‘Wednesday’: Fans Are Calling out Tim Burton for Racist Undertones and Believe Wednesday Addams Is Gay – Showbiz Cheat Sheet

December 1, 2022 Kim Martel

Wednesday, Tim Burton’s Netflix series, has received many positive reviews. Jenna Ortega stars as Wednesday Addams in a slightly revamped version of the popular franchise character. But while fans are enjoying Wednesday, Burton has come under fire for how titular black characters were portrayed. The series also has fans questioning Wednesday’s sexuality and Netflix’s intentions.

Actor Iman Marson and Tommie Earl Jenkins in Tm Burton's 'Wednesday.' — Actor Iman Marson and Tommie Earl Jenkins in Tm Burton’s ‘Wednesday’ | via Netflix

Bianca Barclay was portrayed as the mean Queen Bee in Tim Burton’s ‘Wednesday’

According to The New York Post, fans have noticed racist undertones within Burton’s Wednesday. The main concern is how the black characters within the series are portrayed. While having a diverse cast and Wednesday being Mexican-American, fans are dismayed by how Bianca, Joy Sunday’s character, is written.

In the series, she is the closest thing Nevermore has to royalty, according to Enid. She is a siren and has an elitist demeanor. But fans felt that Burton’s Wednesday made her out to be the “mean” girl who hates Wednesday due to her drastically different views. In the series, Bianca tries to diminish Wednesday’s attitude of not caring and doing as she pleases.

She also becomes angered by Xavier’s interest in the macabre teen. Bianca is not the only instance fans were peeved by. The Netflix series also has the black mayor be corrupt as his coverups from the past come to light. To make matters worse, fans were upset over the character being the owner of the town’s Pilgrim World. An odd choice, according to fans.

But it does not end there. The mayor’s son is also one of the series’s biggest bullies who crosses paths with Wednesday on more than one occasion. In Wednesday, he even manipulates Enid to go to the Rave’N to help his friends enact revenge on the outcasts. As the series progresses, the anti-black connotations diminish as the characters band together to help Wednesday.

Did Netflix play it safe when regarding Wednesday’s sexuality?

To some fans’ dismay, Burton’s Wednesday fell into the common teen cliché of the cold Wednesday Addams falling into a love triangle. She faces the turmoil of being unsure how to navigate someone else’s feelings for her. While fans were gaga over Xavier and Tyler in Wednesday, fans saw a missed opportunity for an LGTBQ story.

According to THEM, fans saw an inherent spark between Enid and Wednesday. While they built a rocky friendship as the series progressed, fans could not help but ship them together. Fans especially felt this during the finale when Wednesday and Enid hug after the debacle of saving Nevermore. Since the Addams family franchise, Wednesday has been an LGBTQ icon, but it was not explored in the series.

The most the series does is hint at the possibility when Xavier meets up with Wednesday at the Harvest festival. He asks if she is waiting for a boy…or a girl. After the scene, the LGTBQ thread is cut, and Wednesday begins her complex story with Tyler and Xavier.

Wednesday’s only big display of the LGBTQ community was with Eugene’s parents. But even then, his two mothers are rarely present in the series. In an interview with Elite Daily, Ortega and Emma Myers joked they would always say “and they were roommates” to each other while filming. The phrase is popular on TikTok, implying a romantic spark between roommates. “And that’s all that needs to be said — I think that gets the message across,” explained Myers.

Netflix advertised to the LGBTQ community before hiding a few tweets

What has fans in a frenzy about Wednesday’s possible LGTBQ story is how Netflix advertised it on Twitter. According to NME, part of Netflix’s promotion leading up to the series included a poster of the title with the word “day” scratched out. Instead, the poster read, “Wednesgay.” The streaming platform also posted a video of drag queens before transforming into their versions of Wednesday Addams.

But turmoil ensued when Pop Crave called out Netflix for hiding tweets suggesting the character was gay or a lesbian. Many fans found the situation ironic, even more so after the series aired. Fans also noticed the possibility of Enid’s overall plot being a hidden metaphor for a coming-out story. She is the only werewolf in her family who cannot shift.

During the family weekend at Nevermore, Enid’s mother gives her brochures of special camps to help her wolf come out. Fans felt her common term of “wolf out” has a different connotation beyond the supernatural.