September 23, 2025 • 10 mins
The matriarch of the Addams family, Morticia Addams, contains (often dangerous) multitudes. We brush off her legacy when it comes to sexuality and mother-daughter relationships.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha Moome.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Stuff I never told you production buy Heart Radio, and
welcome to another sub subsegment of fictional women around the world.
I have to say this is a first for me.
I started an outline on someone else, Dina from the
(00:30):
Last of Us too, because it is Last of Us
Day coming up in September. My birthday also that yeah,
but because I can't talk about the end, yeah, so
I can't do it. So this is sort of a
(00:52):
one I put together, not at the last minute, but
it was. I had to redo a whole thing and
I'm not I not mad about it, but.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
It's the first. It's a first.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
But today we are talking about Mortitia Adams, and yeah,
you can see our Wednesday Adams episode that we justreran
as classic or is about to re run as classic.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
It's yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
There will be spoilers for the Wednesday show, the second
season and the first season, I guess, but I'm trying
to keep them vague. But there will be spoilers. Okay,
all right, So today we are talking about the matriarch
of the Adams family, Martitia Adams born Mortitia Frump. Her
(01:38):
name is a play on Mortician, perhaps obviously. She was
played in live action by Carolyn Jones, Ellie Harvey, Angelica Houston,
and currently by Catherine Zada Jones in the Netflix show Wednesday.
The Adams Family is a fictional family created by Charles Adams.
It originated as a comic strip in nineteen thirty eight
(01:58):
and followed the adventures of a creepy, kooky family. They
weren't named until the TV show debuted in nineteen sixty four.
It's darkly humorous and very strange and has been brought
to live action in movies and TV shows and theme
song you probably hear every Halloween if you're like me.
People loved it, although it did take a minute to
really take off. It was a show told from the
(02:20):
point of view of the outsiders, so they are normalized,
and the quote normal people are strange, they're wealthy, supernatural mistakes. Allegedly,
Adams loosely based Mortitia on his first wife, who had
the same pale skin and strikingly dark features, and the
house on a house in his neighborhood. You can go
(02:43):
look up at pictures and I'm like, yep, I see it.
And at the head of the family was Mortitia. Mortitia
married Gomez Adams, and together they had Wednesday and Pugsy
and in some versions Wednesday Junior, Pugsley Junior, and Pubert.
Pubert originally was in the family, but they were worried
the censors would stop them, so they took it.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
I stn't remember a few words, so that sus to me, okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Okay, and I've family lived with Uncle Fester, Thing Lurch
and cousin it. Morticia is cool, steely, loyal, and deeply
caring about her family. She is unfaced a danger and
pretty competent in a lot of things. And their children
do get up to stuff. And while she is pretty protective,
(03:28):
she's also very like, let them spread their wings. I
guess they're dark wings of torture. She does maintain that
her children uphold traditional Adam's family values them possibly related.
She was there rebellious and rambunctious as a child, and
her parents didn't really do anything to stop her, so
(03:48):
I don't know. Maybe that impacted her parenting style. I
was late to the Adams family game, but I loved
how openly sexual and passionate Morticia Gomez we're together.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
I thought it was really refreshing.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
They are often labeled as the first sexually active couple
on TV. It's pretty playful and sweet, even if what
they're talking about can be kind of gothy BDSM dark.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Which is all cool with consent, but it's.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Generally outside of what is displayed as typical in our
mainstream media, especially back then. But they're fun together. Here's
a quote from sci Fi. Her marriage is absolutely hashtag
relationship goals for anyone who wants a healthy, long term relationship,
because it challenges the stereotype that years of love and
kids automatically leads to passive misery. Her guy is passionately
(04:41):
in love with her, views her as his equal, supports
her endeavors, respects her thoughts sans mansplaining, and frequently complements
her brains and beauty. Oh and let's not forget that
he's filthy rich. It's a bold, refreshing portrayal of a
marriage that was certainly revolutionary then and isn't explored as
often as it should be on TV today. Well. Yeah,
(05:01):
he's very supportive of her. He's very like, you've got this,
I will be there for you. She is multi talented.
