The Addams Feminists A trans-adaptational comparison of the characters and narrative of The Addams Family (1964-1966) and The Addams Family (1991) in their respective time frames from a feminist perspective. Thesis for the Master Media Studies: Film Studies at the University of Amsterdam Figure 1: The Addams Family (The World of Chas Addams) Name Judith Ritsema Student Number 11924098 Word Count 21,967 Supervisor Dr. Catherine Lord Second Reader Dr. Tarja Laine Table of Contents Introduction: Constructing a Field: The Addams Family in Different Times from a Feminist Perspective 5 I.1 (Contemporary) Feminism and the Addams Family 5 I.2 Theoretical Framework: Studies on Character, Feminist Film and TV, and Narration and the Addams Family Adaptations 8 I.3 Analysing Character, Narrative, and the Influence of Contemporary Waves of Feminism in the Addams Family Adaptations 13 I.4 Preliminary Conclusion 15 Chapter 1: Unruliness, Sexuality, Masculinity, Femininity, and Gender Roles in the Characters of the Addams Family 17 1.1 Introduction: How Characters Are an Important Factor That Contribute to the Feminist Message of the Addams Family Adaptations 17 1.2 The Reversal of Doane’s Gendered Construction of Emotion and Rationality in The Addams Family (1964-1966) 19 1.3 Playing with Gender Roles and Masculine and Feminine Traits in The Addams Family (1964-1966) 22 1.4 The Lack of Gender Roles in Wednesday and Pugsley in The Addams Family (1964- 1966) 24 1.5 Creating a Platform for Feminism Using Unruly Women and the Carnivalesque in the Addams Family Adaptations 25 1.6 The Portrayal of Sexuality in The Addams Family (1991) 27 1.7 Masculine and Feminine Interests and a Feminist Upbringing in The Addams Family (1991) 29 1.8 Conclusion: Balancing Femininity and Masculinity While Reversing Traditional Techniques 31 Judith Ritsema // Stu.Nr. 11924098 2 Chapter 2: The Feminist Elements of Story, Narration, and Plot and Analysed in the Addams Family Adaptations 34 2.1 Introduction: The Distinction between Story, Narration, and Plot and Their Effects in Terms of Feminism in the Addams Family Adaptations 34 2.2 Gender Role Models and Power Dynamics in The Addams Family (1964-1966) 35 2.3 Gender Division of Plot-Driving Characters and Narration in The Addams Family (1964-1966) 37 2.4 The Representation of Marriage, Sexuality, and Desire in the Addams Family Adaptations 38 2.5 Powerful Positions for Female Characters in a Male-Centred Story in The Addams Family (1991) 40 2.6 Hetero-Normativity and Repression of Homoerotic Subtexts in The Addams Family (1991) 43 2.7 Conclusion: Female Plot-Driving Characters Placed in a Male-Narrated Story 44 Chapter 3: The Development in Narrative and Characters in The Addams Family Adaptations during Different Waves of Feminism 46 3.1 Introduction: Establishing Changes between the Two Addams Family Adaptations and Placing Them in Their Respective Waves of Feminism 46 3.2 Character Development, Complexity, and Continuity in the Different Addams Family Adaptations 47 3.3 Allegiance with and Commitment to the Addams Family Characters 50 3.4 Agency and Disregard for Gender Roles and Power Dynamics in the Character of Wednesday Addams 51 3.5 Morticia Sexuality: Now and “Later” 55 3.6 Conclusion: Feminist Characters Tailor-Made for Their Time 58 Judith Ritsema // Stu.Nr. 11924098 3 Conclusion: Strong Feminist Characters in a Carnivalesque Setting Protesting Gender Roles, Celebrating Female Sexuality, and Advocating Representation of Women On Screen 60 C.1 Analysing the Addams Family Series (1964-1966) and Film (1991) and Establishing Its Feminist Platform through the Carnivalesque 60 C.2 The Reversal of and Protesting Against Gender Roles and the Binary Division between Masculinity and Femininity 61 C.3 Desire, Women’s Sexuality, and Homoerotic Subtexts in the Addams Family Adaptations 63 C.4 Commitment to the Addams Family Characters and Their Feminist Message 65 Bibliography 67 Appendix 1 71 Images 71 Judith Ritsema // Stu.Nr. 11924098 4 Introduction Constructing a Field: The Addams Family in Different Times from a Feminist Perspective I.1 (Contemporary) Feminism and the Addams Family Feminism has recently taken on a new form, birthing its fourth wave. This new wave has found its platform online, with the internet and social media working as its main means of communication (Cochrane). As the second wave fought for sexual liberation as well as better economic standards and job opportunities for women, the third wave used the improved status gained during this wave to fight for equality among men and women from different races and classes, taking an intersectional approach, as well as continuing the work they considered unfinished from the second wave (Brunell and Burkett). The fourth wave does not necessarily fight for new feminist principles compared to the third wave, as it is largely based on it, but it is considered a new wave due to their new approach of campaigning, which happens mostly online (Chamberlain 11-12). The question as to how it is