Addams Family Values – Focusing on Your Freaky Family
I recently watched the film, “Addams Family Values”. It was surprisingly hilarious.
It took me back to the time when I discovered the real value of The Addams Family.
As a Christian, I don’t gravitate toward horror, though I appreciate it as a literary genre. (that’s a discussion for another post). When the first Addams Family movie came out in the 1990’s, I was a volunteer drama director at my local church. I wrote and directed weekly dramas to help illustrate the sermon’s message. They sometimes demonstrated everyday situations at home or work, sometimes got very dramatic and serious, and other times were more like an SNL skit that included parodies of familiar shows like Gilligan’s Island or Star Trek.
When my pastor asked me to write a drama featuring The Addams Family, I was confused. I didn’t see how to use a horror comedy to illustrate a Sunday morning message. His daughters had seen the movie and begged to be part of an Addams Family church drama, and he wanted to support their eagerness to participate in something at church.
I sighed and said I would do it. I checked out a library book about the original TV series and discovered something I never would have noticed: According to the author, the Addams Family was, internally, the healthiest family on television.
Whaaat? But they’re creepy! And they’re kooky! And altogether ooky!
Sure, to us. We don’t get excited about death or dismemberment like they do, or hurl knives at one another for fun, or practice electrocuting ourselves like Uncle Fester.
But – all safety concerns aside – the family itself was extremely functional. Gomez and Morticia were madly in love and proud to show it, making time for one another while still supporting each other’s individual hobbies. Gomez had a passion for everything life had to offer, and freely shared his enthusiasm with everyone he met. The family extended to a grandmother and uncle who lived in the home, while keeping an open door to other family members, like Cousin Itt. They all treated their servant, Lurch, with respect and appreciation. The children loved and respected their parents, who loved and supported the children. The family unit itself was one to be admired and envied.
In “Addams Family Values”, that family is threatened by a con artist named Debbie, who creates a pretense of family to serve her own greed. She’s a black widow, who carefully seduces Uncle Fester so she can marry and then murder him to inherit his fortune. But for her plans to succeed, she must divide the family.
When the daughter, Wednesday, grows suspicious of her, Debbie convinces the parents to send their children off to summer camp. Later, she convinces Fester to cut off all ties with the family if he wants to stay with her. Why does she do this?
Because she knows this family is strong. Their love and support for one another will lead them to the truth about her schemes to use Fester for her own ends. Wednesday can already see through Debbie’s games, and Gomez and Morticia supported the relationship until Debbie claimed that Fester wanted to break all ties with the Addams.
Unfortunately, Fester lets himself be deceived by Debbie instead of reaching out to the family for help. It’s easy to believe a stranger who offers the kind of relationship or opportunity we always wanted, instead of believing the people who have known us the longest and probably know us the best.
Thankfully, Debbie finally shows her true colors and reveals herself to be the scariest character of all, allowing Fester to return to the people who will always love him as he is. Warts and all.
Our families can be irritating and embarrassing. Sometimes they seem downright freaky, with their nerdy hobbies, dad jokes, teenage rebellion, and magazine quiz obsessions. They can also be our strongest supporters and our best counselors. The ones who bandage our wounds, applaud our achievements, bail us out of jail, and caution us against bad investments.
They can also help us avoid some really destructive relationships.
While helping us cling to the most important ones.