She can speak multiple languages, play multiple instruments, and is
an excellent fencer in the new show. She's also what
it's called a dove or a type of supernatural spellcaster
and psychic. We'll get more into that later. She's also
(05:23):
a big fan of carnivorous plants. But yeah, and the
show Wednesday. She is a former student of Nevermore Academy,
where her children are now attending. It's a gothy magic
school where all kinds of things go wrong, but she's
very fond of it. She has these great memories of
it and also horrible memories of it. But she joins
the school board at first to be close to Wednesday
(05:46):
out of concern despite their fraught relationship. It was really
interesting because she was kind of like, maybe I shouldn't
join because Wednesday clearly wants space. But then she was
so worried about Wednesday she joined anyway. She met Gomez
at the school and the two fell in love. She
was pretty successful at school, a member of the night
(06:07):
Shade Society and a captain of the fencing team.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
She also keeps a lot of.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Secrets, largely out of a sometimes misguided attempt to protect
the ones she loves. A lot of the show does
revolve around Wednesday and Mortitious similarities and differences and their conflicts.
They're both good at fencing, both psychics. The Wednesday is
a raven, which is the dark version the dark visions,
and Mortitia is a dove, which is the positive version.
(06:34):
Wednesday resents her mother's secrets and what she views as
her overbearing nature, and to be fair, so far, both
seasons do come back to a secret Mortitia has kept.
In the first season, it's revealed that she was being
harrassed and stalked by Garrett Gates, whose murder. Wednesday was
trying to solve Garrett and Gomez faults, and mortitiou stepped in,
(06:56):
accidentally stabbing Garrett with the sword. It later turns out
that that she didn't accidentally kill him, but I digress.
You're gonna have to watch it if you want.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
To learn more.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
In season two, Wednesday resents her mother's warnings about her
powers and her attempts to keep things from her. To
be fair to Morticia, Wednesday is taking a lot of risks.
She's like bleeding from the eyes and nose from these powers,
and contacting family members that Mortitia doesn't have the best
experience with, including her mom. Also, to be fair, and
although I know more about her mom. I'm like, yeah,
(07:29):
uh huh. On the other hand, Wednesday really wants to
understand her powers, and they challenge each other to a
blindfolded fight over it, as his tradition in the Adams family,
I suppose, and Mortitia wins, destroying the spellbook Wednesday had
been using. Uh. Mortitia is worried her mother will treat
(07:49):
Wednesday like her sister Ophelia, who is sent to an asylum.
Her mother also thinks that Gomez is beneath Mortitia, so
they butt heads about that.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Often. That kind of get resolves.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
When you've learned why Gomez doesn't have powers.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
But again I digress. You have to watch for more.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
So it's interesting because a lot of that stuff I've
just talked about it's never been explored outside of the
TV show.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
They're doing a lot of like lore building in there.
But I did I remember.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
I think after we did the episode on Wednesday the
first time, when I had never seen the movies and
I watched them, I remember.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Thinking like, this is so cool.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I've never seen like a relationship like this that is
kind of funny and weird and sexy.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Like between her and Gomez, and so I don't know.
I liked it.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I'm glad to see it continue, and clearly it's had
an impact.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
A lot of the.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Articles I was reading about this was like, you know,
it got canceled pretty the first TV show got canceled
pretty quickly. But here we are twenty twenty five and
it's still kicking. But a lot of movies and comics
and games and stuff like that. So yeah, Well, I've
(09:15):
always listeners. If you have any thoughts about this or
any characters you would like to suggest, please let us know.
You can email us at Hello at Stephanenever told You
dot com. You can find us on a Blue Scott
at month stuff podcast or on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
At stuff I Never Told You.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
We're also on YouTube and we have new merchandise at
Cotton Hero, and we have a book you can get
wherever you get your books. Thanks as always to our
super produced Christina or executive Prusa and a contributor Joey.
