essay about wednesday movie

Meaning of the movie “Wednesday” and ending explained

In November, the gloomy movie universe of The Addams Family was complemented by the new TV series Wednesday, directed by acclaimed director Tim Burton. The author is known for his work on such films as Beetlejuice, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Edward Scissorhands.

The story follows a young Wednesday Addams, played by Jenna Ortega. A girl from a famous family enters the Nevermore Academy, where people and creatures with mystical features are trained.

Even among the unusual school collective, Wednesday stands out for her predisposition to clairvoyance, which she inherited from her mother, Morticia. Thanks to the new interpretation, the girl can see the events of the past and the future.

What is the Wednesday series about?

The decisive turning point for the development of the series are piranhas released on brother Wednesday’s bullies. After this act, the parents, Gomez and Morticia, enroll the girl in the unusual Nevermore school. Over the past five years, she has already studied in eight schools, so for the Addams family, Wednesday’s admission to a new educational institution becomes the last step. In addition, Gomez and Morticia themselves studied at Nevermore.

In this version of The Addams Family, all people are divided into outcasts with abilities and ordinary people without a predisposition to the mystical. Therefore, “Nevermore” is a home for outcasts, all representatives of the main supernatural races are trained here: vampires, werewolves, sirens and gorgons. Other students also have abilities. One brings his paintings to life, the other is able to control insects.

In addition to new psychic abilities, we are revealed to the pedigree of Wednesday. The girl’s father is associated with Goody Addams, who was the first outcast in Jericho, a New England town near Nevermore.

Weems and therapist Valerie Kinbott argue that all of Wednesday’s previous actions are indicative of her stubbornness. The character of the main character continues to unfold, and at any opportunity she runs away from school. A relationship of trust develops between her and her classmates.

Adding to the emotion is another conflict in the series that arises with Enid Sinclair, Wednesday’s roommate. The complete opposite of Enid is emphasized not only by her cheerful nature, but also by the color schemes in the wardrobe, the interior of the room. Enid is a hereditary werewolf, but she has not yet undergone a complete transformation, which is reflected in her relationship with her family and pack.

Clashes with classmates continue, and after a few days of training, Wednesday is attacked by Rowan. To do this, the hero uses his strength. He justifies his act with the predictions of his mother, who also studied at Nevermore and talked about the death of the school after Wednesday entered it. In the plot, a terrible creature appears that kills Rowan.

Wednesday begins to look for the killer, as similar incidents with the mention of a similar monster have already happened. She negotiates with the sheriff and convinces her to help him in his search. The Sheriff believes that the killer is one of the Nevermore students, in which each outcast has a supernatural power or ability.

Wednesday continues to study at school. In the process, she makes new acquaintances, she makes friends. The girl becomes close to her neighbor and the usual son of the sheriff, Tyler. A new acquaintance reveals another conflict of the series between Tyler and Xavier, who have long been rivals with each other.

The rivalry develops into the beginning of a romantic relationship and the formation of a love triangle: both guys are interested in Wednesday. She suspects Tyler and Xavier’s infatuation, but takes no action. However, towards the end of the season, sympathy develops between the sheriff’s son and Wednesday.

Wednesday and her friends, with the help of an immutable attribute, the disembodied brush of the Addams family, begin to study the history of Jericho. They soon learn that her ancestor Goody was at enmity with the city’s founder, Creston. Wednesday has a vision of the past, in which she sees Craxstone killing the outcasts of the city. Goody escapes a similar fate, and then takes revenge on Craxstone.

Uncle Fester leads Wednesday to think about the monster, she understands who she is facing. The girl makes her guesses about a possible suspect, but the end of the season destroys her speculation and reveals the real identity of the monster.

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 3.4 / 5. Vote count: 33

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Wednesday (2022) Netflix Review & Ending, Explained – Who Could be Stalking Wednesday Addams? 

It is dark, gothic, and can be branded as an absolutely deliciously savory eight episodes, with casting, acting, costume design (Wednesday’s black-hued uniform was just outstanding!), and Tim Burton combining to provide audiences with a wonderfully unnerving dark teenage sleuth story on a Wednesday. 

Wednesday (2022) Review

Audiences hoping that that song would feature may remain disappointed, but a snap at one point would be music to their ears and serve as a cue to utter the words, “They’ve creepy, and they’re kooky….”

Burton ensures this ‘creepy and kooky’ vibe is retained throughout, partly achieved through the excellent casting choice. 

I believed she would make a good Wednesday Addams but was too old as The Addams Family had always had Wednesday and Pugsley as young children. Hence, Netflix pulled off a coup when they green-flagged this spin-off on a young adult Wednesday who attends the Nevermore Academy. Getting audiences invested with a perfect casting choice was just one part of the puzzle. 

Her delivery of to-the-point dry, and frank responses is what will be considered wicked. There may even be instances of people using the ‘Wednesday’ style of talking and walking; Ortega pulled it off well.  

Writers Alfred Gough and Mike Millar do their bit with Wednesday’s dry, frank, and downright creepy responses, having the ability to make audiences go ‘Wow.’ Particular lines that come to memory include Wednesday’s response to the Nevermore headmistress’ instruction that the students must be well-rounded. She said, “I prefer to remain sharp and edged.”

The eight episodes are closer to the 60-minute mark, but I didn’t feel it. Wednesday’s dry lines are expected beyond a point. Still, on the mystery investigation front, there is constant progress that is enough to raise questions, retain interest, and restrict you from pausing the streamer’s autoplay. 

Gwendolyn Christie ( Game of Thrones’ Brienne of Tarth) is another prominent name in Wednesday. As the headmistress of Nevermore Academy, she remains neutral to the T, a challenging task considering Wednesday is providing her with reason after reason to get expelled. The commanding presence of her character provides Tim Burton’s series with the calming influence that it needs. In a nod to this character’s past, Christina Ricci (Wednesday Addams from 1991’s The Addams Family) has a meaty role in this film as a supporting figure to Wednesday. One may think that she is just there in passing with the way she is positioned as the dorm mom, but like Principal Weems, audiences can suspect her as well, thanks to all the hints thrown at us over the course of the first seven episodes. I even considered Enid as the mastermind for a bit. 

Wednesday (2022) TV Series Ending, Explained

Laurel Gates then showed up and tried to shoot Wednesday, but she fell victim to a bee attack and a stomp from Miss Addams. 

After Principal Weems’ death, academics were suspended for the semester, and the children were sent home early. Xavier handed Wednesday a cell phone to be in touch. Once in the car, being driven home by Lurch, Wednesday opened it and saw a text message waiting for her. Two images of her were taken by a Stalker, who also threatened to kill her with a creepy animation. She dropped a monologue about threads that were still open as police vehicles raced by the car. In the final shot, Tyler transformed and seemingly was about to break free from his capture.

Who was Laurel Gates?

Eugene, the beehive guy, opted to help Wednesday examine the cave in the forest. However, he decided to go alone once Tyler showed up and took Wednesday to the Rave’N dance. He saw a figure blow up the mouth of the cave, a scene that illuminated the surroundings for a bit. He was then chased by the ‘Hyde’ and left for dead. Eugene survived and spilled the beans about a red pair of boots to Wednesday, pointing the finger at the one person in Nevermore and Jericho who had such a clothing choice. 

Marilyn Thornhill, the normie teacher at Nevermore, has been there for just a year. 

How did Laurel Gates know Tyler was a ‘Hyde’?

The Gates family despised the outcasts (Nevermore students) and kept tabs on them to destroy them. When the sheriff married a ‘Hyde,’ Laurel knew of it and then put the dots together on abilities passing down from one generation to the next. 

How did Laurel know Wednesday Addams would attend Nevermore Academy?

She didn’t. As someone against outcasts, Laurel was after anyone from Nevermore Academy. However, Wednesday’s Piranha incident at her old school, subsequent expulsion, and arrival at the school for outcasts only aided her attempts to resurrect her ancestor (Joseph Crackstone). It also provided her the opportunity to rid the offspring of the one who destroyed her family—kind of like a lucky break for the undercover Miss Thornhill. 

How did Wednesday survive after Joseph Crackstone stabbed her?

Goody Addams was able to save Wednesday due to Morticia’s pendant that was handed from daughter to mother on the first day at Nevermore Academy. 

Who saved Wednesday from the ‘Hyde’?

How did the bees converge directly on laurel gates.

Eugene learned that Wednesday was in danger and returned to the school. As something of an outcast among outcasts, one believed he didn’t have any abilities. However, he proved everyone wrong with his ability to control the bees and direct a whole horde of the insects toward Laurel Gates. It was a sort of revenge for Gates instructing Tyler to murder him.

Why did Wednesday hug, Enid Sinclair?

Who could be stalking wednesday addams  .

Wednesday, Addams received messages on her new number from some unknown individual. They contained images of her at the cafe and in Jericho. The individual on the other end hinted that Wednesday would still be under watch, and Addams also hinted at Thornhill and Tyler being mere pawns. Could there be a real master manipulator behind the scenes? 

Mayor Walker is also an option, as Wednesday Addams is aware of his role in her family’s history. 

Will there be a Season 2 of Wednesday?

Xavier asked this question at the end of the episode. Wednesday spoke about the unanswered questions at the end. There is scope for a season 2; it could take place outside Nevermore and allow characters like Gomez, Morticia, Pugsley, Lurch, and Uncle Fester to feature more. 

Audiences may also like to see more of the Nevermore Academy, especially a new principal and the return of characters like Enid, Xavier, Bianca, Ajax, and Eugene. This may be possible as it will help maintain Wednesday’s evolution and trust in her friends. 

Related: Netflix’s Wednesday (2022): Release Date, Trailer, Plot, Cast, And Everything We Know

Wednesday (2022) official trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q73UhUTs6y0

Netflix’s Wednesday (2022) Show Link: IMDb

Trending right now.

Well, it would be stating the obvious if someone proclaimed their love for films here. Why else would they be here? What would be useful, is knowing that I adore Hitchcock, Tarantino, and Nolan. I'm not averse to any type of film though as each cinematic work of art assists me in growing as a person and a cinema lover and a writer.

Similar Posts

Ant-Man (2015) Movie Review: Miniature Dreams

Enola Holmes (2020) Netflix Review: A Fun and Feminist Firecracker

Rain Dogs (Season 1), Episode 7 Recap & Ending Explained

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks (2022) Documentary Explained

Jalsa [2022] Review: A Well-Made Gripping Drama, Steering Out Of Control By The End

Peacemaker [2022] ‘HBO Max’ Review: Gunn Ensures That Names Like Peacemaker, Harcourt, and Vigilante Will Get a Cult Following

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, netflix's wednesday combines teen angst and murder.

Netflix’s Addams Family series “Wednesday” successfully combines two genres in a way that makes more sense than most—the teen coming-of-age story and the murder-mystery plot. Over the last decade or so, there’s been a lot of shows that have merged the two, using violence to juice up the general teen fair of crushes, college admissions, and meddlesome parents. But where shows like “ Riverdale ” can feel forced to the point of silliness, “Wednesday” succeeds thanks to its familiar protagonist and her macabre-loving family.

Fans of the Addams clan get plenty of service in this eight-part series. Thing, the living, moving severed hand, is a full-fledged character with ongoing gags about skincare and manicures, plus an (only metaphysical) heart of his own. Fred Armisen shows up for episode seven as Uncle Fester, winkingly playing the bald criminal. And the show plays with the highly sexually charged dynamic between Morticia ( Catherine Zeta-Jones ) and Gomez ( Luis Guzmán ). There’s even a bit with the two snaps from the famous theme song. For those with only a passing affection for the Addams family or the aesthetic of executive producer and director of half the episodes, Tim Burton , some of these bits may come to grate (we get it—they’re dark!). But there’s enough other stuff for fans and non-fans to enjoy.

