When joanna eberhart and her family move to stepford, joanna soon wonders why all the wives are submissive, beautiful and obsessed with housework, and before long finds herself on a mission to uncover the truth behind their perfect smiles. The stepford wives is a 1975 american satirical horror film directed by bryan forbes, written by william goldman, and starring katharine ross, paula prentiss, and peter masterson. Dec 10, 2012 in the ending of the 1975 stepford wives, joannas robot is seen gazing at her with empty, black eyes. In the stepford wives, women are literally objects. The stepford wives quotes showing 115 of 15 youre not going to get any true confessions out of me, she said. As with fundamentalist religion, this need to control takes precedence over morality, fairness and love. The stepford wives study guide contains a biography of ira levin, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.
In the william goldmanscripted, bryan forbesdirected adaptation of ira levins savagely satiric scifi novel the stepford wives, housewife joanna katharine ross moves with husband walter peter masterson and their children to the ideal suburban community of stepford, ct. The novel may not be the bestselling book of the year, the most praised, or the most highly awardedthough awards. The stepford life minidocumentary on 1975 stepford wives. The stepford wives is about a small suburb where the women happily go about their housework cleaning, doing laundry, and cooking gourmet meals to please their husbands.
Analysis of the film stepford wives 1925 words 8 pages. The dress that the robotic women are wearing hides the sexuality she possesses. By the time of the release of the book version of the stepford wives in 1972. The stepford wives film analysis uk essays ukessays. In 1975, the book was adapted into a science fiction thriller directed by bryan forbes with a screenplay by william. Sep 25, 2015 the stepford wives 1975 pg 115 min horror, mystery, scifi 12 february 1975 usa joanna eberhart has come to the quaint little town of stepford, connecticut with her family, but soon discovers there lies a sinister truth in the all too perfect behavior of the female residents. The stepford wives would be what would bring this conflict to film. The ones who look human well, humanoid, but whove fashioned a utopia out of this vale of tears by selecting and using the correct cosmetics, kitchen aids, toiletries and garbage bags. Joanna eberhardt, a modern 70s woman, is uncertain of stepfords women.
While similar themes would be more fully explored in get out years later. Frank oz has done the voice of yoda in the star wars series, and. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the stepford wives. The stepford wives 1975 katharine ross feature horror. It was directed by frank oz, who is famously known for his acting roles. If television affects the way we think, dress and behave and, heaven help us, im afraid it does then someday we may all be a nation of those perfect plastic robots on tv. The stepford wives forbes, 1975 portrays the feminine condition in a bourgeois, patriarchal society boruzkowski, 1987. The stepford wives is a stunning film, one that is a genre classic, and if you enjoy old school horror, then this is a must see film. Feminism pygmalion and the stepford wives research paper. In the stepford wives usa, 1975 movie, based on ira levins 1972 novel of the same name, cyborg and android themes are met by.
The stepford wives is one of the popular books of the 1970s that i somehow overlooked, though i did see the 1975 movie on television years later. The stepford life minidocumentary on 1975 stepford. Jun 28, 2016 interviews about making the 1975 stepford wives with director bryan forbes, producer edgar j. But now shes the reporter who broke the stepford wives story and chats about it on larry king the coda seems borrowed from the 1980 tvmovie sequel, revenge of the stepford wives, in which a female tv reporter investigates stepfordand which, like the remake, was produced by scott rudin. Nov 22, 2016 the 1975 stepford wives also retains the whitewashed quality of secondwave feminism. The films story is well layered and keeps you involved from.
At the premiere of the original stepford wives in 1975, the films director. The internationally bestselling novel by the author of a kiss before dying, the boys from brazil, and rosemarys baby. The stepford wives by ira levin feminine mystique after 40 years the stepford wives still holds up as a satire on the dark side of the american male, says nathaniel rich. At once a masterpiece of psychological suspense and a savage commentary on a mediadriven society that values the pursuit of youth and beauty at all costs, the stepford wives is a novel so frightening in its final implications that the title itself has earned a place in the american lexicon. Unfortunately, bobbie and joanna discover that the villages wives have been replaced with robots, and joannas husband wants in on the action. The remake of the stepford wives doesnt aim for the chilling power of the originali its too invested in being liked for that. Did the robot not fully activate until the real jonna was killed. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Final paper the stepford wives 2004 the film that i choose to analysis is the stepford wives. The first theatrical release scifi movie of 1975 was the stepford wives tsw.
