‘Wednesday’: What is the Age Rating of the Netflix Series? And is it Appropriate for Young Audiences?
Wednesday is full of creepy weirdness, a bit of mystery, and monstrous villains that creep in the night. The Netflix series takes fans on Wednesday’s solo mission to uncover the heinous murderer of Jericho. There is a bit of everything for fans of all age groups to enjoy, like a love triangle, family turmoil, and finding oneself. But is Wednesday age-appropriate, and can parents disregard its age rating?
The Netflix series ‘Wednesday’ has an age rating of 14+ due to gore and blood
According to People, Netflix’s Wednesday has a TV-14 age rating for audiences. Its age rating is due to the use of specific language, violence, and gore within the series. Is it that bad? For anyone over 14, Wednesday is relatively mild in the extreme horror department. Besides its gloomy and gothic style, the series is not all that spooky.
Wednesday Addams gets shipped off to Nevermore Academy after almost killing a former student for bullying her brother. The opening scene may be shocking at first, as the school pool fills with blood after a piranha bites off one of his testicles. For the rest of the series, the graphic scenes are not at the level of die-hard horror like SAW.
Young audiences will see most of the blood while Wednesday invetigates the killer Hyde and its victims. Fans see spurts of blood as the heinous monster kills its victims. Anyone over 14 will be able to stomach it just fine. But be aware Wednesday does have its violent moments to add more drama to the murder mystery. There is also a drenched bloody dance scene.
‘Wednesday’ does have mature themes of bullying
While Wednesday goes about her hunt into the murders, she does face the divide between normies and outcasts. Nevermore is a safe haven for outcasts, while Principal Weems does everything possible to have the normies of Jericho accept them. But the series does include mature themes of bullying.
In the series, Wednesday runs into a group of male bullies who try to make jokes about her being an outcast. But they underestimate her skills in combat. The theme continues for the rest of the series when the mayor’s son appeals to Enid, gains her trust, to only betray her by ruining the Rave’N dance with his friends.
The series does have its very macabre scenes to be aware of due to language. According to NME, Netflix wanted to cut out one specific line by the goth teen due to its dark connotations. Before the Poe Cup, Enid tries to persuade Wednesday to join her team to “take a stab at being social.” Wednesday answers with, “I do like stabbing.” There are a few curse words to watch out for and Thing giving the finger.
There is also Tyler’s backstory of having once been a bully and ruining Xavier’s mural in town for fun. The age rating for Wednesday recommends viewers over 14, but there is another aspect of the series to be aware of. Fans have recently scrutinized Tim Burton’s series for misrepresenting its black characters as bullies.
Is ‘Wednesday’ appropriate to watch for younger viewers?
Despite the age rating, Wednesday is still a suitable watch as long as those younger than 14 viewers are accompanied by a parent or have their permission. The series does dive into some dark themes of murder, dead bodies, dismemberment, some macabre speech, and more. But the series is worth watching as Wednesday Addams opens her cold heart to protect the people she has come to care for and mend her family relationships.
There is also nothing extreme to fear when watching the love triangle unfold. Tyler and Xavier’s pursuits of Wednesday never breach uncomfortable or intense in any way. Instead, it is endearing to see two male characters accept Wednesday for how she is. The only thing to worry about is how Wednesday discovers who the killer is.
