Artistic significance: ‘60s gothic TV families showcase life goals

During October, I always seem to go back to “The Addams Family” in one of its various forms.
What started as a comic strip is now a 1960s TV show, three 1990s movies, along with a more recent one and Broadway musical.
While the Addamses are now the more popular of gothic 1960s family, “The Munsters” still has a certain following.
Originally, “The Munsters” was more successful because of Universal Studios’ ownership of classic horror monsters such as Dracula, the Wolf Man and Frankenstein’s monster.
For various reasons, the show went through cast changes and just didn’t stay popular.
While Morticia and Gomez Addams hold a special place in my heart, I think it’s important to recognize something; Lily and Herman Munster arguably have a better message.
Both families exhibit a disinterest in what other people think of them.
They live the way they think they should and aren’t bothered when others think they’re strange.
Both shows include the families involved in civil discussions about politics, neighborhood improvements and quality of the local education system.
Others don’t always agree with what they have to say, but they get involved in things they think are important.
Morticia and Lily balance being strong, independent women with caring for their families. Gomez and Herman get involved in caring for the household and raising their kids.
However, one of the key differences between the two families is that the Munsters raised their niece, Marilyn.
While on the surface, this doesn’t change much, but Marilyn is an average 1960s teenage girl.
She’s pretty, blonde, sociable and can’t hold down a boyfriend because they’re scared off by her family.
For their part, Lily and Herman love Marilyn and just want her to be happy, even if they sometimes worry her differences make her undesirable without thinking it could be them.
While it’s a subtle difference, the Addamses are all the same in their odd and quirky way. They look at others with pity and disdain.
The Munsters accept not everybody is like them. They express pity and concern, but don’t go about trying to change people to be like them.
It’s something we could all learn to do a little better; accept, avoid judgement, and if somebody’s not hurting anybody, then their differences aren’t any of our concern. You can’t change people, so just live your life how it feels right.
This is a regular column written by Daily American Republic writer Michael Shine. He can be contacted at mshine.dar@gmail.com .