possible that certain prejudices still exist in contemporary society seems to be the driving force behind this fourth wave (Chamberlain 115). The movement is associated with campaigns such as ‘Campaign4Consent’, ‘No More Page 3’, ‘Counting Dead Women Project’ and ‘#EverydaySexism’, which raise awareness for and fight against sexual harassment and violence against women. Fourth-wave feminists aim to give a voice to minorities and raise awareness about a broad spectrum of feminist issues on an intersectional level (Cochrane). Due to the rise of social media, new kinds of celebrities have started to emerge, such as YouTubers. Carrie Hope Fletcher is one of these YouTubers, as well as a passionate feminist. In 2017 she toured the UK and Ireland as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family: The Musical Comedy Tour, recording much of the rehearsal and preparation process and the tour itself for this role and sharing it on her YouTube channel (“ItsWayPastMyBedTime”). Seeing her performing as Wednesday Addams on stage, it Judith Ritsema // Stu.Nr. 11924098 5 triggered a thought process connecting this feminist actress and the character she was portraying to online articles and fan posts on social media calling Wednesday their “spirit animal”, Morticia and Gomez’s marriage “Couples Goals” and “The Best Marriage Ever”, The Addams Family (1991) “awesome(ly) [sic] feminist”, and Morticia Addams a “Feminist Queen Who Has It All” (Delayrium; Lohr; Kasulke; Waldron; Garis). This drove me to investigate whether research had been done into the Addams Family adaptations from a feminist perspective. Upon initial research, it seemed most of the research done on the Addams family adaptations from a feminist perspective was often only a couple of pages long, lacking significant depth. For example, in O’Dell’s June Cleaver Was a Feminist!, one page is dedicated to an analysis of Morticia from a feminist perspective, yet this analysis remained superficial, as it mostly consists of observations rather than a well-structured argument. Hardly any TV or film theory has been considered or referenced (55). In most cases, the Addams family adaptations were mentioned or used as part of a case study on a different film or TV series or in an encyclopaedia entry, meaning that, to my knowledge, no in-depth research has been done on the Addams family adaptations as a case study in themselves.1 The article that has come closest to considering The Addams Family (1964-1966) from a feminist perspective is “The Monster Within” by Morowitz, which studies The Addams Family (1964-1966) and The Munsters (1964-1966) in order to see what these TV series tell us about the way the traditional American nuclear family was perceived in the mid-1960s. This article, however, does not consider key feminist film theories, such as Mulvey’s male gaze theory, or Rowe’s work on the unruly woman, as Morowitz has placed her focus on the social constructions within the series’ narrative and characters. This has left 1 See for example: O’Dell (55), “Media Representations of Feminism” (748), Chopra-Gant (73-77), and Green (21, 29-30). Judith Ritsema // Stu.Nr. 11924098 6 the media studies field with a gap concerning this profoundly popular fictional family, as no one seems to have taken up the Addams family adaptations as an individual case study from a feminist perspective. As I am a feminist myself, representation of women in media, gender roles, and women’s sexuality are important topics to me. This made me wonder how this fictional family which has been around for over eighty years ‘performs’ in terms of these topics. Feminism in film is a topic that has attracted my interest ever since I started studying film, and I was keen to see if an analysis of a ‘classic’ such as the Addams family could be used as an example that advocates a feminist perspective regarding these topics. Combining this with the fact that feminism has recently started its fourth wave, it seems significant to research how The Addams Family (1964-1966) and The Addams Family (1991) perform in terms of representation of women, gender roles and women’s sexuality compared to their respective waves of feminism, being the second wave for the series and the third wave for the film, and whether the ideals conveyed in both adaptations have changed due to the time difference of almost 30 years between the two different texts. In this thesis, two different adaptations2 will be analysed, being the The Addams Family (1964-1966) series and the The Addams Family (1991) film. The reason these two adaptations were selected is that they are different media from two different times. The series is the first moving image adaptation made based on the more than 150 single-panel comics drawn by Charles Addams, which were in part published in the New Yorker between 2 I am using the word adaptation to describe the “adapted texts” as Linda Hutcheon prefers to call them, in this case the films and series based on the Addams Family comics as drawn by Charles Addams.