see her become a part of the family at the end of the movie. This also further proves my point that you don’t have to be creepy to be embraced by the Addams, only decent and true.

It’s no wonder my six-year-old self was entranced by the allure of the family values that the Addams presented. Projecting a sense of belonging and empowerment, this film shows us that the real meaning of family is helping and protecting each other to be who we were meant to be.

They may be creepy and ooky. They may love mayhem and chaos, but I am hard pressed when trying to find a family more wholesome than the Addams Family. When I think about why I love this movie and family, I think MC Hammer sang it best:

They do what they want to do, say what they want to say,
Live how they want to live, play how they want to play,
Dance how they want to dance, kick and they slap a friend.
(The Addams Family)
Too legit.