Jenna Ortega 's performance as Wednesday elevates the series above pure nostalgia. She’s become a force in horror thanks to roles in 2022’s “Scream,” A24’s “ X ,” and Netflix’s “You” but while Wednesday may fancy herself to be living in a scary movie, her adventures are less blood-drenched and more camp comedy. Ortega excels in the role, leaning into a deadpan humor made all the funnier by her character’s lack of interest in anything approaching laughter.

The show’s directors get a lot of mileage out of Jenna Ortega ’s physicality, particularly in the high school dance scene, where she manages to own the floor while staying true to her dark nature. And it’s not just for comedy—more than once, we see the smallness of her body on the screen as she faces off again forces much bigger than her. These angles give her confrontations extra power, marking her as an underdog even as her superior insight and tenacity set her up to be the story's clear winner.

The show also leverages classic teen tropes to bring lightness to its dark halls, starting with the “ Clueless ” tour of the cliques at Wednesday’s new school. There’s also a convoluted sporting event that's a clear parallel to Harry Potter’s Quidditch . The aforementioned prom/dance comes complete with a (what else?) “ Carrie ” moment. And there’s so much more—the stuffy headmistress, the love triangle, the secret society.

Along the way, everything works. The mystery is hard to figure out but clearly in place all along and concludes satisfactorily. The action is suspenseful with real danger looming for likable (if mostly side) characters. And the social commentary—about the vileness of settler colonialism—is gratifying. 

Adding to these elements is Wednesday’s evolution out of, or at least through teen angst. She’s extremely sure of herself but with plenty of growing up to do. That makes her both an extraordinary and typical teen, someone who thinks they know everything while continuously being made to learn more. Over the series, we see her come to better understand her parents (even her mother!) as she comes into a more mature, less knee-jerk contradictory understanding of herself.

It’s rare to see a show so successfully mix coming-to-age character development with gross and gory ghouls and a serial murder plot on top of it all. By the end, I was smiling broadly, happy to have been back with these old friends and witnessing their familiar, family-driven hijinks. 

If there’s ever a character for whom death and darkness don’t weigh her down but are a normal part of her high school years, it’s Wednesday Addams. And Netflix’s “Wednesday” makes the most of its heroine’s unique disposition.

All eight episodes screened for review. "Wednesday" premieres on Netflix on November 23rd.

Cristina Escobar

Cristina Escobar is the co-founder of LatinaMedia.Co, a digital publication uplifting Latina and gender non-conforming Latinx perspectives in media.

Latest blog posts

Enter Regina Taylor's Black Album Mixtape Contest

The 10 Best Movies Made for Under $50,000

Doug Liman Never Does Things the Easy Way

Trapped in the System: Julio Torres on Problemista

Latest reviews.

We Were the Lucky Ones

Robert daniels.

The Truth vs. Alex Jones

Brian tallerico.

Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World

You Can Call Me Bill

Clint worthington.

Peyton Robinson

• Entertainment
• <i>Wednesday</i> Reboots the Addams Family With a Biting Condemnation of Colonialism—Just in Time For Thanksgiving

Wednesday Reboots the Addams Family With a Biting Condemnation of Colonialism—Just in Time For Thanksgiving

I n 1993’s Addams Family Values , Wednesday Addams (Christina Ricci) has been sent away to summer camp, and she is not happy about it. To make matters worse, the camp counselors have written a Thanksgiving-themed play in which they are forcing her to participate, cast as Pocahontas. Wednesday’s nemesis, the obnoxiously chipper Amanda Buckman (Mercedes McNab), stars as the “beautiful and kindly pilgrim lady” Sarah Miller, who has invited Pocahontas’ tribe to the supposed first Thanksgiving. At the last second, Wednesday breaks from the script.

“Wait,” she says, deadpan . “We cannot break bread with you.”

“You have taken the land which is rightfully ours,” she continues. “Years from now, my people will be forced to live in mobile homes on reservations. Your people will wear cardigans and drink highballs. We will sell our bracelets by the roadsides. You will play golf and enjoy hot hors d’oeuvres. My people will have pain and degradation. Your people will have stick shifts. The gods of my tribe have spoken. They have said, ‘Do not trust the pilgrims—especially Sarah Miller.’”

With that, she declares that she will scalp the pilgrims and destroy their village. All hell breaks loose as members of Pocahontas’ tribe of misfits run amok, setting the pilgrim village ablaze.

This iconic scene—seared into the cultural memory (of millennials, at least) although its stereotypes have aged poorly—epitomizes Wednesday Addams’ acerbic sense of justice. And it inspired Miles Milar and Al Gough, the showrunners behind Wednesday , the Netflix horror-comedy series starring Jenna Ortega which is out on Nov. 23. The show is the latest take on a family that first appeared in New Yorker cartoons in 1938, followed by the beloved ‘60s TV show and the ‘90s adaptations starring Ricci, Anjelica Huston, Raúl Julia, and Christopher Lloyd.

“People know her from that moment. So how do we extrapolate that?” says Milar, who along with Gough answered that question with a premise that involved colonial Americans as oppressors. “It felt very effortless to put her in a pilgrim idea. It was very organic to the Addams family.”

The Addams Family roots

No matter the time period in which they’re portrayed, members of the Addams family have always been viewed as outsiders. To their neighbors, they’re creepy and they’re kooky, they sound funny, they dress oddly, they eat strange foods: they’re a perfect allegory for immigrant families .

Milar and Gough decided to finally make this explicit after years of being implied. In the Netflix show, Wednesday’s newfound psychic visions introduce us to one of Gomez’s ancestors from Mexico, Goody Addams, who started a secret society to “protect outcasts from harm and bigotry.”

When Wednesday was in development, the idea of “outcasts” versus “normies” came even before that of critiquing colonialism. The concept of celebrating those rejected by society sprang directly from Charles Addams’ cartoons. “In some form, the Addams were always disruptors in a normal world,” says Gough. “The Charles Addams cartoons were a reaction to the ‘50s America: the white picket fence and the house. It’s a little subversive, but also pointing out that it’s also kind of bullsh-t.”

In Wednesday , says Milar, “It’s an allegory for racism and prejudice and all those things that we’re dealing with now. And I think that’s the interesting thing about genre shows: That you can—not in a sledgehammer way, but in a way that’s buried—talk about real issues that are affecting the modern world.”

Outcasts and immigrants

One of the issues that Wednesday addresses—which pairs well with its critique of colonialism—is immigrant identity. In the 1991 film The Addams Family and its 1993 sequel Addams Family Values , Puerto Rican actor Raúl Julia played Gomez Addams, Wednesday’s father. Since then, some have viewed the Addams family as canonically Latino—a view affirmed by Wednesday’s casting of Puerto Rican actor Luis Guzmán as Gomez and Mexican and Puerto Rican actor Jenna Ortega as Wednesday.

“Wednesday is technically a Latina character, and that’s never been represented,” Ortega said in a behind-the-scenes video. “Any time that I have an opportunity to represent my community, I want that to be seen.”

Milar says that while they considered many actors for the lead role, they always hoped to cast a Latina actor. “That was always our goal. We wanted to make sure we didn’t leave any stone unturned. And obviously Jenna was Latina, but also she was the best actress, by far, for the role.”

In the first episode of Wednesday , a mournful rendition of La Llorona plays on the gramophone in Wednesday’s dorm room as she clacks away on her typewriter. When the Addams come to visit for Parents’ Weekend, Wednesday’s younger brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) sucks on a tamarind candy. “It’s not hammered over the head, but there are moments,” says Milar. “The choices of music she plays and food. It’s subtly laid in that she is also American; she’s the daughter of immigrants. Because Gomez grew up in Mexico.”

An Addams Family Thanksgiving

The show’s release date set for late November rather than October may have surprised some, given the gothic family’s longtime association with Halloween. But the Addams family also holds a strong connection to both anti-colonialism and Thanksgiving, at least since the 1993 movie.

Wednesday ’s pilgrim storyline flashes back in time to a fictional settler named Joseph Crackstone who founded Jericho, the Vermont town where much of the show unfolds, in the early 1600s. Jericho sits adjacent to Nevermore Academy, the school that Wednesday attends alongside werewolves and vampires. And Pilgrim World, a modern living-history museum that offers daily witch trials, describes Crackstone, much like Sarah Miller, as “beloved and pious.”

On Outreach Day—intended to improve relations between Nevermore “outcasts” and Jericho “normies”—Wednesday is forced to volunteer with her classmates serving free fudge samples at Pilgrim World.

“Enjoy your ‘authentic’ pilgrim fudge made with cacao beans procured by the oppressed Indigenous people of the Amazon,” she tells a group of tourists in fluent German. “All proceeds go to uphold this pathetic whitewashing of American history. Also, fudge wasn’t invented for another 258 years. Any takers?”

“Our first idea was that Thanksgiving was a time the pilgrims invited the outcasts and then murdered them,” says Gough. “That just felt like a very Addams family kind of approach. So that’s something that was very much in the DNA—and then obviously plays through the whole mystery of the show.”

Joseph Crackstone, as Wednesday soon discovers, swore to persecute all outcasts. In true fire-and-brimstone style, he rounded up the oppressed of the settlement—from those accused of witchcraft to immigrants, including an Addams family ancestor—shackled them to the floor of a barn, and lit the whole thing on fire. In the present day, Wednesday retaliates by burning down a new memorial statue of Crackstone—freshly dedicated on Outreach Day—in the town square.

Gough grew up in southern Maryland, where there was an early settlement, not unlike Pilgrim World. He visited colonial Williamsburg as a kid. Tim Burton, who co-created and co-directed the series, went to similar attractions in Massachusetts and New England when he was researching 1999’s Sleepy Hollow .

“It was something that was always fascinating to see, but then once you learn the real history, you realize, ‘Oh, OK, it’s being told from a certain point of view,’” says Gough. “We wanted to disrupt that point of view and have Wednesday be a key point.”

TV shows about dysfunctional families abound: Succession, Arrested Development, Yellowstone, Game of Thrones, Empire . Few fictional families, though, are functional—and even fewer love each other fiercely for their differences.

“Especially when you’re going into the holidays—when people have to get together and that’s always so stressful—there’s divisions for whatever reasons,” says Gough. “I think people ultimately wish, ‘Oh, I wish we could go to Thanksgiving and all just get along and celebrate our differences and be empathetic to them.’”

Enter: the Addams family. Created as the ultimate outsiders, Wednesday, her brother Pugsley, and their parents Morticia and Gomez are, in fact, timeless and aspirational in their closeness.

“We wanted to lean into that part of the Addams family,” says Gough of the immigrant identity. “A lot of it people had assumed, but it hadn’t really been explored. And the beauty of an eight-hour show is that you get to explore.”

More Must-Reads From TIME

• Biden’s Campaign Is In Trouble. Will the Turnaround Plan Work?
• Why We're Spending So Much Money Now
• The Financial Influencers Women Actually Want to Listen To
• Breaker Sunny Choi Is Heading to Paris
• The UAE Is on a Mission to Become an AI Power
• Why TV Can’t Stop Making Silly Shows About Lady Journalists
• The Case for Wearing Shoes in the House
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Contact us at [email protected]

You May Also Like

• Best Netflix Original Movies
• Best Comedies on Netflix
• Best Netflix Original Series
• Best Anime on Netflix
• Best Shows on Netflix
• Best Movies on Netflix
• Best Fantasy Movies on Netflix
• Entertainment

Wednesday review: making goth great again

“Series star Jenna Ortega and director Tim Burton bring The Addams Family to life in a quirky gothic mystery for Netflix that's monstrously fun.”

