Wednesday is a hit on Netflix, with Jenna Ortega perfectly encapsulating the Addams Family character. In the series, she is defined by out-weirding the other outcasts. Her roommate is the werewolf character Enid, who is just as pink and colorful as Wednesday is dark—a very Wicked parallel. While the show forces both teenagers into very, very dull relationships with cis dudes, the true bond that’s worth watching in the season is between them.
Spoilers for Wednesday.
Wednesday sees our titular character being dropped off at Nevermore Academy in Jericho, Vermont. Nevermore is the same school for outcasts that her parents attended, which they think will nurture her gifts. Her roommate is Enid (Emma Myers), a perky werewolf who is unable to transform. In typical opposites-attract fashion, the two form a bond as Enid slowly breaks down Wednesday’s cold and distant nature. While the series promoted itself with a drag show and there have been some very gay comments from the cast, the show is very heterosexual. There is not a single openly gay character in the bunch.
Wednesday has two love interests: Tyler Galpin (Hunter Doohan) and Xavier Thorpe (Percy Hynes White) are both played by fine actors, but in terms of character, they are both very same-looking slim white boys. As for Enid, she is into a gorgon named Ajax and then, for a second, a normal townie. All of the romance feels like a distraction from the actual storytelling and mystery that takes up a lot of the story.
Naturally, because Enid and Wednesday are interesting, fleshed out characters who have a relationship that develops, people are shipping it. I think it makes a lot more sense and is absolutely more interesting. I would also love to see Wednesday/Bianca as a more enemies-to-lovers dynamic, but that’s me. Apparently, some fans believe that the show’s official Twitter account is blocking or deleting tweets that say Wednesday is a lesbian, but there is no confirmation of that as of yet.
In many ways, forced heterosexuality doesn’t make sense for Wednesday. She reads very asexual/aromantic, and the romances don’t add anything to her character. Wednesday has been defined by her feelings for her family and companions. Nothing is stopping her from having a deep bond with Enid in a personal way that develops her character. The love triangle feels like a tacked-on element because teen dramas these days always have at least one. We already have so little ace representation, and the truth is that the twist about Tyler being the big bad would have been as impactful if they were just good friends. Your friend betraying you hurts more. Did y’all learn nothing from that season of Insecure?
Enid is portrayed as very heterosexual, but then when it is Parents’ Day, her mother wants to send Enid to a werewolf conversion therapy camp because of her inability to change. It is very clearly a queer allegory, and a clumsy one at that, considering we have no real understanding of why Enid can’t change. What does make her change is wanting to protect Wednesday. That is a more impactful love, because it means that Enid has found in Wednesday a kind of pack to “wolf out” with. Found family 101.
Wednesday, in terms of the narrative, doesn’t “queerbait” because it focuses on these boy romances very heavily, but I also think that’s a missed opportunity. Not every teenage girl character needs to be a romantic lead, and focusing on the friendship between these two girls would have been much stronger. Maybe in season two we will get some queer characters and less of a need to pair Wednesday up with basic boys.
(featured image: Netflix)
Published: Nov 28, 2022 05:17 pm