3 Times Wednesday Beautifully Paid Tribute to Mexican Culture
We finally got a chance to embrace the roots of The Addams Family.
Tim Burton's Netflix series Wednesday has finally dipped us deeper into the Latino heritage of the Addams Family.
Despite the fact that almost all family members were portrayed by Latino actors, including Wednesday Addams herself, played by Jenna Ortega, the show also gave us other significant moments representing Mexican culture.
Here are the three that stole our hearts.
Wednesday's Necklace
Before leaving her only daughter in Nevermore, Morticia Gomez gives Wednesday a W-shaped necklace that can be transformed into an M.
The necklace is made of obsidian, which Morticia notes was used by Aztec priests to summon visions.
It connects the necklace to Latino culture since obsidian, which has certain associations with gods, was used widely by the Mesoamericans and Aztecs to construct tools, weapons, and mirrors.
Dia de Los Muertos Celebration
In the sixth episode, Mexican culture is honored even more as we learn that the Addams have an altar in their living room to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos throughout the year.
Dia de Los Muertos is very significant since it honors loved ones who have passed away and serves as a time to reconnect with them.
Although Dia de Los Muertos is known as The Day of the Dead, it is a celebration of life rather than death and it is usually followed by bright decorations with flowers, butterflies, and skulls.
La Llorona Song
The song La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) by Costa Rican-born, Mexican-raised singer Chavela Vargas is featured in the first episode as we see Wednesday writing her novel to the accompaniment of music.
The original story of La Llorona is very tragic and dark, as she drowned her own children because of her husband's betrayal, and then drowned herself. No surprise that it's the song that Wednesday chose as her inspiration.
With Wednesday season 2 confirmed, we hope to see more beautiful tributes to Latino culture.
Maybe we will even get a chance to see the Addams celebrate Dia de Los Muertos? We bet it won't be that gloomy.