• Jenna Ortega perfectly embodies the character
• Great blend of supernatural horror, teen drama
• Adds depth to the entire Addams Family
• Visual effects are good, not great

Wednesday Addams isn’t the first character that comes to mind when you’re searching for someone with the cachet to carry a solo series, but it doesn’t take long for Tim Burton and Wednesday star Jenna Ortega to make her star power abundantly clear in Netflix’s dark, delightfully entertaining series .

Color us scared

Darkness becomes her, they mostly come out at night.

A spinoff of The Addams Family franchise,  Wednesday follows the titular, elder Addams sibling after she finds herself expelled from high school due to a nasty incident involving the water polo team and two bags of piranhas . The event prompts her parents, Gomez Addams (Luis Guzmán) and Morticia Addams (Catherine Zeta-Jones), to enroll her in their former alma mater, prep school Nevermore Academy, which specializes in educating “outcast” children. As she attempts to forge her own path at the school, where her parents’ legacy looms large, Wednesday soon finds herself wrapped up in a mystery tied to killings in a nearby town.

Wednesday hails from Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and although it manages to channel some of the same young adult drama the pair brought to their teenage Superman series, it’s Burton’s aesthetic that informs much of the look and feel of Wednesday ‘s first, eight-episode season.

• The Resident is a hit on Netflix now. Watch these 3 great shows that are just like it
• 10 best Korean TV dramas streaming right now
• 3 great Netflix shows to watch on Valentine’s Day

The Sleepy Hollow and Beetlejuice director helms the series’ first four episodes, and draws from a similar palette as his 1990 film Edward Scissorhands , which had its characters bouncing between two contrasting environments: One dark and gothic, and the other bright and colorful. Like the title character of that film, Wednesday’s adventures have her and her classmates — werewolves, sirens, and gorgons among them — navigating between the stark stone and dark forest of their gothic home and the bright streets of an exaggerated small-town America.

As one might expect, Burton is right at home in the comic-gothic vibe of Wednesday’s world, but he also manages to fit Nevermore surprisingly well into the brightly colored, traditional Americana surrounding it. The two aesthetics  shouldn’t mesh as well as they do, but Wednesday makes the weaving together of these worlds feel surprisingly seamless.

While the look and feel of  Wednesday is executed amazingly well, it’s Ortega’s performance as the title character that ultimately sells the series.

It’s difficult to imagine anyone nailing Wednesday’s dry, morbid personality as well as Christina Ricci in the live-action Addams Family films of the 1990s, but Ortega runs away with the role in the Netflix series. Ortega is a talented actress whose recent, well-received performances in Ti West’s X  and  Scream suggest she’s no stranger to dark subject matter, but  Wednesday flexes an entirely different sort of approach to the material, and Ortega rises to the occasion. Her deadpan delivery rarely falters, and in those rare moments where the story calls for her to do so, Ortega finds just the right amount of subtlety to keep her character’s coming-of-age experience in character.

She’s not alone in giving a great performance, either.

In supporting roles, Guzmán and Zeta-Jones offer a version of the Addams Family central couple that’s both familiar and unique  and plays to the celebrated actors’ strengths. It’s no easy task to measure up to the portrayals of Gomez and Morticia in the original television series (John Astin and Carolyn Jones) and the two live-action theatrical features of the ’90s (Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston), but Wednesday ‘s version of the deeply romantic, macabre duo finds the happy medium between their past and present incarnations. The same is true of Fred Armisen’s too-brief appearance as Wednesday’s iconic Uncle Fester, with the Portlandia star’s wacky performance playing well off Wednesday’s dry presence.

Despite the series’ focus on Wednesday Addams, it also does a remarkable job of building out the entire Addams Family’s backstory in some fun, fascinating ways.

The fictional history of creator Charles Addams’ family of characters has rarely adhered to any sort of canon, and Wednesday sends the Addams Family timeline in some new, clever directions. The series sheds some light on Morticia and Gomez’s early years and burgeoning romance at Nevermore Academy, for example, and reveals some intriguing plot points about their time there and how it shaped some well-known aspects of the characters. Although the show keeps the spotlight on Wednesday, the story of the entire Addams Family feels significantly richer with the lore Wednesday brings to their saga.

Outside of the established Addams Family characters appearing in the series,  Wednesday also introduces some compelling supporting characters to her world.

Gwendoline Christie ( Game of Thrones ) offers a nice foil for Wednesday as the headmistress of Nevermore, while Emma Myers portrays Wednesday’s eternally perky, optimistic roommate (who also happens to be a werewolf), Enid Sinclair. Both actresses give strong performances that tease out more of Wednesday’s character and give her the sort of surrounding cast of enemies and allies that make her feel like a more fully realized character.

Ricci herself plays a recurring role in the series , too, as the school’s botany instructor, Marilyn Thornhill, and watching her and Ortega interact makes for some extra fun, self-aware humor.

Fans of popular Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will likely feel some familiarity with Wednesday , which manages to hit the sweet spot between dark, supernatural adventure and teen drama surprisingly well.  Wednesday goes quite a bit darker than that series, though, thanks to Burton’s influence and even more quirky characters.

Fans of Burton’s work, anyone looking to fill that Sabrina void, or viewers simply intrigued by the idea of a gothic horror-comedy with a compelling mystery at its center and a great cast of unique, colorful characters will find plenty to like about  Wednesday . Mysterious and spooky and altogether ooky, the series is a scream in all the right ways.

Season 1 of Wednesday premieres November 23 on Netflix.

Wednesday (2022)

Editors' recommendations.

• 3 Netflix shows we can’t wait to see in April
• The 50 best shows on Netflix in March 2024
• If you like Monk on Netflix, watch these three great TV shows right now
• How to get Netflix for free
• Like Netflix’s hit series One Day? Then watch these three great rom-coms shows right now
• Product Reviews
• Streaming Services

For football fans, the Super Bowl is the culmination of their fandom; all the pre-season games, the post-season clashes, and endless commentary about quarterbacks, tight ends, and wide receivers have all led to this. For everyone else, it's just another Sunday to pass the time by watching movies.

With the 2024 Super Bowl overwhelming the pop culture landscape, finding the right movie to watch can be hard. Digital Trends has compiled a list of movies on various streamers like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, Max, and Hulu that are guaranteed to please everyone in the household, from the hardcore cinephile to the most passive viewer.

At last, it has arrived: Super Bowl 2024. For football fans, the Super Bowl is the apex of their year. For everyone else, it's just another Sunday to pass the time by catching up on work, hanging out with friends, or watching TV shows on your favorite streaming service.

With the 2024 Super Bowl overwhelming the pop culture landscape, it can be hard to find the right TV show to watch. Digital Trends has compiled a list of excellent series showing on various streamers like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Max, and Hulu that are guaranteed crowd-pleasers.

Millions and millions of people are going to tune in to watch the 2024 Super Bowl, but millions of other people are going to choose to do something else with their time. If you're not interested in the ongoing madness around the 49ers, the Chiefs, and Taylor Swift, you do not need to worry. There are other great things you can catch on your TV.

We've rounded up three great movies from 2023 that you can catch up on while the big game is airing. From some of the year's most acclaimed films to one title that slipped mostly under the radar, these are three great movies you can watch instead of tuning in to the Super Bowl.

Netflix's Wednesday: Plot, Cast, Release Date, and Everything Else We Know

Everyone's favorite member of The Addams Family will be getting her own series soon. Here's what we know about Wednesday so far!

Wednesday is bringing the darkness everyone loves to Netflix. And everyone loves The Addams Family ! Their cheerfully gothic presence gave every alternative teenager (and adult) a reason to be happy about being different. They drove a hearse around town. They could be seen at the beach in full black attire. They would walk into a restaurant and order a plate of spaghetti and eyeballs. All while keeping the nonchalant expression that told the world all this was perfectly normal. It was everyone else who was strange.

There was a vampiric mother, a sword-fighting father, a cousin who was just a pile of hair, and certainly, everyone’s favorite daughter: the expressionless and sadistic Wednesday. While The Addams Family was born in 1938 in a New Yorker cartoon by Charles Addams, most will know them from their live-action films in the '90s or the more recent animated movies in 2019 and 2021. And now they return to the screen with Wednesday at center stage .

The new Netflix series just dropped a first look at the frightful main character and Thing, the sentient hand who has always been a family member. Though it's just a teaser, it’s enough to get fans excited to hear the director is none other than the master of the macabre -- Tim Burton .

Wednesday recently had some big announcements at New York Comic Con. The show released its official trailer, giving fans their first look at Nevermore Academy, the strange boarding school for supernatural children where the series will be taking place. The trailer also showed us the new Uncle Fester, along with his special powers. We also got a look at who Christina Ricci will be playing. The trailer answered many of the big questions fans had coming into the premier. We also finally got a specific release date.

Updated October 2022 by Ted Bajer : If you're excited about Netflix's Wednesday , you'll be happy to know we've updated this article with additional info from New York Comic Con 2022.

Wednesday: The Plot

The Addams Family typically has fairly predictable storylines. They mostly feature a slice of the odd life that they lead. But some of the most popular movies have been strange turns focused on specific characters, like the 1991 movie when Uncle Fester was secretly replaced by someone planning to evict the Addams Family. That’s what we’ll be getting with Wednesday .

The new series will look at this terrifying girl in a new light. Mostly, we’re used to seeing her incessant intellectual torture of her brother, Pugsley. Wednesday would craft horrible traps, design ghastly experiments, and generally use Pugsley as some type of tortured, but strangely willing, guinea pig. But this series promises much more than just the devious designs of Wednesday Addams.

Related: Beetlejuice 2: What We Hope to See in the Long-Awaited Sequel

This time, Wednesday will be going through adolescence as she journeys through this coming-of-age story. Teddy Biaselli, the director of YA/Family series at Netflix, says this about what the writers have in store :

“When we first heard Al Gough and Miles Millar’s pitch for Wednesday we were struck, like an arrow from a crossbow, right in our hearts. They nailed the tone, the spirit and the characters, but gave us a fresh way into this story. The upcoming eight-episode series is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday’s years as a student at the peculiar Nevermore Academy. Wednesday's attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago - all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships of the strange and diverse student body.”

So, it looks like we will see Wednesday experience some growth and change (and incredible psychic powers), and also, we’ll get to see a little detective work from the dark genius. It’s exciting to hear that this won’t just be a regular Addams Family story, but we’ll get something new and familiar.

Wednesday: The Cast & Crew

The cast includes some fantastic stars, familiar faces from other popular programs, and some members of the Addams Family from previous show incarnations. Wednesday Addams' return to the screen will be portrayed by Jenna Ortega , who played Young Jane in Jane the Virgin and Lorraine in X . She is a good choice for the role given her experience in horror films like the most recent Scream movie and the Foo Fighters’ Studio 666 .

And naturally, we have the amazing Tim Burton directing. Described as a lifelong fan of The Addams Family , Tim Burton is known for being an auteur who writes and directs films that are creepy and a little offbeat while still being warm and cheerful. You’ll, of course, know his work in Edward Scissorhands , the more modern versions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland , and Pee-Wee's Big Adventure .

Related: Rob Zombie's The Munsters: Plot, Cast, and Everything Else We Know

Another face you might recognize on Wednesday is Catherine Zeta-Jones ( The Mask of Zorro, Traffic ), who plays Morticia Addams opposite Luis Guzman's ( Boogie Nights, Traffic ) Gomez. It is bound to be an interesting romance, as always, and at least the height difference will be accurate. Isaac Ordonez ( A Wrinkle in Time ) will be Pugsley, but unfortunately, we won’t see that much of him. He’s only in two episodes.

Victor Dorobantu, who is making his acting debut as a hand, will play Thing. Gwendoline Christie from Game of Thrones will be Larissa Weems, the principal of Nevermore Academy. And Christina Ricci , famous for playing Wednesday in the '90s, was finally revealed as Ms. Thornhill, a teacher at the academy. In the trailer, she introduces herself to Wednesday and her roommate. Her performance is one of the most anticipated parts of the series.

