Towards the end of last year, Netflix’s Wednesday added to the chronology of the long loved character, Wednesday Addams. The show received excellent ratings and spurned on many TikTok and other social media trends. Suddenly, the expressionless and macabre nature of Wednesday was popular. While looking through social media, I found the social media page of a young woman who made a very interesting claim. The girl, dressed in dark colors and what we would call a more alternative style, stated “There are Wednesdays in real life, but nobody thinks they are cool.” This was very fascinating and caused me to realize this pattern in other forms of media. Often in television shows, films, and even on social media, those who society claims are socially outcasted or nonconformist are praised and idolized as being unique or cool; however, in real life, these individuals are overlooked or marginalized by their peers. This poses an interesting paradigm. One would think that representation of the socially diminished would help in normalizing this style and lifestyle; however, we must be introspective enough to realize that “judging a book by its cover” is unfortunately still very much in. We may be captivated by these individualistic characters when they are on a screen in front of us, but in reality, many of us don’t want to engage with people who we deem as different than ourselves in real life.
What can we do about this? Well, the answer is unfortunately quite cliche. We must be brave and empathetic enough to put the effort into knowing those who we normally would not reach out to. The most dangerous thing to the growth of a person is a closed mind. Let people surprise you. Your closer friends may be someone you never thought you would get along with. Don’t be afraid to contradict social norms within yourself. Even though snap judgments stay popular in our minds, there is a beautiful positive trend in fashion and style expression that shows like “Wednesday” help encourage. Embracing individuality in fashion is a great start to encourage individualism in all aspects of life. We should strive to make all people feel comfortable in their own skin. Particularly as college students, we are in a stage of life in which we have the unique opportunity to experiment with how we want to express ourselves as adults. Let’s be open minded and kind to ourselves and to those around us. We can create a world that is more loving than in times past.