Marvellous Mummy Mortisha

When people think about what kind of mother/parent they want to be, I'm pretty sure that they immediately think of their own parents and whether or not they did good a good enough job to be emulated. Besides that though, the media has a definite say in who we idolise or what we should aim to be like through stereotypes, subversion and certain imprinted tropes.

 There are plenty of what I personally would consider bad parenting examples in the media at the moment - the Kartrashians, Yummy Mummys, and well... basically any reality show scripted or unscripted that simply thrives on 'drama' and financial status or awkward situations. Hell, I once watched a show about different mothers giving birth and it was so painful I felt like I was going through it myself. This was when we had a Foxtel free trial. Lots of channels.. lots of.. weird.. shows.

In ordinary programmed television shows they more often than not pigeon hole mothers into a behind the scenes sort of role, usually in the home and being more of a support role to her family. Nothing wrong with that but thankfully these days it's a lot more diverse with different family types and more working mothers, single mothers etc.

The one mother I want to talk about today began life as part of a sort of anti-nuclear family newspaper cartoon that exploded into a successful television series, several movies, a cartoon series, multiple Super Nintendo/Gameboy games, a Pinball machine, figurines and dolls, various books and most recently a musical.

One of my favourite things about the Addams family is how they look dark and evil but they're a really tight knit, understanding family.

I absolutely love how the whole concept of the family stereotype is basically turned upside down. "Normal" parents and teachers can barely hide their shock and disgust at the family but time and time again the Addams show how caring and thoughtful they are which just shows how bitter and snarky the "normals" appear.

All while the family heads are delightfully ignorant about why people think they're strange.

 Gomez and Morticia have one of the best romances in sitcom history. Why am I pointing this out? Well apart from being awesome and inspiring - it's a stark contrast to the usual sitcoms where the dad's a zany idiot and the mum is a put upon 'straight man'.

You do get the impression that she's the calming, soothing presence to Gomez' somewhat manic excitement but they work so well as not just a husband and wife, but a team. They both put equal effort into parenting and keeping their marriage and romance alive.

I'm mostly familiar with this family from the nineties movies - but since then have sought out the original TV series and loved the musical. It's hard to look past the one you grew up with though. 

In most incarnations, the characters are about the same. Morticia is very iconic - an enthusiastic gardener, and able dancer, musically talented and fluent in French and other foreign languages. 

She along with Gomez and the rest of their kooky family are very caring of and supporting of their children Wednesday, Pugsley and later Pubert. Morticia takes great care in her family's values and traditions. She stands up for them if she feels someone's slighted them. She always looks effortlessly glamorous. She never minces her words. 

The only time Morticia has ever treated one of her children less was that... incident in the second movie. 

The show and movies always made me want to be part of their family and lifestyle in a way that I don't think any other pop culture family has.