The Netflix series Wednesday is notable because of the shadow it's attempting to step out of. Jenna Ortega's new version of the character is the most prominent since Christina Ricci's iconic performance in the two live-action Addams Family movies from the early 1990s. Ricci's appearance in Wednesday serves as her blessing for the Netflix show, but it's also as a reminder of just how good she was in the role.

While there's no duplicating what Ricci brought, her Wednesday was iconic for reasons that went beyond the performance itself. She held a mirror up to the world: pushing boundaries and embodying the iconoclastic spirit that made the Addams Family pop culture staples. Wednesday looks as if it picked up on those lessons, which will serve both it and Ortega extremely well. Ricci set a standard that the show can only hope to follow.

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Christina Ricci's Wednesday Addams Was the Most Honest Member of Her Family

The Addams Family is beloved in large part because of their status as proud outsiders. They cheerfully march to their own macabre beat and remain largely indifferent to what the rest of the world thinks. Their creator Charles Addams used them to clap back against the enforced status quo of the 1940s and 1950s, which Ricci's version of Wednesday demonstrated ront and center. Children are often more honest than society is comfortable with, unaware of the delicacies of adult interaction and saying the quiet part out loud. Ricci's Wednesday combined that with precociousness to make her the most brutally honest member of the clan.

That came out whenever she interacted with anyone who wasn't an Addams. It led her to suspect her Uncle Fester's deceit in the original Addams Family movie before anyone else, as well as verbally eviscerate her perky blonde rival Amanda Buckman in the sequel. She despised their pretenses and hidden motives, and called out their lies to the world. From Fester's amnesia-induced money grubbing to Amanda's overt sucking up to the authority figures at their summer camp, no false front escaped her. "I'll be a victim!" Amanda volunteered for a demonstration on swimming safety. "All your life," Wednesday replied darkly.

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Christina Ricci's Wednesday Addams Was a Feminist Icon and Social Activist

Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family.

Wednesday's honesty extended into a strong sense of social awareness, and she gravitated naturally towards outsiders of any stripe. Addams Family Values found her the unlikely champion of the downtrodden when the camp's inane Thanksgiving pageant shoveled any kid who wasn't white and blonde into playing "Indians." She responded by going off-script during the performance, reciting a litany of atrocities leveled against Native Americans over the centuries, before leading the cast-offs in burning the camp to the ground.

Her unlikely but unmistakable status as a feminist icon came from refusing to entertain performative nonsense and blithely ignoring any expectations. Her camp experience played a part in that, as she casually swatted aside the rainbows-and-fuzzy-kittens demeanor being thrust upon her. She expressed disdain for Fester's superficial wife Debbie and kept her own counsel on how she intends to live her life. The best example came in the first film when her teacher expressed concerns about her choice of role model. It was her ancestor Calpurnia Addams, burned as a witch in the 18th Century after enslaving the local minister. "Don't worry," Morticia Addams reassured the appalled educator. "We told Wednesday: college first."

Above all, Ricci's Wednesday was fearless -- a huge part of what made her such a beloved figure. Her sense of self was absolute, and like the rest of her clan, that made her utterly impervious to both social pressure and comfortable hypocrisies. It was particularly striking because both actor and character were so young. Ricci conveyed a poise and certainty that few adults possess, let alone a 10-year-old, and the effects still leave an impression 30 years later. Wednesday's version of the character is older, which makes a good deal of sense. It gives Ortega a chance to push the same boundaries as her predecessor did -- in entirely new ways.

Wednesday premieres Nov. 23 on Netflix.