Tag: escapism

This is going to be a seriously silly post. But hey, I’m still new to this blogging thing and trying to find my voice.

So maybe this is my voice. And maybe nobody reads blogs anymore anyway!

This blog post is about Wednesday.

Yup.

I’m a 33-year-old woman blogging about Wednesday.

But I like Wednesday!

There are plenty of TV buffs out there who say it’s not even good TV.

It’s been a long time since I cared about impressing anyone with my taste in TV. And honestly, it’s been even longer since I met people who care about that sort of thing and are worth talking to.But I have been thinking about it lately. Why do I like Wednesday?

A Relatable Female Protagonist (Finally)

First, even though she’s a teenager in the show, Wednesday is a rare, relatable female protagonist for someone like me. Granted, it’s all a fictional setting, but I love watching someone who doesn’t dress in a trendy way, though she obviously has a sense of style, and who doesn’t try to be cute or lovable. I only wish I could be as brusque and self-assured as Wednesday.

I also love a female protagonist who sticks to her principles—whatever those may be!

The Right Dose of Horror

Second, I love the horror and gothic elements of the show just as they are. 

No, I absolutely don’t want a grown-up version of horror. The real world is full of horror. I enjoy a dark, spooky show that doesn’t actually remind me too much of the world.

I’ll contrast it with another show: The Magicians. I watched The Magicians last year, and in many ways I really enjoyed it. But I did not enjoy the explicit, graphic murders that featured palpable, lingering fear. I did not enjoy the sexual assault. I did not enjoy the themes of child abuse and child sexual abuse.

Obviously, no one enjoys those things (I hope). But the real-world horror they mirror is overwhelming, and it’s everywhere. 

That’s not what I want from my TV. So, now that I know what’s in it, I’ll probably never watch The Magicians again.

In Defense of Innocent Romance (and Bug-Eyed Monsters)

On a lighter subject, I’ve read that Jenna Ortega wanted fewer romantic elements in the second season of Wednesday, and I respect that—but actually, the rather innocent little romantic love triangle in the first season was fun and part of the appeal.

It added just enough intrigue without devolving into sex scenes or melodrama.

I mean, yes, okay, one of the characters turning out to be a manipulative monster is drama, but given that the monster is a bug-eyed almost-werewolf involved in a dastardly supernatural plan involving a dead pilgrim, it’s far enough removed from real life that the show remains escapism.

(Also, not to make it weird, but I gotta say that at some point a regular person crosses the age threshold where watching teenage romance that also involves teenage sex is just…really gross.)

I Still Love a Good Mystery

I also liked the investigation and mystery aspect. I mean, I was into Nancy Drew as a kid for a reason. But again, I don’t want the grown-up version of that. I don’t want to watch a show about law enforcement investigating human traffickers or serial killers or drug dealers.

I’m thoroughly entertained by amateur detectives exploring a spooky mansion and reading about a once-prominent family in their small town of Jericho. If only the world were so simple.

Not Too Many Texts, No TikTok: Thank God

Speaking of simple things: I also like shows (like Wednesday and Stranger Things) that don’t rely too much on cell phone and computer use! 

A lot of real-life drama these days plays out on social media or through texts… but God, how boring!

Not only is it dull to experience in real life, but it’s unbelievably boring to watch a TV show try to capture that experience.

We’re too far gone as a society to expect that social media or cell phones will go away (barring some extreme catastrophe—which, let’s be honest, doesn’t even feel that unlikely anymore). 

And of course, they serve many useful purposes. I definitely don’t want to be stuck in a scary situation without a way to call for help (and most pay phones are gone now). 

Still, I’m not enamored with these technologies, and I don’t want to watch stories that revolve around them. Maybe that’s because I’m just old enough to remember not having a cell phone as a kid, and then sharing a Nokia with my sister in middle school…but only being allowed to use it to call for a ride home!

Why Millennials Might Love Wednesday Most

Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I remember reading another Jenna Ortega quote the other day. She said that when she first read the script for Wednesday Season 1, she realized that the show was aimed at a younger audience than she expected.

Well, I don’t know the statistics on viewership, but when I read that, I couldn’t help but wonder if that was really true. 

The more I think about it, Wednesday holds way more appeal for late ‘80’s / early 90’s babies than it does for Gen Z. (And just to give us a little definition here, even though there’s really no authority on this, according to Britannica, Millennial includes the birth years of 1981 through 1996, and Gen Z includes the birth years of 1997 through 2012.)Millennials, or at least some of us, grew up with series like Nancy Drew, The Babysitters’ Club, and Harry Potter…and I see many familiar elements from those worlds on Wednesday.

The Comfort of Camp, Mystery, and a Little Justice

And, maybe this will start a fight (maybe that’s fine), but I’m not sure stories aimed at Gen Z emphasize justice the way Millennial-era stories did.

And a sense of justice is what drives protagonists like Wednesday. 

Or maybe Wednesday really is for a younger audience, and I’m just a grown-up hanging on to stories that feel a little like the ones I loved as a kid. But if that’s the case, I’m fine with it. I’ll take weird, self-assured misfits solving spooky mysteries over gritty realism or hypersexualized teenage dramas any day.

Sometimes, camp and justice and a little bit of fake blood are exactly what you need.