Thank you, and thanks to you for listening Stuff Never
Told You Structure by Heart Radio. For more podcasts on
my heart Radio, you can check out the heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha Moome.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Stuff I never told you production buy Heart Radio, and
welcome to another sub subsegment of fictional women around the world.
I have to say this is a first for me.
I started an outline on someone else, Dina from the
(00:30):
Last of Us too, because it is Last of Us
Day coming up in September. My birthday also that yeah,
but because I can't talk about the end, yeah, so
I can't do it. So this is sort of a
(00:52):
one I put together, not at the last minute, but
it was. I had to redo a whole thing and
I'm not I not mad about it, but.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
It's the first. It's a first.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
But today we are talking about Mortitia Adams, and yeah,
you can see our Wednesday Adams episode that we justreran
as classic or is about to re run as classic.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
It's yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
There will be spoilers for the Wednesday show, the second
season and the first season, I guess, but I'm trying
to keep them vague. But there will be spoilers. Okay,
all right, So today we are talking about the matriarch
of the Adams family, Martitia Adams born Mortitia Frump. Her
(01:38):
name is a play on Mortician, perhaps obviously. She was
played in live action by Carolyn Jones, Ellie Harvey, Angelica Houston,
and currently by Catherine Zada Jones in the Netflix show Wednesday.
The Adams Family is a fictional family created by Charles Adams.
It originated as a comic strip in nineteen thirty eight
(01:58):
and followed the adventures of a creepy, kooky family. They
weren't named until the TV show debuted in nineteen sixty four.
It's darkly humorous and very strange and has been brought
to live action in movies and TV shows and theme
song you probably hear every Halloween if you're like me.
People loved it, although it did take a minute to
really take off. It was a show told from the
(02:20):
point of view of the outsiders, so they are normalized,
and the quote normal people are strange, they're wealthy, supernatural mistakes. Allegedly,
Adams loosely based Mortitia on his first wife, who had
the same pale skin and strikingly dark features, and the
house on a house in his neighborhood. You can go
(02:43):
look up at pictures and I'm like, yep, I see it.
And at the head of the family was Mortitia. Mortitia
married Gomez Adams, and together they had Wednesday and Pugsy
and in some versions Wednesday Junior, Pugsley Junior, and Pubert.
Pubert originally was in the family, but they were worried
the censors would stop them, so they took it.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
I stn't remember a few words, so that sus to me, okay, okay.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Okay, and I've family lived with Uncle Fester, Thing Lurch
and cousin it. Morticia is cool, steely, loyal, and deeply
caring about her family. She is unfaced a danger and
pretty competent in a lot of things. And their children
do get up to stuff. And while she is pretty protective,
(03:28):
she's also very like, let them spread their wings. I
guess they're dark wings of torture. She does maintain that
her children uphold traditional Adam's family values them possibly related.
She was there rebellious and rambunctious as a child, and
her parents didn't really do anything to stop her, so
(03:48):
I don't know. Maybe that impacted her parenting style. I
was late to the Adams family game, but I loved
how openly sexual and passionate Morticia Gomez we're together.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
I thought it was really refreshing.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
They are often labeled as the first sexually active couple
on TV. It's pretty playful and sweet, even if what
they're talking about can be kind of gothy BDSM dark.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Which is all cool with consent, but it's.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Generally outside of what is displayed as typical in our
mainstream media, especially back then. But they're fun together. Here's
a quote from sci Fi. Her marriage is absolutely hashtag
relationship goals for anyone who wants a healthy, long term relationship,
because it challenges the stereotype that years of love and
kids automatically leads to passive misery. Her guy is passionately
(04:41):
in love with her, views her as his equal, supports
her endeavors, respects her thoughts sans mansplaining, and frequently complements
her brains and beauty. Oh and let's not forget that
he's filthy rich. It's a bold, refreshing portrayal of a
marriage that was certainly revolutionary then and isn't explored as
often as it should be on TV today. Well. Yeah,
(05:01):
he's very supportive of her. He's very like, you've got this,
I will be there for you. She is multi talented.
