In the beginning, Morticia (Anjelica Huston) gives birth to a baby. The movie begins with the ultimate symbol of female power: no one else can give birth to a new life.
Throughout the movie, Wednesday (Christina Ricci) scares her brother, Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) and many other kids her age. She makes Pugsley afraid of a tiny baby by convincing him he has to die.
Although she does torture him, she is also a highly protective sister. She defends the “odd” group when the kids are caught trying to escape the camp. She also seems to be the ring-leader for burning down the camp towards the end. Wednesday has no problem speaking her mind and defending her friends against ridicule.
When at summer camp, Wednesday is the only girl who can effectively scare the other camps. She knows how to twist a ghost story to truly scare the overly privileged girls.
Debbie (Joan Cusack) asserts her dominance with her husbands. She “mates then she kills”. After marrying wealthy bachelors, she mysteriously kills them and disappears. Her power lies in her sexuality and her ability to manipulate people.
In the end, Debbie describes how her husbands tried to run her and make decisions for her. They neglected (used loosely) her along with her parents causing her to react violently towards all of them. However, her extreme acts result, ultimately, in her destruction.
Even the band playing at Morticia and Gomez’s (Raul Julia) “favorite bistro” is made-up of all women.
The women in this movie possess a lot of power which they use to their advantage when necessary.
Enjoy some tropes and idioms for this movie!
I found an interesting question raised on the internet but not fully explored: Do you think the Addams family members are immortal? Thus, do you think they were simply humoring Debbie at the end of the movie in the electric chairs? Leave your thoughts in comments below.
Thanks and have a great weekend!