In Addams Family Values (1993), Wednesday Addams takes over Camp Chippewa’s Thanksgiving pageant, cast as Pocahontas, and turns it into one of the most memorable monologues in film.
A fellow camper playing a pilgrim has just finished praising her guests’ supposed freedom from schools, books, and shampoo while calling them “savages.”
Wednesday plays along at first, heaping flattery on Amanda Buckman, the role Mercedes McNab’s character fills as Sarah Miller. Then comes the pivot: “We cannot break bread with you.” From there, her speech unravels into stolen land, reservations, and the suffering her people will endure, all while the pilgrims’ descendants golf and pass around hot hors d’oeuvres.
“The gods of my tribe have spoken,” Wednesday declares. “They have said, do not trust the pilgrims. Especially Sarah Miller.”
She promises to scalp Sarah and burn the village. The camp’s misfits rise up, a papier-mache hut catches fire, and Amanda winds up tied with rope.
Writer Paul Rudnick later framed the pageant as Wednesday’s revenge on Republicans, blondes, mean girls, and bullies. He also wanted the film’s title itself to challenge Republicans’ claim over what a loving family looks like.
Ricci’s memory of the politics was more modest: “I didn’t see the film as a political commentary, but I was only 12 years old at the time.” She did, however, remember real fires burning around her throughout the speech.