She can speak multiple languages, play multiple instruments, and is
an excellent fencer in the new show. She's also what
it's called a dove or a type of supernatural spellcaster
and psychic. We'll get more into that later. She's also
(05:23):
a big fan of carnivorous plants. But yeah, and the
show Wednesday. She is a former student of Nevermore Academy,
where her children are now attending. It's a gothy magic
school where all kinds of things go wrong, but she's
very fond of it. She has these great memories of
it and also horrible memories of it. But she joins
the school board at first to be close to Wednesday
(05:46):
out of concern despite their fraught relationship. It was really
interesting because she was kind of like, maybe I shouldn't
join because Wednesday clearly wants space. But then she was
so worried about Wednesday she joined anyway. She met Gomez
at the school and the two fell in love. She
was pretty successful at school, a member of the night
(06:07):
Shade Society and a captain of the fencing team.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
She also keeps a lot of.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Secrets, largely out of a sometimes misguided attempt to protect
the ones she loves. A lot of the show does
revolve around Wednesday and Mortitious similarities and differences and their conflicts.
They're both good at fencing, both psychics. The Wednesday is
a raven, which is the dark version the dark visions,
and Mortitia is a dove, which is the positive version.
(06:34):
Wednesday resents her mother's secrets and what she views as
her overbearing nature, and to be fair, so far, both
seasons do come back to a secret Mortitia has kept.
In the first season, it's revealed that she was being
harrassed and stalked by Garrett Gates, whose murder. Wednesday was
trying to solve Garrett and Gomez faults, and mortitiou stepped in,
(06:56):
accidentally stabbing Garrett with the sword. It later turns out
that that she didn't accidentally kill him, but I digress.
You're gonna have to watch it if you want.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
To learn more.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
In season two, Wednesday resents her mother's warnings about her
powers and her attempts to keep things from her. To
be fair to Morticia, Wednesday is taking a lot of risks.
She's like bleeding from the eyes and nose from these powers,
and contacting family members that Mortitia doesn't have the best
experience with, including her mom. Also, to be fair, and
although I know more about her mom. I'm like, yeah,
(07:29):
uh huh. On the other hand, Wednesday really wants to
understand her powers, and they challenge each other to a
blindfolded fight over it, as his tradition in the Adams family,
I suppose, and Mortitia wins, destroying the spellbook Wednesday had
been using. Uh. Mortitia is worried her mother will treat
(07:49):
Wednesday like her sister Ophelia, who is sent to an asylum.
Her mother also thinks that Gomez is beneath Mortitia, so
they butt heads about that.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Often. That kind of get resolves.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
When you've learned why Gomez doesn't have powers.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
But again I digress. You have to watch for more.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
So it's interesting because a lot of that stuff I've
just talked about it's never been explored outside of the
TV show.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
They're doing a lot of like lore building in there.
But I did I remember.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
I think after we did the episode on Wednesday the
first time, when I had never seen the movies and
I watched them, I remember.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Thinking like, this is so cool.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I've never seen like a relationship like this that is
kind of funny and weird and sexy.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Like between her and Gomez, and so I don't know.
I liked it.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I'm glad to see it continue, and clearly it's had
an impact.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
A lot of the.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Articles I was reading about this was like, you know,
it got canceled pretty the first TV show got canceled
pretty quickly. But here we are twenty twenty five and
it's still kicking. But a lot of movies and comics
and games and stuff like that. So yeah, Well, I've
(09:15):
always listeners. If you have any thoughts about this or
any characters you would like to suggest, please let us know.
You can email us at Hello at Stephanenever told You
dot com. You can find us on a Blue Scott
at month stuff podcast or on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
At stuff I Never Told You.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
We're also on YouTube and we have new merchandise at
Cotton Hero, and we have a book you can get
wherever you get your books. Thanks as always to our
super produced Christina or executive Prusa and a contributor Joey.
Thank you, and thanks to you for listening Stuff Never
Told You Structure by Heart Radio. For more podcasts on
my heart Radio, you can check out the heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,
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