At the premiere of the original stepford wives in 1975, the films director bryan forbes was assaulted with an umbrella by a woman he described as a militant libber. When joanna, the main character, speaks at the stepford wives book club, she mentions a book she read about lyndon johnson and there is a unanimous look of confusion from the other stepford wives. The stepford wives 1975 movies are both their brute entertainment textures and the secret delivery of ideas, and bryan forbess the stepford wives 1975 is notorious as a hollywood product that failed disastrously on the first measure but has in time revealed itself to be a veritable gusher of subtextual anxieties and cultural satire. The stepford wives is a scifi film which was released in 2004. What recently prompted me to finally read the book was an article at jstor daily titled sex in the early 80s, i took a college course in feminist theory. While the stepford wife meme derives from a 1975 film based on ira levins 1972 novel, within a year of the films release the phrase had been taken up to. They all read another book, about creative ways to make christmas ornaments. Jul 19, 2004 at the premiere of the original stepford wives in 1975, the films director bryan forbes was assaulted with an umbrella by a woman he described as a militant libber. The movie was staged in a small suburban town, stepford, connecticut with the americanideal nuclear families with trophy wives, dutiful and homebound, happy to cook, clean, and serve their husbands. A 1975 new york times article described how columbia pictures invited feminist activists to a stepford screening, only for them to meet the film with hisses, groans, and guffaws. American graffiti 1973 a group of friends spend one fabulously entertaining night cruising the strip in their cars, chasing love interests, playing pranks, racing, fighting, and reminiscing about their high school. The similarity of the husband in cat in the rain and hills like white elephants essay pages. Dive deep into ira levins the stepford wives with extended analysis, commentary, and discussion.
But ira levin, who wrote the novel on which the movie was based. My copy is only 116 pages long, but it achieves a lot in those few pages and bulking out of the story would only have spoiled it. The stepford wives quiz 20 questions author joepetz. Best movies like the stepford wives 1975 bestsimilar. In it, joanna eberhart, her husband walter, and their two young children move from new york city to the eponymous connecticut commutertown. The stepford wives 1975 despite the fact that i was a pretty jumpy kid, i nevertheless loved to be scared at the movies. The stepford wives is a beautifully written, nasty little piece of work, and i mean that as the highest compliment. The stepford wives started life as a 1972 novel by ira levin. Instead of being a movie about the sexist tendencies of many men, the 2004 movie was more a mockery of highpowered women.
Movies are both their brute entertainment textures and the secret delivery of ideas, and bryan forbess the stepford wives 1975 is notorious as a hollywood product that failed disastrously on the first measure but has in time revealed itself to be a veritable gusher of subtextual anxieties and cultural satire. The stepford wives by ira levin goodreads share book. Friedans work had such a huge impact that it reignited the american feminist movement. The the stepford wives community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Movie 3 of 1975 and 24 overall in my journey through films of my lifetime. The men in the stepford wives choose, in a sense, to play god. Late in levins novel, after most of her other friends have been turned into robots, joanna befriends ruthanne henry, a new resident and the first africanamerican woman in stepford. In 1975, when the movie the stepford wives first came out, it was widely. The stepford wives is not only a creepy horror flick, but also a stinging piece of commentary on the culture of the suburbs.
View this research paper on feminism pygmalion and the stepford wives. Sexuality and mans desires play an important part in the final ten minutes of the stepford wives forbes, 1975. Through the narrative and technical structure in stepford wives 1975, the traditional male gaze is questioned while at the same time the main character, joanna, is given her own gaze. The stepford wives 1975 pg 115 min horror, mystery, scifi 12 february 1975 usa joanna eberhart has come to the quaint little town of stepford, connecticut with her family, but soon discovers there lies a sinister truth in the all too perfect behavior of the female residents. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the stepford wives by ira levin.
Some of these connect to themes we find in ethical considerations of technological. This is a 20 question quiz on ira levins classic novel, the stepford wives. That ira levins novel, one of the most disturbing stories written out of the. Frank oz has done the voice of yoda in the star wars series, and several muppets characters, such as miss piggy. As with fundamentalist religion, this need to control takes precedence over. The final image in the stepford wives forbes, 1975 shows the robotic wives in their best dresses doing their shopping and talking to each other. The scenario taken seriously, not as campy farce as per. Originally published nearly forty years ago, levins tale of men creating perfect wives is still as relevant and shocking today, and is a must read. For joanna, her husband, walter, and their children, the move to beautiful stepford seems almost too good to be true. The story concerns joanna eberhart, a photographer and young mother who suspects the frighteningly submissive housewives in her new idyllic connecticut neighborhood may be robots created by their husbands the book has had two feature film adaptations, both using the same title as the novel.
