Jenna Ortega‘s choreography as Wednesday Addams has been completely overwhelming the Internet, as more users fall in love with the quirky goth dance from Wednesday, however, for some people, the eccentric dance moves actually brought out some rather negative memories.
The fourth episode of Wednesday introduces the Nevermore Academy’s school dance, and as Wednesday reluctantly attends the party, she shows off her unique dance moves. Even though this choreography completely enthralled most fans, others online believe that the only reason why Wednesday was able to dance her heart off unapologetically, is solely due to her conventional attractiveness.
The discussion, which was prompted by a Tik Tok user suenicorn245, shared that the dance, which had now become a trend on the platform, brought her back to her school days, but for the worst of reasons. The user tells the story of when she, much like Wednesday, “danced [her] heart out” and “a bunch of popular kids recorded [her] and posted it on their Snapchat.” This led to her videos spreading, as “kids would come up mocking [her] dancing.”
The video was flooded with comments by users sharing the same sentiment as the original poster. Many fans visited memory lane and connected with some not-great memories, their anxiety mounting as they imagined the consequences of someone dancing like Wednesday in today’s school climate. “The scene unlocked the memory of why I immediately shut down if other people see me dancing,” one user said.
“i thought this scene was iconic” “this scene gave me secondhand embarrassment” “this scene made me anxious bc i was worried she was gonna get bullied”
“there was a guy at my school who loved dancing and the cool kids would cheer him on and record him to make fun of him. he had no idea.”
This discussion has brought up yet another topic to the surface: the ugly truth of “pretty privilege.” Many of the users commenting wholeheartedly believe that Wednesday is being praised for her quirky dance moves purely due to her conventional beauty and that if it were someone other than a celebrity, or even Ortega, the outpouring reaction would’ve been vastly different. On a similar note, neurodivergent people are also sharing their repressed memories of being downright bullied for their actions. This has been brought up in light of Wednesday’s unique personality, and how most neurodivergent people do not receive the same type of acceptance from neurotypical individuals, especially online.
“a significant reason why people like wednesday as a character is because she’s conventionally attractive/played by jenna”
“i got away w dancing in public after i became conventionally attractive, people are shallow”
“Notice how we got bullied for things like that but now its a trend….”
In a recent behind-the-scenes video, Ortega revealed that she actually choreographed the dance herself, sharing “I actually felt really insecure about this. I choreographed that myself and I think it’s very obvious that I’m not a dancer or choreographer.” According to the actress’ interview with Vulture, the 20-year-old actually took inspiration from several goth icons, including “Siouxsie Sioux, Bob Fosse’s Rich Man’s Frug, Lisa Loring, Lene Lovich, Denis Lavant, and archival footage of goths dancing in clubs in the ’80’s.”
In spite of Ortega’s efforts as a first-time choreographer, many still believe that the reason behind the dance’s popularity is rooted in Ortega’s looks and conventional beauty. Regardless, there are many other fans who are still thankful that a character like Wednesday has become so immensely popular, inspiring them to feel more comfortable with their off-the-wall dance moves and overall unique demeanor.