Subculture in the Mainstream: From Cry-Baby to Wednesday

Johnny Depp stars as Cry-Baby in the cult classic film by director, John Waters.

Subculture in the Mainstream - From Cry-Baby to Wednesday

Subcultures have long been the source of both fascination and fear. They challenge mainstream norms, offering alternative styles and values that create in-groups and out-groups. Yet cinema and television continually repackage these subcultures for wider audiences. John Waters’ Cry-Baby (1990) and Tim Burton’s Wednesday (2022) present two very different examples of how subculture is portrayed and received. While Cry-Baby remained a niche cult parody of 1950s delinquent culture, Wednesday became one of Netflix’s biggest hits, mainstreaming gothic and outsider aesthetics for a global audience. This contrast raises questions about parody, authenticity, and the commodification of subculture.

The Drapes wearing black leather

Parody, Camp, and Cult Status: Cry-Baby

Cry-Baby thrives on parody, satirising the moral panic over 1950s juvenile delinquency films. Its protagonists, the Drapes, are defined by their leather jackets, motorcycles, and melodramatic performances of rebellion. Cry-Baby’s “bad boy” tears are exaggerated symbols of sincerity, while his rock ‘n’ roll songs transform angst into camp spectacle.

John Waters’ camp sensibility intentionally marginalises the film, appealing to audiences who appreciate exaggerated style over mainstream relatability. Richard Dyer’s theory of camp (1999) emphasises excess, irony, and stylisation, all of which Cry-Baby embraces. The result is a film that critiques conformity, but only within the safe confines of parody. Its limited box-office success and cult afterlife confirm Sarah Thornton’s (1995) notion of “subcultural capital”: the film retains value precisely because it remains outside the mainstream.

Jenna Ortega stars as Wednesday Addams in Tim Burton’s Netflix series.

Gothic Outsider Goes Mainstream: Wednesday

By contrast, Tim Burton’s Wednesday adopts outsider aesthetics and repackages them for mass consumption. Wednesday Addams, traditionally the gothic misfit of The Addams Family, becomes the protagonist of a teen drama set in Nevermore Academy, a school for outcasts. Her dark humour, deadpan delivery, and refusal to conform mark her as a subcultural figure.

Key scenes illustrate how Burton makes her palatable for mainstream audiences. In the famous dance scene at the Rave’N, Wednesday’s eccentric movements - directly referencing goth and punk dance styles - circulated widely on TikTok, turning subcultural style into viral mainstream content. Unlike Cry-Baby’s parody of rebellion, Wednesday’s outsider identity is framed as both aspirational and marketable.

The show’s success reflects Angela McRobbie’s (1994) analysis of how subcultural styles, especially those linked to gender, are continually commodified by mainstream culture. Netflix positions Wednesday as a brand: quirky, gothic, yet accessible. What Waters could only parody for a niche audience, Burton transforms into global entertainment.

The Addams Family in their colourless attire

From Cult to Commodity

The contrast between Cry-Baby and Wednesday lies not only in tone but in reception. Waters revels in parody, exaggerating rebellion to the point of absurdity, ensuring that only a self-selected audience would appreciate it. Burton, however, takes the gothic subculture of the outsider and seamlessly integrates it into the formula of teen drama, making it consumable across age groups and cultures.

Both texts deal with misfits and rebellion, but their trajectories diverge: one secures cult status, the other achieves mass-market success. This shift illustrates how subcultures move from the margins to the mainstream, often losing their resistant edge in the process. As Gelder (2007) argues, subcultures are always in tension with the mainstream, but contemporary media increasingly blurs that boundary by appropriating outsider styles for broad appeal.

Conclusion

Taken together, Cry-Baby and Wednesday chart the evolution of subculture on screen. Where Waters embraced parody and camp to critique social norms, Burton rebrands the outsider aesthetic into a marketable global phenomenon. Subculture, once defined by resistance and exclusivity, now circulates freely in mainstream media. The trajectory from Cry-Baby’s cult obscurity to Wednesday’s Netflix dominance demonstrates how teen angst, rebellion, and outsider identity are no longer threats to cultural norms, but products to be streamed, shared, and sold.