Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Film and TV, Netflix
Lucy Devine
Netflix is being criticised by viewers after some fans called its new Addams Family spinoff 'racist'.
Some people watching at home were left upset by the eight-part show, which dropped earlier this month, claiming that the series has only cast Black actors as bullies.
The new Addams Family show stars Jenna Ortega and has been described as a ‘twisted new series from the mind of Tim Burton’.
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It follows Wednesday as she attends Nevermore Academy, balancing her studies with all manner of mysterious goings on.
The official synopsis from Netflix says: “The series is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy.
“Wednesday's attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorised the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago - all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.”
While many have praised the show, some viewers were disappointed that many of the Black characters in the show were bullies.
For instance, Black actor Joy Sunday plays a mean girl at Wednesday's school, Nevermore Academy.
Meanwhile, Iman Marson - also a Black actor - also plays a bully and is the son of a corrupt mayor who owns Pilgrim World amusement park.
One person wrote: "Me trying to badly push past the racist and anti-Black undertones in the Wednesday Addams Netflix show. Like whoever thought making the Black man as the owner of a pilgrim amusement park is literally going to HELL."
A second said: "I love Jenna Ortega and that she's playing Wednesday but one thing I hate about this show is that why did they make all the Black people in this show terrible people? Like how did Netflix see nothing wrong in this?"
And another added: "The Black mayor being the owner of Pilgrim World was wild."
A fourth comment meanwhile claimed Burton had 'made Black characters bullies'.
Following the backlash, a rep for Burton dismissed the criticism, telling The New York Post earlier this week: “I’m not forwarding a comment request this silly to Tim."
Linking a CNN article which discusses how Daylight Saving Time disproportionately affects the health of ethnic minorities, he added: “However, apparently Daylight Savings Time is racist.
“Wednesday was shot in Romania where DST is observed. Maybe that’s a better angle."
UNILAD has contacted both Netflix and Burton's rep for comment.