We also got to see Uncle Fester, who will be played by the legendary Fred Armisen. While Wednesday is alone in the woods, a dark figure appears behind her. She goes to stab him with her sword, but he grabs it mid-stab. He sends a small electric shock down the blade, disarming Wednesday. And when he finally removes his hat, we see the charming, hairless face of Uncle Fester. He invites Wednesday for a little "in cognito" ride in a motorcycle sidecar painted like a dalmatian. Fans can't wait to see him in the series.

The series is certain to be something to see. The cast list includes many other actors playing roles such as Wednesday’s school friends or possible rivals. Emma Myers is Enid Sinclair, who will be Wednesday’s roommate. Joy Sunday is Bianca Barclay, a popular kid who is also a siren. Hunter Doohan plays Tyler Galpin, a “townie” who becomes Wednesday’s friend. And Naomi Ogawa plays Yoko Tanaka, a popular vampire at the school. It will definitely be the Halloween Netflix special everyone will want to watch.

Release Date

Wednesday is set to release on Netflix on November 23, 2022.

THE MOVIE CULTURE

Netflix’s Wednesday Season 1 (2022) Review & Summary: A Glimpse of the Good Old Times

The 8-episode series, Wednesday, was released on 23rd November. It is a spin-off of The Addams Family and is directed by Tim Burton, the director of Batman . All the episodes are now streaming on Netflix.

Wednesday Season 1 (2022) Cast

• Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams
• Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin
• Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair
• Catherine Zeta Jones as Morticia Addams
• Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams

Wednesday Season 1 (2022) Plot

Nevermore is a school for outcasts and the newest student is the definition of too good for society, Wednesday Addams. As soon as she stepped into the premise, the school changed. Ghosts, Monsters, Murders, and Secret Societies, all erupt. So does romance. There is a hand with no body and a mystery that seems to only knock on Wednesday’s door. Yes, there are also werewolves, vampires, and sirens. Nevermore has it all.

Wednesday Season 1 (2022) Review

Restating a point that I have made, 2022 is a year of remakes and sequels. Nostalgia sells and in this day and age, gives people a glimpse of the good old times. The 90s was an important decade for cult classics. The Addams Family is one such classic. Everyone has watched it and with its quirky darkness, it has charmed all.

The simple theme of a weird family is all it took. And the creepiness. The silliness and the perfect sarcasm also helped. In 1991, Barry Sonnenfeld directed a one-of-a-kind story. No one had mastered comedy horror like him. The Addams Family was a Halloween staple in all houses because of how immaculately it captured the essence.

Following in the same footsteps is the spin-off series, Wednesday. Released 31 years after the original, this series is not a remake or a sequel. The spin-off is also only restricted to the series using popular characters. The rendition of which is unique. It is reminiscent of the quirkiness and the old-time setting. At which the year the series is set remains unknown but it doesn’t matter.

Wednesday is doing what Wednesday does best. Letting wild piranhas lose in a pool full of high school bullies. With being expelled from many schools, an accomplishment she fancies, Wednesday is now being dragged to Nevermore. The school that gave us Morticia and Gomez. For Wednesday, life is but a dredge of opportunity and she will do anything to be tortured but remaining in her mother’s shadow isn’t one of them.

The Fame of Nevermore

Morticia was the fame of Nevermore. She excelled and she charmed. Going to Nevermore was a reminder to Wednesday about everything her mother did best. Life was a competition for Wednesday so she had to fight. Upon the death of her beloved scorpion, she had sworn to never cry. Tears do nothing. In Nevermore, she was adamant to flee. From her first outing, she had planned the foolproof way to sneak out of her court-mandated therapy and leave the outcast-forsaken town of Jericho.

This is where the cute barista boy enters the picture. It is a fact universally acknowledged, men adept with the work of caffeine must be the fancy of a sarcastic, bitter, and straight woman. It helps if they are also hunky. Hunter who plays Tyler is a beautiful person. How can a person be a cute and walking embodiment of sunshine while also being so reciprocative of Wednesday’s nature? He helps her navigate her escape which she ultimately ditches. As Wednesday elongates her education in Nevermore, she also leans more toward Tyler. The Wednesday who was more interested in the murder has not one but two love interests in this series. Courtesy of Tim Burton’s perfectly balanced direction, fans also ship Enid and Wednesday. Yes, maybe the 1991 Wednesday would not be onboard with the sudden blossoming of romance.

Wednesday Series is Engaging with Occasional Lag

In terms of story, the series is pretty engaging. As there is a hint of lag, there is a new character introduced or a fascinating gothic dance choreography. It was a little messy in places where things were happening but it seemed to contribute nothing and also lacked enough content to make sense. Some scenes felt like unneeded fillers.

The notable actors were Christina Ricci, the original Wednesday, Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones ), the perfect headmaster for Nevermore, and wacky Gordon played by Fred Armisen. Armisen deserved a lot more screen time even though there wasn’t much to that storyline either. The adults of the series were so on point and the fact that Fred was unrecognizable added to the astonishing nature of the series. Luis Guzman is Gomez. He embodied the character so well it is as if he was made for the role. The chemistry between him and the gorgeous Catherine Zeta-Jones was lovely. They were cringey and in love. Exactly what can be expected from Mr. and Mrs. Addams.

Some storylines continued to be unanswered. There were threads that continued hanging fragmented with possibly no closure in a second season. Hopefully, there is a second season. The hype of the series was definitely justified. If I was a preteen watching this show then I can guarantee that Wednesday would be my entire personality. Jenna Ortega made a character like her the next manic pixie. Goth needed a revival.

Lastly the fashion of the show. My, oh my. The series was a high school palette. All sorts of styles were thrown in. Wednesday’s goth. Enid’s bold and loud colors and Morticia’s dark motherly flowing outfits. There was a bit of everything. A modernized take on traditional aesthetics. While goth is usually understood as only black, in the series, Wednesday wears black and white. The white adds to how her outlook on life is now restricted by the Nevermore norms. At the same time, Xavier and Tyler, the two romantic interests, have dissimilar fashions. Xavier goes for the brooding layered artist look while Tyler is a boy next door with T-shirts that do wonders for his muscular arms. As the story progresses, their costumes also reflect the growing complexity of their relationships and lives.

The Movie Culture Synopsis

Overall, the series is so well put together and every detail can be analyzed and studied. Tim Burton brought to life a classic family like The Addams Family without tarnishing the original. Jenna Ortega showed everyone that she is the star to look out for in the future and yes, her choreography is exactly how Wednesday would dance.

You may have missed

• TMC Exclusives
• TMC Originals

Yuta Okkotsu’s Domain Expansion Explained: Authentic Mutual Love – Jujutsu Kaisen Manga

Top 101 Movies of All Time: As per IMDb ratings

Why we all love the Kung Fu Panda Franchise

• Uncategorized

Leave the World Behind: Ending Explained

Review: ‘Wednesday’ Season 1

“Monday’s child is fair of face, Tuesday’s child is full of grace. Wednesday’s child is full of woe, Thursday’s child has far to go. Friday’s child is loving and giving, Saturday’s child works hard for a living. And the child born on the Sabbath day Is bonny and blithe, good and gay.”

Wednesday Addams — both Charles Addams’s original character and the incarnation seen in Alfred Gough and Miles Millar’s new Netflix series Wednesday — was named after the above nursery rhyme. The word “woe” appears in every episode title of the new show, and that’s sadly appropriate for a series determined to be as cold and dour as possible. Though the cast is stellar, with star Jenna Ortega and the delightfully arch Gwendoline Christie serving as standouts, the writing falters. A convoluted mystery, generic hijinks that miss the point of the Addams Family entirely, and shockingly out-of-touch ideas about race, gender, and sexuality make Wednesday a missed opportunity to bring a new classic to the creepy and kooky family’s live-action legacy. It bears repeating that Ortega shines brightly as the titular character, because her efforts, up to and including viral dance scenes, are nearly the only things that save the series from itself. 

When Wednesday gets kicked out of Nancy Reagan High for dropping bags of piranha into a swimming pool where the boys who bullied her brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) are swimming, she is expelled and forced to enroll in Nevermore Academy, where her father Gomez (Luis Guzmán) and mother Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) attended school and fell in love with each other. The piranha sequence is a highlight of the series, underscoring everything that people love about the ‘90s Barry Sonnenfeld films: morbid humor, wicked sociopolitical commentary, cartoonish violence, and the Addamses getting retribution against those who harm them. Sadly, the majority of the series can’t live up to this strong opening,. Once Wednesday arrives at Nevermore, a school for “outcasts” (try to keep track of how many times the show uses the word “outcast” or “normie” — just don’t turn it into a drinking game), the show becomes a disappointing mishmash of Veronica Mars , Chilling Adventures of Sabrina , and Harry Potter . Wednesday becomes embroiled in a murder mystery, which is tied up in a monster mystery, which is itself tied up in a prophecy involving Wednesday and her witch ancestor. 

If any of these mysteries worked on their own, the series might stand on stronger footing, but they are simultaneously too easily solved and too convoluted. Worse still, each one is wrapped up in a shallow, blinkered exploration of colonialism and straight white privilege. Nevermore Academy is located in Jericho, Vermont (which is clearly a Romanian set tragically awash in omnipresent shades of grey and blue). Jericho is home to Pilgrim World, a celebration of all things related to religious extremism and — as Wednesday rightly points out — genocide. Fans of Addams Family Values might perk up at this point, hoping for another righteous takedown of colonialism and the lies white people tell themselves about their history in North America. Unfortunately, Wednesday’s truth-telling is just a fleeting moment. The “normies” who support Pilgrim World include its Black owner, Mayor Noble Walker (Tommie Earl Jenkins), and his son Lucas (Iman Marson). Lucas’s introduction on the series includes a bizarre moment when he threatens Wednesday with sexual violence. (Wednesday is an accomplished fighter, however, and she dispatches Lucas and his two friends, though Tim Burton’s direction muddles the fight scene to the point where you have to watch it a few times to piece together what would have otherwise been an impressive bit of stunt work.) Presenting a Black man as the owner of a theme park devoted to colonialism, and having his son be a bully who threatens small girls, is just one of the many wrong-headed decisions Wednesday makes. 

In an attempt at a classic Odd Couple moment, Wednesday ends up with a roommate named Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers), a Luna Lovegood type who loves rainbows, chit-chat, and hugs…all of the things that Wednesday despises. When Enid takes Wednesday on a tour of the school, she tells her that “Nevermore was founded in 1791 to educate people like us: outcasts, freaks, monsters; fill in your favorite marginalized group here.” For a show that wants to tackle racism, religious extremism, genocide, and other forms of oppression, it’s laughably offensive to gloss over actually marginalized groups in favor of the generic “outcasts” and “freaks.” It’s in keeping with Burton’s whitewashed goth approach to film, but it has no place in an Addams Family adaptation. The Addamses are Latinx themselves, and Wednesday’s ancestor Goody Addams (also played by Ortega) — who never gets a first name — is a Mexican woman living in what would become Vermont. The script occasionally allows Wednesday to point out real injustice, but it also pulls regrettable stunts with a shoehorned-in #MeToo subplot involving Morticia. The script actually has her tell Mayor Walker — a Black man living in the United States — that since he’s a man, he’s never been in a position where people didn’t believe him about something. The Addamses may be historically kooky, but they are not oblivious to political reality, and it’s a disservice to both the character and the audience to have Morticia be so obtuse and espouse such a white feminist idea. 

