What is the most entertaining day of the week? Apparently, it’s Wednesday – at least according to Netflix viewers. The recent Addams family spin-off series, Wednesday, was released on November 2, 2022, and has quickly become a marvel, racking up the most views ever recorded in a single week for an English Netflix show. Many aspects of the show are appreciated by fans: the plot twists, the love triangle, the visuals – but watchers especially love Jenna Ortega’s interpretation of Wednesday Addams. 

Addams has many quirks and characteristics that make fans love her. Ortega had to perfect Wednesday’s blank stare, “I would have to restart if I started blinking… I tilt my chin down and look through my eyebrows, kind of like a Kubrick stare, and then I relax all the muscles in my face.” She also performed a dance number to The Cramps’ 1981 single “Goo Goo Muck” at the winter formal. Wednesday’s awkward, out of place dance moves found a home in the hearts of fans and, strangely, on TikTok “for you” pages.

The TikTok trend of attempting to imitate Jenna Ortega’s performance has been receiving mixed reactions. Some applaud the idea of praising quiet, introverted personality types. Others are outraged by people acting “chronically” online. TikTokers are calling Wednesday’s gothic aesthetic “cool” and “cute”, while in real life, people are teased and bullied for dressing and acting the same. 

“I think people just like saying their unpopular opinions online to be praised for being different from the others or whatever – because we all know in real life, everyone who’s calling Wednesday cool would bully students who look exactly the same,” said senior Lily Mata.

The trend of wanting to “be different” has no exception with the release of this series. Whether people genuinely appreciate those who fit into Wednesday’s gothic aesthetic or view it as a trend is still a question yet to be answered.