Movie Review: The Stepford Wives
Been on a 70’s film kick for a while and finally got around to this one. The Stepford Wives is the 1975 classic horror story of a small town where wives are secretly replaced by docile robot doppelgängers. It is told from the perspective of a young woman named Joanna, an NYC transplant who comes to the small Connecticut town of Stepford with her husband looking for a fresh start.
Stepford Wives is an openly political film. Written by self-described “Jewish Atheist” Ira Levin best known for the Satanic Rosemary’s Baby, Stepford Wives is an explicitly feminist work. Its portrayal of traditional housewives as literal robot slaves of their husbands was perhaps more subversive in the 1970’s. Lead actress Katharine Ross does a good job of establishing Joanna as a believable city girl with frustrated ambition. Unfortunately the narrative is too one-note to effectively sell its theme.
Complex themes require complex protagonists to embody them. It isn’t about being pleasant; Michael Coreleone is great not because he is “likable” but because he is multidimensional. This is where Joanna falls short. She lacks humor and nuance. When she organizes a women’s lib meeting and finds the wives aren’t immediately eager to bash their husbands in intimate detail she finds it horrifying. When she sees one woman has a content sex life with her pharmacist husband she is flabbergasted calling him a “nothing.” Even Joanna’s own husband seems exceedingly reasonable and accommodating. We see him doing dishes, we see him willing to move to a new home more than once just to keep her happy, we see him genuinely worrying about Joanna in spite of her calling him “wishy washy” and the fact that she still clearly pines for her ex boyfriend.
The movie lacks subtlety. It needed to put more effort into justifying Joanna’s skepticism and creating a more positive vision of her progressive alternative. The film is fairly well shot at least. Little moments like a man walking at night or someone sketching during a meeting are transformed into artfully tense experiences. There is some good technique here. However it isn’t enough to make the movie worth watching. What’s more I’m not sure that millennials and gen z will relate as much to the idea of being a pampered housewife as the ultimate terrifying life outcome. In this economy many of us would struggle to refuse having our bills paid in exchange for cooking, cleaning, and a bit of nookie.
I’ll concede much of my dislike of Stepford Wives is in its message. However there is not much redeeming in its execution either. You can find better feminist films in the period such as Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore or, if you want something more spicy, Foxy Brown or I spit on Your Grave. Stepford Wives isn’t nearly as thoughtful or edgy as any of the above. Rather it just comes across as bitter and pedestrian. I can only recommend Stepford Wives to film buffs looking to be able to say they have seen it.
Grade: C
