On 23rd November 2022, Netflix launched their spectacular, much-anticipated Addams Family spin-off, simply entitled Wednesday.
The series is nothing short of a ground-breaking revelation for introverts all over the world!
It has changed the narrative when it comes to those dark, brooding introverts.
Wednesday has single-handedly made the weirdoes – the outcasts – cool.
My nickname, for much of my life, has actually been Wednesday Addams.
This is due to a number of reasons, including my long, black hair (which I often wear plaited) and my dry humour. But most of all, the nickname came about as a result of my intolerance for the vast majority of the human race. 🤣
I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I dislike people entirely, it’s just that I prefer my own company to anybody else’s. I don't particularly enjoy the company of others in large quantities, and too much time away from my own thoughts leaves me feeling mentally drained and frazzled.
More often than not, I find that people generally get in the way of my creative juices (ooh, cheeky!) 🤣
I am what some may refer to as a ‘loud introvert.’
Usually, it is assumed that introverts are quiet and retiring, however this is huge flaw in the stereotype.
Introverts can actually be as loud as extroverts, but the only difference is that the introvert is more than likely dying inside while they put on this social front.
I’m a confident person and I can supply the banter and be all social when I need to be, for example when I’m at work, but given the choice, I’d MUCH rather be on my own.
Like, seriously – socialising makes me foam at the mouth, and not in a good way.
If I don’t grant myself lengthy and regular breaks away from society, I get extremely weary.
I NEED time alone to allow my creativity to flow to its full potential. I thrive alone.
A friend of mine once summed it up perfectly: “Whereas some people recharge around others, you recharge alone.”
Introverts are often also wrongly assumed to be weird, dull and lonely, to name but a few further incorrect stereotypes.
Wednesday challenges all of this bull.
Yeah she’s weird, but she’s cool AF and she totally owns it! She expresses no desire whatsoever to fit in or adhere to society’s ‘norms’ and how bloody refreshing is this as a role model?!
Spoiler alert: BEING AN INTROVERT DOES NOT MAKE YOU WEIRD, OR FRIENDLESS, OR UNDATEABLE, OR BORING, OR LONELY, OR WHATEVER IT IS THAT COMMON CULTURE HAS MADE US BELIEVE. BEING AN INTROVERT JUST ESSENTIALLY MEANS THAT YOU VALUE YOUR OWN SPACE AND TIME. WEDNESDAY, AMIRIGHT?!
People assume that introverts lack confidence, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Introverts are spared of the desire to seek validation from others so do not feel the need to put themselves at the centre of attention and drama all the time. They're quite happy to just... Be.
And just because it is not my desire to go out to crowded nightclubs with a huge hoard of people anymore, it doesn’t mean that I don’t often dance around my house on my own to Crazy Frog while wearing nothing but pants and a feather boa.
(Oh, and side note: I am constantly accused of being ‘boring’ because I don’t drink, yet whenever I do go out, I’m always first on the dance floor while everyone else has to allow their drinks to kick in before they feel confident enough to get up. Honey, I WILL SLUTDROP YOU UNDER THE TABLE ON FRUIT SHOOTS ALONE! Gal don't need Vodka to be the Twerkin' Queen. 💁🏻♀️👑)
People often struggle to understand my need to be alone and honestly, the amount of misconceptions that I have had to contend with over the years is just ridiculous.
“Don’t you ever get lonely?” NOPE. (There’s a difference between being alone and being lonely, and I'm alone by choice.)
“Don’t you ever get bored?” NOOO. (Mate, I’ve been writing my latest novel which is set in Paris, so I’ve essentially spent the afternoon up the Eifel Tower armed with a pain au chocolat and a fit Frenchman called Jon Pierre. Deffo not bored thanks!)
“Don’t you want a boyfriend?” NO THANKS. Been there, done that, had my creativity stumped and replaced with mindless bickering and one too many Haribo Tangtastics.
“Don’t you have any friends?” Um, yeah, I have lots, actually. But in life, it’s important to be your own friend first and foremost, and how do you ever expect to get to know yourself if you never take time out to just... Be with yourself?
Being an introvert doesn't mean that you struggle to make or retain friends. As the series proceeds, we see Wednesday learn the value of friendship and grow her circle. This doesn't mean that she doesn't enjoy spending time alone with her typewriter any less though!
You CAN defy the labels and have it all just as Wednesday does - you can have friends and socialise and still relish your 'me time' and class yourself as an introvert! 😊
Be a Wednesday - create your own label and rewrite the stereotypes!
I have always been an introvert, and I think this goes hand-in-hand with my only-child status.
People often ask me if I wished for siblings when I was younger.
No, is the answer. I never yearned for somebody to play with, because I was lucky enough to have a very vivid imagination which inspired and illuminated my entire childhood. I was writing books from the age of six, and my beloved characters became friends in place of siblings. The scenarios I wrote about and brought into my make-believe games felt real enough to touch.
My childhood glittered with a magic only I could see, thanks to my imagination and my writing, and because of this, I look back at this wealth with much fondness.