The students at Nevermore are divided into cliques — fangs, furs, scales, etc. — depending on what kind of “monster” they are. Enid is a werewolf (a fur, obviously), but she’s a “late bloomer” who can’t “wolf out” like the rest of her friends and family. Enid’s character is a clear stand-in for a queer allegory. She has white-blonde hair with blue and pink ends, going as far as possible to wear a trans pride flag on her head without affixing a literal piece of cloth to her body. (She also wears a sweater that could easily double as a lesbian pride flag.) Her mother tells her that they are sending her to a conversion therapy camp — yes, the character uses those exact words — to help her wolf out so she can go through the proper form of puberty and express her identity in an acceptable way. The idea of conversion therapy, a form of abuse that causes immense harm to its victims in real life, is never interrogated on the show. Later on in the season, Enid wolfs out fully when she has to protect Wednesday, and the looming threat of conversion therapy is simply abandoned. So too is Enid’s queer coding: rather than confessing her feelings for Wednesday, which had been hinted at throughout the season, she ends up romantically involved with a male classmate. Enid’s queer coding — her fondness for rainbows and trans color scheme, her infatuation with and loyalty to Wednesday, the mention of conversion therapy and all its implications — was either a bait and switch meant to satisfy queer viewers, or it was a half-baked attempt at sociopolitical commentary that didn’t have the courage or the ability to go where it needed to go. 

It is this pathetic approach to social commentary that gives the show’s narrative the air of being poorly thought out. If your understanding of Wednesday Addams begins and ends with the fact that she’s a goth girl and an outsider, you end up with the underdeveloped Wednesday and its waste of a talented cast and crew. The show has “great gowns, beautiful gowns”: Colleen Atwood’s costume design is outstanding, Danny Elfman and Chris Bacon’s music is suitably macabre and witty, and Jenna Ortega cements herself as a star on the rise. Her Wednesday is deadpan but never boring; Ortega keeps her expressive eyes and mouth controlled but never lacking in personality. When Wednesday can’t suppress a grin, you can feel the emotion come from deep within her. Even when her face appears stoic, Ortega’s eyes show Wednesday’s sharp intelligence and immense depth of feeling. Wednesday Addams has never been an emotionless character. Like her mother, she feels quite keenly; she just doesn’t let anyone else in on her secret inner life. To let other people know you is to be vulnerable, and vulnerability (or weakness, as Wednesday sees it) is the enemy. 

Ortega understands Wednesday intimately. She’s clearly done her research, even choreographing the outstanding routine Wednesday performs at a school dance. The viral dance is emblematic of the series itself, both in its positives and its negatives. Wednesday occasionally seems designed for virality — a montage in the pilot of Wednesday playing “Paint It Black” on her cello is a crowd-pleaser designed for social media shares, as is the now-ubiquitous “Goo Goo Muck” dance. Prioritizing social media palatability over thematic cohesion might have worked in Wednesday ’s favor ratings-wise (though who can say, given how tight-lipped Netflix is about such things), but it harms the actual quality of the series. Also, while the dance itself is choreographed well (Ortega is self-deprecating about the routine, but she impresses both as a dancer and a choreographer), it is not shot well. Burton (who also directed the episode featuring the incoherent fight scene) frames Ortega poorly, chopping up the routine so that we can barely tell what her body is doing when that should be the entire focus of the scene. Ortega throws in a nod to Lisa Loring, the original Wednesday from the 1964 sitcom, that’s barely visible due to Burton’s direction. Like the series itself, the dance scene is a star turn from Ortega that the showrunners fumble at every opportunity. It is only Ortega’s talent and charisma that salvage it. 

Wednesday Addams has always been a fan favorite, so it’s no surprise that she would get a modern YA treatment. That’s part of the problem, though. The show does little to distinguish itself from better and more interesting YA series, choosing instead to rest on its IP laurels while simultaneously misunderstanding the wit and charm of the Addams Family. The cast does its best, especially the tremendous Ortega, but they can’t overcome the overwrought and underbaked writing, particularly its egregious mishandling of issues pertaining to race, sexuality, and gender. Wednesday’s child is full of woe, and so is Wednesday itself.

The Friendly Dark: The Subversions of Jacques Tourneur’s ‘Cat People’

Industry Interview: Catherine Benstead, Co-Editor of Hear Us Scream

You may also like.

A Coming of Age: ‘Freaks and Geeks,’ and Storytelling Through Music

Review: ‘Foe’

Comments are closed.

More in Reviews

Review: ‘Drive-Away Dolls’

LFF Review: ‘Lost in the Night’

LFF Review: ‘Fingernails’

TIFF Review: ‘Aggro Dr1ft’

In ‘American Fiction’ and ‘Shortcomings,’ Race is Only Half the Story

• Video Essays
• Film Festivals

Latest Posts

• The A.V. Club
• The Takeout
• The Inventory

Wednesday Misunderstands Its Misunderstood Protagonist

A goth veronica mars attends an all-ghouls school, resulting in aimless teenage melodrama and very little of the macabre..

While Tim Burton’s Wednesday certainly attempts to imitate the aesthetic of the ‘90s Addams Family films, the surrounding plot and characters of Netflix’s newest teen drama fails to capture the morbid charm of Charles Addams’ gothic family.

The eight-episode Netflix series follows Wednesday ( Scream ’s Jenna Ortega ) as she attempts to solve a grisly murder that occurred in the woods outside of her new school, Nevermore Academy. She also digs into the history of Jericho—the small town that plays host to the school—and its founding father, Joseph Crackstone, a notorious witch-hunter who has a bloody connection to one of Wednesday’s ancestors.

At Nevermore Academy, the boarders move well beyond creepy and kooky; werewolves, vampires, sirens, gorgons, telekenetics, and shapeshifters are all in attendance. What this means is that Wednesday Addams is no longer an outcast among “normies,” supported by her family of fellow weirdos, but is positioned as an outcast among supernatural creatures, without the support of her family and with a track record for preferring the company of disembodied hands to her fellow students.

It’s a frustrating watch; Jenna Ortega does the absolute best she can with her lines, but Wednesday’s trademark deadpan sarcasm and never-ending misery makes her a painful lead character. The one-liners that worked when Wednesday was part of an ensemble cast simply do not land. She’s emotionless, selfish, and self-obsessed. She uses her friends, dismisses the boys who are trying to take her out on dates (for some unknown reason, since she hasn’t so much as said a single kind thing to anyone), and routinely accuses her parents of various acts of sabotage, smothering, and even murder.

The point of the Addams Family is that they are just acceptable enough to be tolerated by their normal neighbors, while also staying true to their weird and wacky roots. They teach “normal” people how to interact with people unlike themselves, and accept every kind of person into their arms wholeheartedly. The problem with Wednesday is that it constantly reinforces the differences between “ normies” and “outcasts,” going so far as to make a very trite twist at the end, because of course it’s the normies who were the real monsters all along . If I could roll my eyes hard enough to have them fall out of my head they would have been spinning on the ground by the second episode.

This is a frustratingly simple takeaway that is emblematic of the show itself. It talks down to its teenage audience, presenting banal black-and-white issues of morality and melodrama with the kind of grim determination of an executioner’s axe. Will Wednesday go to the school dance with tortured outcast artist Xavier or the earnest townie barista Tyler? Is the monster in the woods being controlled by an outcast or a normie? Did Gomez Addams really kill a romantic rival while attending Nevermore or not? All of these questions are answered, and none of the answers matter. With lock-step predictability, y ou could probably guess the answers right now and be right, without any nuance attached whatsoever .

And then there’s the style of this show. The costumes certainly do a lot of work—both Wednesday and Enid (Wednesday’s bubbly werewolf roommate, played by Emma Myers) are exceptionally well-dressed—but there isn’t a lot of design happening elsewhere. This was perhaps the biggest let down for me , especially as I went into this series hoping that Tim Burton’s aesthetically pleasing, overly stylized taste would make this at least a visually-interesting watch. Not so. Wednesday is disappointingly bland.

Without the restriction of condensed sets, and with a lot of important conversations taking place in a Jericho coffeeshop rather than in Nevermore Academy, there is little flourish to the overly-dark scenes. Shot in low lighting and amid a lot of rain, doom, and gloom, Wednesday rarely makes herself memorable, disappearing into the shadows of her own show. The exceptions to this occur during the two scenes where she is playing the cello, and her intense resting corpse face actually works with Danny Elfman’s occasionally- magnificent score. However, the real death knell for this show is the fact that Wednesday is supported by a killer cast that includes both Christina Ricci and Gwendoline Christie, and still nobody stands out.

The forgettability of Wednesday is probably a result of this character getting a whole series dedicated to her personality, which, as it turns out, isn’t that funny when her schtick just repeats itself a dozen times each episode. The character commits to the gothic/morbid bit, but fails to pursue any interests that are truly macabre. The best example of this is when the school dance is pranked and red liquid pours from the sprinkler system. Wednesday licks some off her finger and sighs—it’s not even real pig’s blood!

Girl, did you think it would be? This is basically a CW show. Dyed water is the closest thing you’ll get to real macabre humor the whole series. The show is much more concerned with Wednesday’s multiple no-chemistry love interests and building up to a massive, CGI-heavy, end-of-season fight sequence (yes, really) than it is making any real attempt at romanticizing the macabre.

The closest pass this show has with wit is through dry and humorless twists on idioms. “I don’t bury hatchets. I sharpen them.” “If you hear me screaming bloody murder, there’s a good chance I’m just enjoying myself.” “Tortured writer, emphasis on torture.” These lines, delivered gracelessly and with maudlin teenage self-importance, should have been kept to elevator advertisements and twee billboards. Instead,   Burton has taken these pale imitations of the ‘ 30s and ‘40s New Yorker one-liner style of the original   Addams Family comic strip and imagined it could last through an eight-episode show. Like many of these overwrought jokes, he is gravely mistaken.

Wednesday is now streaming on Netflix.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water .

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Love Lies Bleeding Link to Love Lies Bleeding
• Problemista Link to Problemista
• Late Night with the Devil Link to Late Night with the Devil

New TV Tonight

• We Were the Lucky Ones: Season 1
• Renegade Nell: Season 1
• Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces: Season 1
• American Rust: Season 2
• A Gentleman in Moscow: Season 1
• Jerrod Carmichael: Reality Show: Season 1
• The Baxters: Season 1
• grown-ish: Season 6

Most Popular TV on RT

• 3 Body Problem: Season 1
• X-Men '97: Season 1
• Shōgun: Season 1
• The Gentlemen: Season 1
• Palm Royale: Season 1
• Quiet on Set:The Dark Side of Kids TV: Season 1
• Manhunt: Season 1
• Avatar: The Last Airbender: Season 1
• The Regime: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• X-Men '97: Season 1 Link to X-Men '97: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

How to Watch Godzilla Movies In Order

All 5 Purge Movies In Order: How to Watch the Movies Chronologically

Women’s History

Awards Tour

TV Premiere Dates 2024

Weekend Box Office Results: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Opens with $45 Million

• Trending on RT
• Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire
• Late Night with the Devil
• Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2
• Play Movie Trivia

Where to Watch

Watch Wednesday with a subscription on Netflix, or buy it on Prime Video, Apple TV.

Cast & Crew

Alfred Gough

Miles Millar

Jenna Ortega

Wednesday Addams

Gwendoline Christie

Larissa Weems

Riki Lindhome

Dr. Valerie Kinbott

Christina Ricci

Marilyn Thornhill

Popular TV on Streaming

Tv news & guides, this show is featured in the following articles., series info.

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

A wednesday — film review.

Thin on plot, the movie still grips us with its penetrating characterizations and superbly slick editing.

By Gautaman Bhaskaran , The Associated Press November 7, 2008 3:40pm

• Share this article on Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter
• Share this article on Flipboard
• Share this article on Email
• Show additional share options
• Share this article on Linkedin
• Share this article on Pinit
• Share this article on Reddit
• Share this article on Tumblr
• Share this article on Whatsapp
• Share this article on Print
• Share this article on Comment

International Film Festival of India

PANAJI, India — Neeraj Pandey’s “A Wednesday” may be yet another take on the subject of terror, but it has been crafted with unusual energy. And this energy flows not out of the usual melodrama popping out of Mumbai, but from extraordinarily restrained performances. Thin on plot, the movie still grips us with its penetrating characterizations and superbly slick editing.