With very few exceptions, this criticism pinpointed the temporal tropes at work in. Movies like the stepford wives 1975 if you like the stepford wives you are looking for suspenseful, psychological and scary movies about with feminism, small town, robot, housewife, missing person, womens liberation and mystery themes of horror, mystery and scifi genre shot in usa. If you like the stepford wives you are looking for suspenseful, psychological and scary movies about with feminism, small town, robot, housewife, missing person, womens liberation and mystery themes of horror, mystery and scifi genre shot in usa. The script culminates in a role reversal twist ending in which it is a powerful woman played by glenn close who. In the novel, joanna and walter eberhart move from the city to quiet stepford, but joanna notices something off with the other wives. The robot serves as mans ultimate fantasy, a beautiful and subservient wife with the. Second and thirdwave feminist values and culture in the. Using material from the items and elsewhere, assess sociological explanations for inequalities between husbands and wives essay pages. In the film, liberated females who are equal to, if not more powerful than their husbands and hold on to their own sexuality are murdered and changed with supposedly superior copies who supposedly embody perfection. Dec 01, 2009 except these robots are made to be touched and played with.
The stepford wives forbes, 1975 addresses these concerns with a terrified and gloomy go through the perfect woman. In the stepford wives forbes, 1975, women shop systematically and neatly, discuss and consume products with devouring interest and gratification. The legacy of the stepford wives by princess weekes oct 24th, 2017, 8. If you like the sound of this book, you may also enjoy margaret atwoods the robber bride, or rosemarys baby by ira levin. Script analysis of the stepford wives 1975 click on a plot link to find similar books. This is illustrated in the stepford wives book club scene. Many in the rest of the cast were familiar faces too. In the ending of the 1975 stepford wives, joannas robot is seen gazing at her with empty, black eyes. Jeanette winterson on what the stepford wives says about. I timed the stepford wives in conjunction with halloween and it wasnt really until the 3rd act until that choice paid off. Jan 29, 2014 this feature is not available right now. The stepford wives premiered theatrically in the united states on february 12, 1975. The ideal housewife is an ardent consumer who buys endlessly new things for the home, and gains satisfaction from doing so frieden, 1963, p.
William golden developed the screenplay from ira levins 1972 novel of the same name. May 28, 2016 this is illustrated in the stepford wives book club scene. The 1975 stepford wives also retains the whitewashed quality of secondwave feminism. Its plot follows a woman who relocates with her husband and children from new york city to the connecticut community of stepford, where she comes to find the women live unwaveringly subservient lives to their husbands. Joanna becomes friends with fellow new arrival bobbie markowe, as the two of them also become. A generation of future housewives wondered that if indeed they continued to keep doing the chores and giving their undivided focus on their husbands they might not be living a life they really wanted. By recreating their wives in their own image or in this case their ideal image, they take away the womans freewill. In this clip from the stepford wives forbes, 1975 we see men forcing their dominance by creating new and improved versions of their wives in the shell of a robot. Your analysis, yes, again, made me long to watch it again and remember the important. The story concerns joanna eberhart, a photographer and young mother who suspects the frighteningly submissive housewives in her new idyllic connecticut neighborhood may be robots created by their husbands. The stepford wives essays are academic essays for citation. Unfortunately, bobbie and joanna discover that the villages wives have been replaced with. Interviews about making the 1975 stepford wives with director bryan forbes, producer edgar j. The stepford wives is a feminist nightmare about a city family katharine ross, peter masterson moving into a suburban connecticut town populated by dull, boorish men who all have stunningly beautiful wives who live for nothing more than slavish domesticity and sexual servility.
The stepford wives is a much shorter book than i had anticipated. Scherick, and stars katharine ross, paula prentiss, nanette newman and peter masterson. I always heard about this moviestory and it came off to me as a horror trope. The three versions of the stepford wives, the book, the 1975 movie, and the 2004 movie. The three versions of the stepford wives, the book, the 1975 movie, and the 2004 movie, all share a general plotline, but the 2004 movie took a completely different approach to the story. After 40 years the stepford wives still holds up as a satire on the dark side of the american male, says nathaniel rich.
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