We were sad to read about the death of composer Vic Mizzy recently. Mizzy was responsible for the irresistibly catchy theme tune for the Addams Family (you know the one: “buh-buh-buh-bump…snap-snap”)
In a piece about Mizzy on BBC Radio, however, we were quite surprised to hear the Addams Family described as a ‘dysfunctional family’, which if my memory serves me well, does them a huge disservice and is an incorrect use of the word ‘dysfunctional’.
Here at Wordsworks Towers, in the context of a family, dysfunctional would tend to mean broken, maybe violent, abusive, loveless, irresponsible… those kinds of negative characteristics.
The Addams Family may have been many things, but they were none of the above. One of the running themes of the show was the passion between Gomez and Morticia, their love for their children Wednesday and Pubert/Pugsly, the closeness between all the extended family (including Uncle Fester, Cousin It, Grandmama and, of course, Thing.) They were not abusive or violent to one another. They were not irresponsible. They always stood together as a family, supported each other and enjoyed each other’s company.
Calling them dysfunctional is not just lazy journalism, it is plain wrong. The Addams Family is one the most functional families I know.
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