The racy thriller takes places in Mumbai on a Wednesday afternoon between two and six. A phone call to the city’s police commissioner, Prakash Rathod (Anupam Kher), from one calling himself Common Man (Naseeruddin Shah), demands the release of four Muslim terrorists from Indian jails. The man says he has planted bombs all over the city that would go off at 6.30 the same evening if his order is not carried out.

Rathod is not a cop to take things lying down. He puts two of his best men on the man’s trail and enlists a college dropout hacker to trace the calls. But the police are always a step behind the man, who has made himself comfortable on the roof of an unfinished building with sandwiches and a flask of coffee. He has a portable television set and a notebook computer to help him in the cat and mouse game he plays with Rathod. What an exciting game that turns out to be — highly cerebral and peppered with mind-blowing punch lines.

Shah’s performance is as brilliant as Kher’s, and they are wonderfully supported by Amir Bashir (who plays cop Jai Pratap Singh), Jimmy Shergill (cop Arif Khan) and Deepal Shaw (television journalist Naina Roy).

However, the script has weak moments. Television journalism appears superficial, even silly. But what is more disappointing is that the movie makes the Muslim into a homogenous terrorist killing innocent people for no reason. Some of the final scenes that link the just-about-to-be freed terrorists with Al-Qaeda are extremely disturbing, and the messages conveyed are highly questionable. With the Common Man doubling up as a kangaroo court, albeit from a considerable distance, and dispensing justice most arbitrarily, makes for a an unnecessarily provocation within the context of a commercial thriller.

Related Stories

Lady gaga’s vogue cover released, additional ’60 minutes’ footage leaked, "sunset boulevard", thr newsletters.

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Frankie muniz on why he’d never let his son become a child actor: “insanely negative experiences”, eva mendes on working with husband ryan gosling for first time: “never experienced anything like that”, jerry bruckheimer says next ‘pirates of the caribbean’ movie will be a reboot, jeremy allen white in talks to star in bruce springsteen biopic, scott derrickson, c. robert cargill tackling new adaptation of noir novel ‘the night of the hunter’, liam neeson on working with irish pals in new film and why he said yes to ‘naked gun’ sequel.

The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

A wednesday: movie review.

Unforeseen treatment, unassuming demeanour, unpretentious title! A Wednesday is strongly recommended!

Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

Two-thirds of orders vegetarian, didn’t expect uproar: Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal on ‘pure veg’ debate

Raymond: How demerger of realty, lifestyle will unlock value for Gautam Singhania’s firm.

JSW’s EV juggernaut: Odisha gets an INR40k crore project, and MG an Indian touch

The physical retail store is not dying, rather rocking!

Stock Radar: IRCTC found support above 20-week EMA after hitting a high in January; should you buy?

Which T will turbo-charge new EV policy? Toyota more than Tesla

Find this comment offensive?

Choose your reason below and click on the Report button. This will alert our moderators to take action

Reason for reporting:

Your Reason has been Reported to the admin.

To post this comment you must

Log In/Connect with:

Fill in your details:

Will be displayed

Will not be displayed

Share this Comment:

Stories you might be interested in

Essays About Movies: 7 Examples and 5 Writing Prompts

Check out our guide with essays about movies for budding videographers and artistic students. Learn from our helpful list of examples and prompts.

Watching movies is a part of almost everyone’s life. They entertain us, teach us lessons, and even help us socialize by giving us topics to talk about with others. As long as movies have been produced, everyone has patronized them.  Essays about movies  are a great way to learn all about the meaning behind the picture.

Cinema is an art form in itself. The lighting, camera work, and acting in the most widely acclaimed movies are worthy of praise. Furthermore, a movie can be used to send a message, often discussing issues in contemporary society. Movies are entertaining, but more importantly, they are works of art. If you’re interested in this topic, check out our round-up of screenwriters on Instagram .

5 Helpful Essay Examples 

1. the positive effects of movies on human behaviour by ajay rathod, 2. horror movies by emanuel briggs, 3. casablanca – the greatest hollywood movie ever (author unknown).

• 4.  Dune Review: An Old Story Reshaped For The New 2021 Audience by Oren Cohen

5. Blockbuster movies create booms for tourism — and headaches for locals by Shubhangi Goel

• 6. Moonage Daydream: “Who Is He? What Is He?” by Jonathan Romney
• 7. La Bamba: American Dreaming, Chicano Style by Yolanda Machado

1. My Favorite Movie

2. movies genres, 3. special effects in movies, 4. what do you look for in a movie, 5. the evolution of movies.

“​​Films encourage us to take action. Our favourite characters, superheroes, teach us life lessons. They give us ideas and inspiration to do everything for the better instead of just sitting around, waiting for things to go their way. Films about famous personalities are the perfect way to affect social behaviour positively. Films are a source of knowledge. They can help learn what’s in the trend, find out more about ancient times, or fill out some knowledge gaps.”

In this movie essay, Rathod gives readers three ways watching movies can positively affect us. Movie writers, producers, and directors use their platform to teach viewers life skills, the importance of education, and the contrast between good and evil. Watching movies can also help us improve critical thinking, according to Briggs. Not only do movies entertain us, but they also have many educational benefits. You might also be interested in these  essays about consumerism .

“Many people involving children and adults can effect with their sleeping disturbance and anxiety. Myths, non-realistic, fairy tales could respond differently with being in the real world. Horror movies bring a lot of excitement and entertainment among you and your family. Horror movies can cause physical behavior changes in a person by watching the films. The results of watching horror movies shows that is has really effect people whether you’re an adult, teens, and most likely happens during your childhood.”

In his essay, Briggs acknowledges why people enjoy horror movies so much but warns of their adverse effects on viewers. Most commonly, they cause viewers nightmares, which may cause anxiety and sleep disorders. He focuses on the films’ effects on children, whose more sensitive, less developed brains may respond with worse symptoms, including major trauma. The films can affect all people negatively, but children are the most affected.

“This was the message of Casablanca in late 1942. It was the ideal opportunity for America to utilize its muscles and enter the battle. America was to end up the hesitant gatekeeper of the entire world. The characters of Casablanca, similar to the youthful Americans of the 1960s who stick headed the challenge development, are ‘genuine Americans’ lost in a hostile region, battling to open up another reality.”

In this essay, the author discusses the 1942 film  Casablanca , which is said to be the greatest movie ever made, and explains why it has gotten this reputation. To an extent, the film’s storyline, acting, and even relatability (it was set during World War II) allowed it to shine from its release until the present. It invokes feelings of bravery, passion, and nostalgia, which is why many love the movie. You can also check out these  books about adaption . 

4.   Dune Review: An Old Story Reshaped For The New 2021 Audience by Oren Cohen

“Lady Jessica is a powerful woman in the original book, yet her interactions with Paul diminish her as he thinks of her as slow of thought. Something we don’t like to see in 2021 — and for a good reason. Every book is a product of its time, and every great storyteller knows how to adapt an old story to a new audience. I believe Villeneuve received a lot of hate from diehard Dune fans for making these changes, but I fully support him.”

Like the previous essay, Cohen reviews a film, in this case, Denis Villeneuve’s  Dune , released in 2021. He praises the film, writing about its accurate portrayal of the epic’s vast, dramatic scale, music, and, interestingly, its ability to portray the characters in a way more palatable to contemporary audiences while staying somewhat faithful to the author’s original vision. Cohen enjoyed the movie thoroughly, saying that the movie did the book justice. 

“Those travelers added around 630 million New Zealand dollars ($437 million) to the country’s economy in 2019 alone, the tourism authority told CNBC. A survey by the tourism board, however, showed that almost one in five Kiwis are worried that the country attracts too many tourists. Overcrowding at tourist spots, lack of infrastructure, road congestion and environmental damage are creating tension between locals and visitors, according to a 2019 report by Tourism New Zealand.”

The locations where successful movies are filmed often become tourist destinations for fans of those movies. Goel writes about how “film tourism” affects the residents of popular filming locations. The environment is sometimes damaged, and the locals are caught off guard. Though this is not always the case, film tourism is detrimental to the residents and ecosystem of these locations. You can also check out these  essays about The Great Gatsby .

6. Moonage Daydream:  “Who Is He? What Is He?” by Jonathan Romney

“Right from the start, Brett Morgen’s  Moonage Daydream  (2022) catches us off guard. It begins with an epigraph musing on Friedrich Nietzsche’s proclamation that “God is dead,” then takes us into deep space and onto the surface of the moon. It then unleashes an image storm of rockets, robots, and star-gazers, and rapid-fire fragments of early silent cinema, 1920s science fiction, fifties cartoons, and sixties and seventies newsreel footage, before lingering on a close-up of glittery varnish on fingernails.” 

Moonage Daydream  is a feature film containing never-before-seen footage of David Bowie. In this essay, Romney delves into the process behind creating the movie and how the footage was captured. It also looks at the director’s approach to creating a structured and cohesive film, which took over two years to plan. This essay looks at how Bowie’s essence was captured and preserved in this movie while displaying the intricacies of his mind.

7. La Bamba:  American Dreaming, Chicano Style by Yolanda Machado

“A traumatic memory, awash in hazy neutral tones, arising as a nightmare. Santo & Johnny’s mournful “Sleep Walk” playing. A sudden death, foreshadowing the passing of a star far too young. The opening sequence of Luis Valdez’s  La Bamba  (1987) feels like it could be from another film—what follows is largely a celebration of life and music.”

La Bamba  is a well-known movie about a teenage Mexican migrant who became a rock ‘n’ roll star. His rise to fame is filled with difficult social dynamics, and the star tragically dies in a plane crash at a young age. In this essay, Machado looks at how the tragic death of the star is presented to the viewer, foreshadowing the passing of the young star before flashing back to the beginning of the star’s career. Machado analyses the storyline and directing style, commenting on the detailed depiction of the young star’s life. It’s an in-depth essay that covers everything from plot to writing style to direction.

5 Prompts for Essays About Movies

Simple and straightforward, write about your favorite movie. Explain its premise, characters, and plot, and elaborate on some of the driving messages and themes behind the film. You should also explain why you enjoy the movie so much: what impact does it have on you? Finally, answer this question in your own words for an engaging piece of writing.

From horror to romance, movies can fall into many categories. Choose one of the main genres in cinema and discuss the characteristics of movies under that category. Explain prevalent themes, symbols, and motifs, and give examples of movies belonging to your chosen genre. For example, horror movies often have underlying themes such as mental health issues, trauma, and relationships falling apart. 

Without a doubt, special effects in movies have improved drastically. Both practical and computer-generated effects produce outstanding, detailed effects to depict situations most would consider unfathomable, such as the vast space battles of the  Star Wars  movies. Write about the development of special effects over the years, citing evidence to support your writing. Be sure to detail key highlights in the history of special effects. 

Movies are always made to be appreciated by viewers, but whether or not they enjoy them varies, depending on their preferences. In your essay, write about what you look for in a “good” movie in terms of plot, characters, dialogue, or anything else. You need not go too in-depth but explain your answers adequately. In your opinion, you can use your favorite movie as an example by writing about the key characteristics that make it a great movie.

From the silent black-and-white movies of the early 1900s to the vivid, high-definition movies of today, times have changed concerning movies. Write about how the film industry has improved over time. If this topic seems too broad, feel free to focus on one aspect, such as cinematography, themes, or acting.

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the  best essay checkers .

If you’re looking for more ideas, check out our  essays about music topic guide !

Meet Rachael, the editor at Become a Writer Today. With years of experience in the field, she is passionate about language and dedicated to producing high-quality content that engages and informs readers. When she's not editing or writing, you can find her exploring the great outdoors, finding inspiration for her next project.