I was a fairly popular member of my primary school and always enjoyed playing the class clown with the boys. (We once moved the clock forwards to 3:15pm and tried to convince our supply teacher that it was time to go home. This might have worked had we not pulled this stunt at 10:30am... As we were getting a rollocking, the clock – that we’d failed to put back securely – promptly fell off the wall and into the bin below. The comedic timing was impeccable, and yet we all found ourselves outside the head teacher’s office.)
It was the best of both worlds really – I had fulfilling friendships at school, and a whole little world of my own overflowing with endless possibilities to marvel at once I got home.
At high school, I unfortunately did very little to break the mould of the introvert stereotype.
I lost of my child-like confidence, which is sadly quite a common occurrence in teen-hood.
I became painfully shy and avoided conversation of any kind for the fear of being mocked. I wasn’t considered cool, and that – in the environment of high school - basically meant that I was an outsider.
I still wrote, and that was my ultimate silver-lining during those five, melancholy years. I fiercely stayed true to myself, but at a price, and that price was popularity, or lack of. And as shallow as it sounds, we’re all sadly too aware that being a high-school outcast is basically happiness-suicide and a one way ticket to the frustrating existence of never really being taken seriously. I was miserable and my self-assurance was at an all-time low.
Yes, I stayed true to myself, but I hated the person I was. Hated myself for not really knowing me anymore, and hated myself for secretly wanting to be like the others girls.
I wish I’d had the balls to give as few Fs as Wednesday! Her attitude is a true inspiration and I believe my outlook would have been very different had this series come out when I was at high school.
Wednesday is the saviour of society that we have all been waiting for!
To quote Wednesday’s friend Enid: “Everyone’s pretending they don’t give an F, and you literally never had any Fs to give!”
In contrast to high school, college was a different kettle of fish entirely. I regained my well-liked class-clown status and rejoiced in gaining many new friends. I was absolutely buzzing and the most content and confident I had ever been.
This was the only time of my life that I actively enjoyed socialising. I went out most nights of the week and couldn’t get enough of my bursting social calendar.
Although this being said, I did also allow my introverted qualities to make an appearance every now and again.
I can’t believe I’m allowing this memory to see the light of day, but F it...
During my second year of college, I started speaking to this guy that everyone thought was proper fit. Needless to say, 18 year old me was ‘gassed.’
We met up a few times and then planned that he’d come to my house while my Mum was away. I bragged about it all day at college, pretty much making out that we were the next Jay-Z and Beyonce.
... And then I s**t myself. I fully got cold feet and called the whole thing off.
I just remember feeling so incredibly overwhelmed and panicked, for reasons I couldn’t really fathom. I just knew that I wanted – needed – to be alone. The thought of a free house and time to myself was just too appealing.
So that night, instead of having one of the fittest lads in college round, I happily wiled away the hours writing about pixies while listening to the rain pattering on the loft window. And it was bliss.
And to this day, I have no regrets, although the girls still tease me about it!
And now... I’ve gone full circle. I’m not that painfully invisible girl from high school, and nor am I that garish, gobby college girl. I’m actually more like my childhood version of me, minus the Tamagotchi.
I’m just me.
I’m an introvert and proud.
I live life mostly inside my own head, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. For the most part, it’s a wonderful place to be.
Some people think spending too much time alone inside your own head can only lead to self-inflicted negativity, but this isn’t strictly true. The mind can be a trove of wonder if you know how to tune it correctly. My mind is my favourite place, because to can shape-shift to literally anywhere m on earth, and teleport me into any situation that I so desire. How amazing is that?!
We introverts are very good at observing.
Sometimes, we might not say much, but yeah – we see you!
How else do you think Wednesday was able to solve the case?!
The response to Wednesday has already been phenomenal, and it’s really not hard to comprehend why.
Wednesday is a modern day superhero - a real, worthy 'influencer' - sent to subtly challenge ‘norms’ both on and off screen.
With Tim Burton at the helm, the set and graphics are nothing short of a visual feast, and don’t even get me started on the impeccable casting! (Luis Guzman is simply flawless as Gomez.)
These are characters that I couldn’t help but fall in love with right from the very first episode.
I both laughed – rapturously – and bawled my eyes out at this series.
Seriously, I don’t think I have EVER penned any form of ‘review’ following a TV show/ film before, but I have been left totally in awe of this masterpiece and all that it stands for.
To put it simply, Wednesday is the hero I wish I had known as a teenage girl. She's the girl I wish I'd been bold enough to be.
The message is clear: whoever you are - introvert, extrovert, shy, sociable, 'normie,' werewolf... Just be your own unique version of awesome. Stay true to you; it's the best decision you'll ever make. Be bold, be brave, be unapologetic, be proud and above all, always be yourself, because nobody does it better.
AND remember... WWWD?!
✨✨✨
* ... Now, on another note, if anybody knows where I might get my own Thing, please do let me know! Is he not just the most adorable specimen EVER created?! I won’t spoil anything, but the episode where he has little party hat on just made me weep with pure joy. 😭😍✋🏼
Cara Jasmine Bradley ©
*Cover photo credit: Netflix.