Morticia Addams is my spirit animal…
As a self-proclaimed proud geek, there are plenty of characters of the fictional variety I find relatable and downright admirable. Few hold a candle to Morticia Addams from ‘The Addams Family”. She’s sassy, seductive and fierce but mostly it’s her attitude on life that is altogether inspiring. She’s so much more then her gothic/ macabre nature, so without further ado here are 5 reasons why Morticia Addams is my spirit animal:
1. She is the epitome of being completely herself.
Morticia is not afraid to be labeled as odd, in fact she views it as a compliment, one she’s oh so happy to accept. She is far from ordinary, in fact she’s the black sheep of the town in which she lives: ordinary people are often taken aback by her dark but brazen sexuality. She loves things like the occult, sex and death, chaos and ruin. She cuts roses off the stems and discards them, keeping only the stems.
She is unapologetically unusual and contently macabre.
In this way, Morticia is more of a role model to young women then any other fictional female character (although I could make a case for Hermione Granger too) in recent history, especially those who struggle with loving and accepting themselves we can all stand to learn something from Morticia. We’re ALL different but ultimately we need to be shamelessly ourselves instead of what society’s standards expect us to be.
2. She doesn’t give a flying vampire bat what you think.
Morticia is well aware that the people she encounters outside of her home are absolutely nothing like her. She accepts that her neighbors and other mothers at her childrens’ school are nothing like her. Morticia is well aware or at least has a hunch what the boringly ordinary townspeople think of she and her family. Does she feel despair? Does she care?
Nope.
Morticia doesn’t give a flying vampire bat what anyone thinks of her, “what’s normal to the spider, is chaos to the fly” she says which shows that although she probably pities these ordinary women, trapped in their illusion of a perfect life filled with dinner parties, idle and meaningless chit-chat and of course most dreaded of all-pastels, Morticia also accepts everyone is different. Kids could stand to learn a lot from Morticia’s outlook on life, we’re not all cut from the same cloth and that’s totally okay. It’s also totally okay to not give a flying bat if you’re accepted or not. Accept yourself and you’ll attract the right people…which brings me to Number 3!
3. Morticia surrounds herself with people who love and accept her.
Morticia values her family and friends dearly. We’re terribly alike in this respect because we protect our tribe at all costs. She’s loyal, loving and unwavering to those who love, support and stand by her. While she might be a little unusual she’s got a whole click of like-minded people just like her to love and support her for who she is. Those who mind, don’t matter. Those who matter, don’t mind. Morticia lives by this mantra and really shouldn’t we all?
If we surround ourselves with people who love and support us for who we truly are we’ll be less likely to compare ourselves and our successes to others. We’ll be less likely to ostracize and pigeon hole ourselves for toxic people who wouldn’t appreciate our worth anyway.
Morticia would be caught dead in the company of those who cannot see her worth, therefore why should any of us accept such false love and friendships unworthy of us? Which brings us to number 4…
4. Morticia’s marriage is the epitome of ‘relationship goals‘
When most people think of timeless romances they think: Sonny and Cher, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, Lucy and Desi…all great love stories, with one thing in common: they ended in divorce. When I think timeless love, I think Morticia and Gomez Addams.
Despite being parents to Wednesday and Pugsley Addams, Morticia and Gomez put each other first. They truly are each other’s best friends, not to mention they can’t keep their hands off of one another.
More importantly they never stopped courting each other. They make an honest effort to dress up for one another, even when they’re planning a quiet night at home. They still treat their relationship as though they were on their first date – putting their best face forward for one another and bringing the best out in each other all the while!
Gomez and Morticia, also compliment each other. Gomez attacks everything with zeal and almost childlike wonder while Morticia is very clearly the steadying influence with a calm and collected intelligence that keeps him on track. They have their own interests – Gomez has his cigars, chess and model trains; Morticia has her gardening, music and black magic. When push comes to shove their a united front, equal partners in their relationship; they co-parent and are both very present for each other as well as their children. If that’s not relationship goals, I don’t know what is.
5. In A World Full of Bombshells She’s Her Own Brand Of Sexy.
When I think back to when the original Addams Family television show aired in 1964, it was in the age of Debbie Reynolds, Julie Andrews, Anne Bancroft and Sophia Loren. These women were desired, sought after as beautiful and then there was Morticia (played originally by the lovely Carolyn Jones and later iconically Angelica Houston).
Morticia is always immaculately dressed in her own unique rather dark style, with her long inky hair, illuminatingly pale complexion, blood-red nails and lips to go. She owns it and she rocks it well.
Whether she’s attending a play at her childrens’ school or lounging about her house , Morticia lives her own sense of gothic vampiric style. She’s unapologetic with her own sense of beauty that contrasts much of what was deemed attractive and sexy during that time period.
My childhood love of late night binge watching Nick at Nite, and TVLand where I caught re-runs of nearly every Addams family episode inspired me to first dye my hair black when I was sixteen. Of course it didn’t last and for years I stayed blonde though, conforming to the hair everyone else thought I should have until finally at 26 I took the plunge-I dyed my hair black once more and I haven’t looked back.
Morticia inspired me to unapologetically embrace that raven hair, red lips and a love for the color black in clothing as well (it is quite slimming and flattering too). In the end, I’ve come to the conclusion that in a world full of Marilyn’s, I’d rather embrace my inner Morticia!
Love you. Mean it.
Brittany
Xoxo
Are You There Friday? It's Me, Brittany. 