View all posts

A Wednesday (2008)

• User Reviews
• 9.11 on a scale of 1-10.

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews

• User Ratings
• External Reviews
• Metacritic Reviews
• Full Cast and Crew
• Release Dates
• Official Sites
• Company Credits
• Filming & Production
• Technical Specs
• Plot Summary
• Plot Keywords
• Parents Guide

Did You Know?

• Crazy Credits
• Alternate Versions
• Connections
• Soundtracks

Photo & Video

• Photo Gallery
• Trailers and Videos

Related Items

• External Sites

Related lists from IMDb users

Recently Viewed

petersironwood

~ finding, formulating and solving life's frustrations..

Essays on America: Wednesday

18 Thursday Jul 2019

Posted by petersironwood in America , creativity , politics , psychology , Uncategorized

≈ 70 Comments

advertising , bait and switch , economics , fairness , Feedback , flimflam , learning , politics , problem solving , truth , wealth

How you see where you are depends on how you got there.

It’s Wednesday. And that means, at least for most of us, that yesterday was Tuesday. Mundane, right? Obvious, right?  

But suppose that it’s Wednesday for you but that yesterday was Thursday!  

Oh, my! You would be in quite a different “Wednesday” than the rest of us would. How could this happen?  

Many ways. You could be a character in a Sci-Fi movie. Maybe you were in a coma for six days. Or, you could have retrograde amnesia from a blow to the head. Or, maybe you have some weird form of temporal lobe epilepsy. No matter how you got from Thursday to Wednesday, you will treat the day quite differently from those of use who experienced yesterday as Tuesday.  

And this is generally true of human beings.  

How you experience your current reality depends a lot on how you got there.  

It so happens that my dissertation studied human problem solving. I used a problem called the “Hobbits and Orcs problem.” You may have heard of it.

There are three Hobbits and three Orcs on one side of a river and you have to get them all over to the other side. The only way to cross the river is by use of a small boat. (No flying, swimming, catapulting, disapparating, etc. allowed). For the boat to operate and not simply float off downstream, it must have at least one creature in it. But the boat can only hold one or two creatures. It cannot hold more. Orcs, as you probably already know, are suspected of eating Hobbits. You cannot ever let more Orcs than Hobbits on either side of the river, even briefly. You can try the problem for yourself.  Remember though…you cannot let there be more Orcs than Hobbits on either side of the river — not even briefly.  

I compared how people solved this problem to an early AI system modestly called, “The General Problem Solver.” As you might expect, even though both humans and the AI system (GPS) can solve the problem, they behave quite differently. For instance, the places where humans have trouble (take more time; make more mistakes) are quite different from the places where GPS slows down.  

Start – HHHOOO (boat) {river}

Goal –                             {river} (boat) HHHOOO

Spoiler alert — now, I have to talk about the solution.

At one point, you will feel as though you’ve been making good progress and you have two hobbits and two orcs on the far side of the river along with the boat. Now, comes the sticking point (for humans). If an Orc brings back the boat, you’ll have two Orcs and one Hobbit on the near side. The two Orcs will gang up on the Hobbit and eat it. Fail! But if the Hobbit brings back the boat, the far side of the river will have two Orcs and one Hobbit so that Hobbit will get eaten.  

Here is the situation:  

HO {river} (boat) HHOO  

The “trick” is to use one Hobbit and one Orc to bring the boat back. Now, you use two Hobbits to take the boat to the far side, and it’s pretty easy to solve from there. The “trick” is only “tricky” because it feels as though you are undoing the progress you’ve already made ! You took two over and you need to bring two back. In fact, many subjects wanted to “give up” rather than bring two creatures back over. They claimed it was “insoluble.”  

But wait.  

It gets even stranger.  

Half of my subjects began with a “half problem.” They started in this position.  

Start: HO {river} (boat) HHOO  

Goal:         {river} (boat) HHHOOO

These subjects had very little trouble solving the problem. They began by taking the boat to the left side by using one Hobbit and one Orc. They quickly solved the rest of the problem.  

Then I gave those same people, the entire problem again, but starting here:  

They had little problem at the beginning.  

But when they got to the position shown below, many wanted to quit. Many said the problem was “impossible” once they got to this position:  

Now: HO {river} (boat) HHOO  

Does that pattern look familiar to you? It should!  

This is exactly the problem that they themselves had just solved a few minutes earlier! When they started there, it was easy. But when they got there by arriving at it through their own effort, that same position was now daunting. They didn’t even recognize or realize that they had just been there. (None of this behavior was like that of the General Problem Solver, by the way).  

A number of economists were interested in this result. Why? Because “classic” economics operates like GPS. It looks at the Starting Point. It looks at the Goal. It looks at various possible moves. It doesn’t “care” how it got there. According to classical economics, if you buy IBM stock at $50 and I buy it at $150 and now it’s at $100, if we have the same knowledge, then we should make the same decision about whether to buy or sell. In reality, people do not. If you bought it at $50, you’ve made a huge profit and are happy to sell it. If I bought it at $150, I’m going to suffer a loss. How people view a situation is heavily dependent on how they got there.  

Now, let’s play another little “what if” game.  

What if you were an extremely rich person who also happened to be extremely selfish. In America, for instance, worker productivity has increased decade after decade. This meant that the wealthiest people in the country kept getting wealthier and wealthier. But the workers, who made a lot less than the owners, also benefited by getting wealthier.  

Until around 1974. Then, a strange thing happened. The productivity of American workers continued to grow. However, the increased wealth that accrued from all those people learning new technology, learning new methods, using the suggestion box, etc. — none of that increased wealth went to the workers. All of it went to the richest people in the country.  

https://economics.stackexchange.com/questions/15558/productivity-vs-real-earnings-in-the-us-what-happened-ca-1974

There had been a kind of partnership between owners and workers. The owners of large companies said, in effect: “if you keep being more productive by working harder, smarter, and faster, we will all benefit. We’ll have more profits and you’ll have higher wages.”

Then, the owners stopped living up to that implicit agreement. They took all the increased profits for themselves. Basically, that’s what happened in 1974. And it also happened in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018. It varied, of course, somewhat from industry to industry, and month to month, and company to company but that is the big picture.  

People who had organized their lives and the lives of their families around their jobs found that they had no job. Their jobs were shipped overseas or given over to automation. They were pissed off. As they should have been. Notice that this trend continued unabated under both Republican administrations and under Democratic administrations. It’s hard to even see a difference in the divergence that occurred between the ever-increasing wealth that workers contributed through their increased productivity and the stagnation in their real wages.  

Then, we come to 2016 and someone said, “You can’t trust these politicians. They’re all the same. They are in cahoots with their rich donors. You know who you can trust? ME!”  

The very worst fear of many of the wealthiest .001% of the country is that all workers will get together and demand their fair share! The workers are at least as responsible for the increased overall wealth as the owners. But while real wages for workers has been basically unchanged for decades, the compensation for owners has skyrocketed. Of course, they know it’s unfair! They don’t care if it is unfair. But they do care greatly that the yacht party of caviar and champagne continues unabated.  

How to deal with this? What can you do if you’re wealthy because of other people’s work and this becomes common knowledge? You divide and conquer. You shout long enough and hard enough in every possible medium of communication that it isn’t the greed of the wealthy that has kept your wages from going up. Oh, no, not at all. It’s the foreign competition. It’s the people of color. It’s the gays. It’s the Muslims. It’s the Jews. It’s the uppity women. It’s the video games. It’s violence on TV. It’s sunspots. It’s aliens from other planets hidden in area 51.  It’s lack of ambition on your part. It’s because you haven’t taken responsibility. It’s because of liberals who want to take all your guns away and make you eat quiche or salad. 

Those that want it all for themselves are terrified that you’ll catch on to their game. And, if you do catch on, you may just choose not to play any longer. So, they buy politicians. They buy air time for commercials. They indoctrinate you to hate workers that look different; that speak differently; that eat different foods; that wear different clothes; that worship in buildings with a different shape. They plant lies about all of these “other” people so that you will hate those “other” people — meanwhile trying to convince you that they are on your side; that they are just like you really. After all, you’re both “white” or “straight” or “Christian” or “Midwestern” or whatever. But the truth is — the lives they live are quite different. Despite being extremely wealthy, many of them pay far less tax than you do. If their kids goof off in high school or aren’t very bright — no problem! They’ll just bribe the way for their kids to get into a top university.  

So far, their little game has worked. By using the same methods that get you to buy skin products you don’t really need; the same methods that get you to buy sugared water at a high price; the same methods that get you hooked on sugar; the same methods that make you feel guilty about being overweight; the same methods that induce you to buy products and systems to help you lose weight; the same methods that fool you in a thousand ways — they get you to hate other people — people who are superficially different are “sold” as being fundamentally different. While the people whose lives really are fundamentally different from yours are being touted as living lives that are very similar to yours.  

Once you begin voting for the folks who are paid for by these very wealthy people, you will tend to listen to them. You will tend to believe them. Not because you are stupid or gullible. You will do it because that’s what you’ve done in the past. The more you vote for them, the more you want to believe them. And, here’s the kicker: if they are outrageous  in behavior and speech, you will want to believe them even more. After a few years, it doesn’t matter how absurd or ridiculous what they say is. You’ll still believe them. It’s not your fault, really. But it does keep you, and all the rest of us, trapped in a vicious circle.  

You got to this Wednesday from yesterday. But your yesterday was Thursday. It’s comforting to know that there are millions of others who also got here from Thursday.  

You don’t have to keep choosing this way. But many of you will. And, that’s precisely the way that the wealthiest .001% like it. They don’t want to share with you the wealth that you created. They’d much rather keep things the way they are. They’d much rather keep that wealth for themselves.  After all, caviar, champagne, yachts, and beautiful teen-agers are expensive. 

There is, of course, a much easier solution to the Hobbits and Orcs problem. Hobbits and Orcs could stop hating and mistrusting and killing each other. Then, crossing the river to the other side is easy. And that benefits everyone.  

Everyone, that is, except the .001%.  

—————————————————

Author Page on Amazon.  

Abstract of article in Cognitive Psychology

Share this:

70 thoughts on “essays on america: wednesday”.

Pingback: Ghosts of Flowers Past | petersironwood

Pingback: Take Me For A Ride in the Car Car! | petersironwood

Pingback: Sonnet of Vlademort | petersironwood

Pingback: The Bill of Obligations | petersironwood

Pingback: The Bill of Obligations: Article Two | petersironwood

Pingback: The Triply Toxic Worm | petersironwood

Pingback: The Broken Times | petersironwood

Pingback: Alito and the Egg | petersironwood

Pingback: “Peace” | petersironwood

Pingback: Sunday Sonnet: Shadows | petersironwood

Pingback: Gambit Disinclined | petersironwood

Pingback: Coelacanth: Chapter 1/3 | petersironwood

Pingback: Such a Teeny, Tiny, Loser Man | petersironwood

Pingback: D4: Dictator’s Degenerative Delusional Disease | petersironwood

Pingback: Freaky Friday Fibbing Fest | petersironwood

Pingback: BREAK IT! | petersironwood

Pingback: Ironic | petersironwood

Pingback: Don’t Say Gray! | petersironwood

Pingback: Listen Only to Me. | petersironwood

Pingback: Orange Margolade | petersironwood

Leave a comment Cancel reply

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

‘Beetlejuice 2’ Trailer: Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega and Winona Ryder Resurrect Tim Burton’s Iconic Ghost With the Most

By Jaden Thompson

Jaden Thompson

• Cord Jefferson to Receive WGAW’s Paul Selvin Award – Film News in Brief 14 hours ago
• ‘The Night Agent’ Season 2 Adds Three Guest Stars 14 hours ago
• Hulu Debuts ‘Under the Bridge’ Trailer Starring Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough (TV News Roundup) 2 days ago

After 36 years, Beetlejuice has finally come back to haunt you.

