"The Stepford Wives" (1975)

A true classic of intelligent, thought provoking horror films, “The Stepford Wives” is worth a viewing. Sure it is “on the nose” and completely lacking in subtlety, but the more one thinks about the condition of the women in this film and the way it did reflect a sense of their condition at one point, it is interesting. When one thinks about the many ways women around the world are still seen as objects by societies, it is still relevant.

An interesting factoid about this film was the response it received at the time it was released. Feminists groups hated it and called it “anti-women.” Talk about missing the point!

(That is a frustration that can be voiced against just about any cause once it is taken over by political groups. As a believer that tries earnestly to live according to the teachings of the Bible, I would consider myself pro-women and pro-environment, but the way those causes have been hijacked by people with agendas that are less about their causes and more about empowering their special interests I could not call myself feminist or environmentalist.)

The thing that boggles the mind about the men in “The Stepford Wives” is why they feel the need to replace their wives with exact copies programed to serve. In today’s society we would think the men would dehumanize their wives by merely trading them in for “newer models.” Why deny them a life of their own? However, part of the point here was that women were not allowed by society to “be their own person.”

Coming back to our society today, nearly 40 years later, women really haven’t come as far as we would like to think. It isn’t exclusively the men forcing women into lies of unattainable perfection anymore. The women are doing it to themselves. It is part of the lie of “being their own person” women have built for themselves. Instead of being an ideal wife and fulfilling their husband’s wishes, women today aim for being ideal women and serving societies unattainable expectations.