A Case for Debbie
The Addams Family Values movie, released in 1993 and a favorite of mine as a kid (I was a weird fucking kid), sees Uncle Fester, played by the ever-eccentric Christopher Lloyd, marry the obviously money-grubbing, sociopathic fallen debutante Debbie, played by Joan Cusack (evergreen babe). After several attempts to kill Fester for his money (he has a lot of it) she (I was going to post a spoiler alert here but I think the statute of spoiler alerts limitations has more than lapsed here), in her final moment of glory, is poised to electrocute the entire damn family. She takes them through the series of slights in her life that have led up to this moment. And, after thinking about it, I can sort of empathize with her.
If you haven't seen the film this will make little sense to you, but here is the clip in question:
Throughout her final soliloquy Debbie recounts a lifetime of being pigeonholed into stereotypical female roles despite having dreams and ambitions of her own. Be this, not that. Get married, stand back and be quiet. Is it any surprise she reached her breaking point?
Debbie, as a child wanted nothing more that to have Ballerina Barbie for her birthday. A child obsessed with dance wanted a doll that reflected who she was. She received a Malibu Barbie, the antithesis of who she was. She wanted to go to Juliard, not Pepperdine. She had a dream!
Debbie never became that dancer. She instead grew up an married young, with a man older than her. An unattractive surgeon who clearly did not value her, his work always came first and he simply expected her to be ok with it. An ornament doesn't get to have opinions, after all.
Her second husband breaks his promises to her and insists that his personal image be the most important thing in the relationship. She again takes the backseat. The audience here is made to believe she is an ungrateful shrew, but can we blame her for self soothing with possessions when there is no solace in a man whose ambitions are his only real love?
Her third husband, Fester, loves her, but his family treats her like an outsider. Instead of building a bridge between them, Fester cowers and mewls like a little bitch, playing the victim at every turn. Of course at this point Debbie is beyond repair: damaged from a lifetime of being made less than her male counterparts.
In her final speech, her missteps make her a monster, her calamity makes her unlovable. Even though the Addams family itself is death-obsessed and often joke about the people they have killed, eaten, or the corpses they have cozied up to, they are still the lovable weirdo heroes, and Debbie, the sad, blonde, angry, shopaholic female trope, the villain.
Ultimately, Debbie is killed by a baby, the wet dream of the anti-choice right. 💦
Sure, Debbie was evil, angry, and homicidal, but who made her that way? The film would have you think that she as a woman is inherently evil, a cursed descendant of Eve. I argue that a lifetime of oversight and oppression by men created the monster, who, when she could not fit into the mold society created for her, cracked and lost the one thing she wanted known most in the world: her soul.
If you haven't seen the film this will make little sense to you, but here is the clip in question:
Throughout her final soliloquy Debbie recounts a lifetime of being pigeonholed into stereotypical female roles despite having dreams and ambitions of her own. Be this, not that. Get married, stand back and be quiet. Is it any surprise she reached her breaking point?
Debbie, as a child wanted nothing more that to have Ballerina Barbie for her birthday. A child obsessed with dance wanted a doll that reflected who she was. She received a Malibu Barbie, the antithesis of who she was. She wanted to go to Juliard, not Pepperdine. She had a dream!
Debbie never became that dancer. She instead grew up an married young, with a man older than her. An unattractive surgeon who clearly did not value her, his work always came first and he simply expected her to be ok with it. An ornament doesn't get to have opinions, after all.
Her second husband breaks his promises to her and insists that his personal image be the most important thing in the relationship. She again takes the backseat. The audience here is made to believe she is an ungrateful shrew, but can we blame her for self soothing with possessions when there is no solace in a man whose ambitions are his only real love?
Her third husband, Fester, loves her, but his family treats her like an outsider. Instead of building a bridge between them, Fester cowers and mewls like a little bitch, playing the victim at every turn. Of course at this point Debbie is beyond repair: damaged from a lifetime of being made less than her male counterparts.
In her final speech, her missteps make her a monster, her calamity makes her unlovable. Even though the Addams family itself is death-obsessed and often joke about the people they have killed, eaten, or the corpses they have cozied up to, they are still the lovable weirdo heroes, and Debbie, the sad, blonde, angry, shopaholic female trope, the villain.
Ultimately, Debbie is killed by a baby, the wet dream of the anti-choice right. 💦
Sure, Debbie was evil, angry, and homicidal, but who made her that way? The film would have you think that she as a woman is inherently evil, a cursed descendant of Eve. I argue that a lifetime of oversight and oppression by men created the monster, who, when she could not fit into the mold society created for her, cracked and lost the one thing she wanted known most in the world: her soul.
Comments
Post a Comment