Warner Bros. has released the trailer for Tim Burton ’s follow-up to his 1988 cult classic horror-comedy “Beetlejuice,” with Michael Keaton reprising his role as the ghoulish title character. The sequel, officially titled “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” is set for release on Sept. 6.

The original “Beetlejuice” followed a deceased couple trying to haunt the Deetz family out of their new home with the help of the eccentric ghost Beetlejuice. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis starred as the Maitlands while Jeffrey Jones, O’Hara and Ryder made up the Deetz family. The movie developed a cult following after its release and later spawned a hit musical adaptation on Broadway.

Burton announced on social media last November that he had finished filming the “Beetlejuice” sequel after a months-long delay due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. In September, he revealed to The Independent that he only had “a day and a half” of filming remaining prior to the shutdown.

“I feel grateful we got what we got,” Burton said at the time. “Literally, it was a day and a half. We know what we have to do. It is 99 percent done.”

Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, creators of the Ortega-starring Netflix series “Wednesday,” penned the script for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”

Watch the trailer below.

More From Our Brands

Waxahatchee taps mj lenderman for vibrant ‘right back to it’ performance on ‘colbert’, this upstart whiskey brand just dropped a new blended bourbon, disney breathes easy as ratings titan iowa advances to the sweet 16, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, ratings: the bachelor improves on previous finale, ncis and ncis: hawai’i eye season lows, verify it's you, please log in.

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Celluloid Underground review – love letter to a lifelong passion for film and illicit treasure trove

Iranian critic Ehsan Khoshbakht’s personal essay about a man’s smizdat film print collection shows the lengths cinephiles will go to to protect the art form

T he passion of cinephilia is the subject of this absorbing personal essay movie from Iranian critic and film historian Ehsan Khoshbakht, now co-director of the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna, Italy, who narrates the film in a style that reminded me a little of Mark Cousins and also perhaps Werner Herzog.

Khoshbakht grew up in post-revolutionary Iran where he developed a love of movies and of moving images generally, even the sternly meagre output on national TV. I laughed out loud at Khoshbakht’s entranced description of the TV’s humble colour test card: “As exciting as an MGM musical!” Khoshbakht (daringly) started a film club as a teenager, digitally projecting foreign movies videotaped from TV. He got into serious trouble for showing the Iranian classic The Cow by director Dariush Mehrjui, an anti-government protestor who was murdered last year (and sadly not included in the Oscars in memoriam section).

But even more importantly, Khoshbakht got to know an extraordinary man called Ahmad Jorghanian, a dedicated rescuer of 35mm films and posters whom this film honours as the “Iranian Henri Langlois”; that is, Iran’s unofficial equivalent of the celebrated French archivist and preservationist, hero of the 60s French New Wave . But unlike Jorghanian, Langlois was never arrested and tortured for his westernised film collection.

Jorghanian spent decades hoarding cans of film in his chaotic apartment and in cramped basements and hiding places all over Tehran, buying them from the warehouses and junk shops into which they had been dumped after being confiscated. Khoshbakht was able to project at least some of this illicit treasure trove on a samizdat basis, using borrowed projection facilities, and is ecstatic seeing these movies come to life once more.

In exile in London, Khoshbakht hears about the death of his old friend, and ponders the fate of Jorghanian’s collection: is film, like our own vulnerable human bodies, liable to decay into dusty nothingness? Historians will still protect what material they can, and protect the cinephilic language and culture that allows these films to be appreciated.

• Documentary films
• Middle East and north Africa
• Film criticism

Most viewed

• Study Guides
• Homework Questions

Why We Crave Horror Movies is an essay that appeared in a leading magazine written by Stephen King

Local News | Massachusetts launches ‘Jaws’ lottery tickets…

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)
• Your Tax Dollars
• Massachusetts

Breaking News

Local news | bruins come back again and again – and again – to beat panthers, 4-3, local news | massachusetts launches ‘jaws’ lottery tickets ahead of 50th anniversary of film.

The Massachusetts State Lottery launched the first “Jaws” lottery tickets around the state on Tuesday, offering grand prizes of $1 million and a summer 2025 movie-themed trip for two to Martha’s Vineyard among 30 “Second Chance Drawings” winners.

“This year marks the 50th anniversary of Massachusetts introducing the industry’s first instant ticket, and next summer will mark the 50th anniversary of the theatrical release of ‘Jaws,'” said Mark William Bracken, Mass Lottery Executive Director. “What better way to celebrate these milestones than by giving our players the opportunity to win a once-in-a-lifetime experience where the iconic summer blockbuster was filmed.”

Lottery retailers across the state began selling the themed tickets — modeled after the original “Jaws” movie poster — for $10 on Tuesday. Through the “Winning Numbers” game, players may win between $1 million, divided into $50,000 a year for 20 years, and $10 off tickets. The odds of winning a prize are 1 in 3.43.

Non-winning tickets may be entered into a Second Chance drawing for the Martha’s Vineyard trips and additional cash prizes. There will be five of the drawings, with six trip winners each. Drawing dates have not yet been released.

The thirty Second Chance winners will be selected to participate in a Jaws-themed game show, in which one participant will win $1 million. All the other contestants will win between $500 to $10,000.

Trip winners will receive a 3-night stay for two at Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown; $1,000 in spending money; transportation; meals; and a “Jaws” island tour, movie screening, and theme party.

“When you say ‘Jaws,’ the Vineyard immediately comes to mind,” said Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, Chair of the State Lottery Commission. “So who else should have the first JAWS ticket? Massachusetts of course. People are already excited about the chance to take a BITE out of the winnings.”

More in Local News

Local News | Boston commemorates 10th anniversary of deadly Beacon Street fire

Celebrating Holy Week in Boston

SUBSCRIBER ONLY

Appreciation: former chelmsford high football coach tom caito remembered as a kind legend.

Local News | Boston settles for $4.6M in wrongful death lawsuit related to 2016 police shooting of mentally ill Black man

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Intel Receives $8.5 Billion in Grants to Build Chip Plants

The award, announced by President Biden at a plant in Arizona, is the biggest the government has made under a new program that aims to rebuild the nation’s semiconductor manufacturing industry.

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs ,  Madeleine Ngo and Don Clark

Zolan Kanno-Youngs reported from Chandler, Ariz., Madeleine Ngo from Washington and Don Clark from San Francisco.

President Biden on Wednesday awarded $8.5 billion in grants to Intel, a major investment to bolster the nation’s semiconductor production, during a tour of battleground states meant to sell his economic agenda.

Speaking from the Intel campus in Chandler, Ariz., Mr. Biden said the award would support thousands of new manufacturing jobs, including ones that do not require a college degree.

“It’s going to transform the semiconductor industry,” Mr. Biden said. “Where the hell is it written saying that we’re not going to be the manufacturing capital of the world again?”

The award, which will go to the construction and expansion of Intel facilities around the United States, is the biggest the federal government has made with funding from the CHIPS Act , which lawmakers passed in 2022 to help re-establish the United States as a leader in semiconductor manufacturing.

The Biden administration, equipped with $39 billion in subsidies to distribute, is spearheading an ambitious effort to ramp up production of the tiny chips that power everything from smartphones to computers and cars. The effort is at the center of Mr. Biden’s goal to reduce America’s reliance on foreign countries: Although semiconductors were invented in the United States, only about 10 percent of the world’s chips are made domestically.

“Nearly all manufacturing of leading-edge chips across the entire industry moved overseas to Asia years ago,” Mr. Biden said. “That’s why today’s investment is such a big deal: We will enable advanced semiconductor manufacturing to make a comeback here in America.”

In addition to the grants, the federal government is planning to award Intel up to $11 billion in loans on what the company characterized as generous terms. Intel is also expected to claim federal tax credits that could cover 25 percent of the expense of its U.S. expansion projects, which are expected to cost more than $100 billion over five years.

The grants are intended to help fund the company’s construction plans in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon. The projects are expected to create more than 10,000 manufacturing jobs and roughly 20,000 construction jobs, according to Biden administration officials.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, whose department is overseeing the distribution of the grants, said the award would help ramp up the country’s production of the most advanced semiconductors, which are used in artificial intelligence, smartphones, supercomputers and the most sensitive military hardware. The United States currently produces none.

Ms. Raimondo said the Intel award would be the single largest grant to a chipmaker under the new program. The investment will help put the United States on track to produce roughly 20 percent of the world’s leading-edge chips by the end of the decade, she said.

“This investment will enable Intel to produce leading edge, the most sophisticated chips in the world that will power our economic and national security,” Ms. Raimondo said at the Intel campus on Wednesday.

In Arizona, the money will help fund Intel’s recent construction of two advanced plants and the modernization of another facility. The money will also help establish an entirely new site near Columbus, Ohio, starting with two factories, in its first move to a new U.S. region in more than 40 years.

In Rio Rancho, N.M., Intel will use the federal funds to transform two plants into advanced packaging facilities, where chips are assembled together to enhance performance and reduce costs. The company will also expand and modernize an innovation hub in Hillsboro, Ore., which is expected to further the company’s technological leadership and development of new innovations.

Mr. Biden and his Democratic allies view the semiconductor investments as a key way to try to turn around perceptions of the economy among voters in battleground states like Arizona.

“We have not been talking to folks about the issues that President Biden has been delivering on, and that’s what we are determined to do,” Yolanda Bejarano, the Arizona Democratic Party chairwoman, said on Tuesday, adding that Democrats would need to talk more about the effects of the semiconductor investments.

Although Intel will have to meet certain milestones before the money is distributed, senior Biden administration officials said they expected the funds to start flowing to the company by the end of this year.

Patrick Gelsinger, Intel’s chief executive, told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday evening that the government incentives represented a proud moment for his company and a major achievement for politicians of both parties. Though satisfied with the incentives earmarked for Intel, he said officials might need to invest more in the industry to reverse decades of shifting investment from the United States to countries in Asia.

“It doesn’t get fixed in one three- to five-year program,” Mr. Gelsinger said. “I do think we’ll need at least a CHIPS 2 to finish that job.”

Intel is the fourth company to receive a federal award under the new program, and brings the total announced grants to more than $10 billion. The first three grants — to GlobalFoundries, Microchip Technology and BAE Systems — were to makers of legacy chips, which are created with older production processes but are still used in many products like cars and dishwashers.

Biden administration officials are expected to announce more awards in the coming months to other major chipmakers, including the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Samsung and Micron Technology. Those companies have also made major investments in new or expanded semiconductor manufacturing plants in the United States in recent years.

The United States’ dependence on Asia for its chips has become even more pronounced with the rise of artificial intelligence. Nearly all chips used to power the latest generative A.I. services were manufactured in Taiwan by T.S.M.C., though designed by the Silicon Valley company Nvidia.

Intel has been trying to change that by developing new manufacturing technology, beginning to build chips designed by other companies and lobbying heavily for the legislation. The investment in Intel is intended to help enable U.S. companies to lead in the A.I. industry by ensuring there is a domestic supply of advanced chips.

About $50 million of federal funding will be set aside for Intel to spend on training and developing “a new generation of workers for the semiconductor industry,” Mr. Biden said. Many semiconductor companies and industry groups have voiced concerns about potential shortages of technicians, engineers and other workers to fill all of the positions that will be created once the facilities are constructed.

In total, private companies have announced more than $240 billion in semiconductor and electronic manufacturing investments since Mr. Biden took office, according to administration officials. Some chipmakers, however, have run into obstacles while trying to expand their domestic manufacturing capacity, resulting in delays.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs is a White House correspondent, covering President Biden and his administration. More about Zolan Kanno-Youngs

Madeleine Ngo covers U.S. economic policy and how it affects people across the country. More about Madeleine Ngo