Jenna Ortega entered 2022 as a Disney Channel star. She left it as a certified scream queen, thanks to her performances in Scream and X, and a goth icon.
The actress was cast as Wednesday Addams in Netflix’s Wednesday, which broke a viewership record previously set by Stranger Things. The Tim Burton-directed series has its own viral “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” moment in a scene where Wednesday does a “weird girl” dance to “Goo Goo Muck” by the Cramps. “Thanks to 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. Helped me out on this one,” Ortega tweeted. Her commitment to authenticity has not gone unnoticed.
BuzzFeed reports that real-life goths (not her X co-star) are sharing their appreciation for Ortega on TikTok. “Attention, goth girls! Were you compared to Wednesday Addams growing up? Was the greeting ‘Hey, Morticia’ used towards you in a not-so-friendly manner? Are you tired of seeing the people who mocked your style embracing Addams Family aesthetic? You may be entitled to financial compensation,” one user wrote, while another added, “You can definitely tell the people who watched Wednesday and have never, like, experienced goth culture before because they’re making fun of the way she dances. Y’all, it’s Wednesday Addams. It’s not Addison Rae, alright?”
Ortega’s Wednesday is also the weirdo representation that many have been looking for:
the characters in wednesday saw one real weird freaky off putting goth girl and immediately got obsessed with her… insane girl charms really never fade
— sybil grimalkin (@joblessthursday) November 28, 2022
young people need Wednesday Addams and weird goth girl representation in general so they know they’ll be okay
— cat
(@lunalesbian) November 26, 2022
I mean, she’s Wednesday Addams. I did not expect her to be a good dancer, actually. This was epic! Embodied the weird goth girl perfectly!
https://t.co/7HwC94mOtG
— ÆSPA DEFENDER (@aespa_defender) November 26, 2022
YES WEIRD ASS PRETTY GIRL. pic.twitter.com/Or0s4ry7FT
— kamani ☆ (@TEXASTITTIE) November 25, 2022
Wednesday was absolutely perfect
I loved it so much. I love the era of the weird goth girls so much.
Chilling Adventure’s of Sabrina was also great but did get a little weird there at the end but I still liked it. So I hope Wednesday goes weird in all the right ways.— Harley
Maul Opress’s Wife
(@GnarlyShins) November 26, 2022
i haven’t even seen wednesday but i’m glad we’re getting a weird goth girl mc i feel seen by that scene where she’s dancing like a little freak
— ♱ lexi ♱ (@lexishifts) November 28, 2022
this is what i live for GO FREAKY WEIRD GOTH GIRL GOOOOOOO https://t.co/b4IoHvbrTz
— rose
(@thewhitealbum_) November 26, 2022
You can enjoy the dance sequence for yourself below.
Dancing is one of my favorite things to do. Along with gravedigging, conducting autopsies, and glaring uncomfortably. pic.twitter.com/q5sHhp82Rr
— Wednesday Addams (@wednesdayaddams) November 25, 2022
(Via BuzzFeed)