Lily and Morticia

Lily Munster

Obsession Level: Dark and Devoted

Growing up with my generation there was an ongoing war.  What did you watch?  The Munsters or the Addams Family?  The truth was that we all watched both, but everyone had their favorite.  It boiled down to a good ole rivalry between the two families.  I guess it's somewhat akin to the Edward vs. Jacob "team mentality" that seems to be taking place among the teens that got sucked into Twilight.  (Don't even get me started on Twilight...I may have to dedicate a post just to the fact that Twilight was a total waste to me.)  In the wars between my friends and I it always seemed to boil down to who was your favorite "Dark Mom".  For me, it was hands down Lily Munster all the way!

Who didn't want to live in the Munster household?  Herman was a loveable goofball and I always laughed my head off when he got upset about something and destroyed everything in the process.  Eddie with his pointed ears and his werewolf doll was too cute!  Grandpa was amazing with his pills and potions and sleeping upside down in the laboratory.  He was a great vampire!  Lily was great, a lovely, doting mother and housewife.  It didn't matter that much of the food that she served was still alive, that could be overlooked.  In fact, the only one in the household that didn't impress me at all was Marilyn.  I know she was there to be the "normal" one, but basically she was the boring one.  As a child, I could never figure out why all the people in the show were afraid of Lily.  I didn't see anything frightening about her and she had the coolest costume.  I did, however, finally see a colored picture from the show and realized she at least suffered from bizarre coloring that wasn't obvious to those of us watching in black and white.  

Still, it was always hands down Lily.  I wasn't an Addams at heart, I was a Munster!


Morticia Addams (From the T.V. Program)

Obsession Level: Where's Lily?

As  you can guess from what I said before, I just wasn't an Addams freak.  I didn't think the show was all that funny.  I realize it takes a certain sense of humor to get the show, but it didn't really seem all that dark to me, just kind of stupid.  I could certainly pass, and most times I did, on watching the show.  It was really only good if it was the only thing on.  Really, if it hadn't been for Lurch, Thing, and Cousin It, I wouldn't have found any redeeming qualities in the show for myself.  



Morticia Addams (Anjelica Huston)

Obsession Level: She's The Diva of Darkness!

That being said about the classic television program of the Addams Family, my feelings are completely different about the movies.  It should be said that Anjelica Huston will eventually have her own obsession post here, so I'll only talk about her role in this movie here.  She stepped up the character of Morticia and gave her what she was missing.  Morticia became so much darker, so much dryer, and so much more "sexy" when Anjelica played her that she was hardly recognizable as the classic, mousy t.v. character.  

The movie's entire take on the show was so much better than the show.  It was far darker than the program and there was a tone of snarkiness that ran through the movie that just made it perfect.  I wanted to be an Addams!  Everyone in the movie took the characters from the show to an entirely new level.  

I have to say, if the Addams family from the movie had been the characters on the show, and if the tone of the show had been more like the movie, I would have been a dedicated viewer.  In fact, I would have had a very hard time taking a side in the Addams vs. Munsters debate.