The Stepford Wives
1. We have seen many types of fantasy spaces in the films we have discussed so far. The virtual reality scenes, the Delos worlds, even the space arena in Rollerball, function as places where things are premitted and possible, and where events are supposed to have no consequences. In The Stepford Wives what is the space that allows this type of fantasy? How is it constructed? What relationship does it have to the "outside?" How are the nearby towns or New York represented as alternative spaces?
2. In this film we see many approaches to what women should do, what women are like, and what women desire. We also get some versions of how men imagine and construct "perfect" femininity. At some point in the film Walter Eberhart says about Ted's wife: "She cooks as good as she looks, Ted." Is that what a perfect wife should do (cooking and looking)? What kinds of femininity are being portrayed in the film? Who imagines or creates them? What stereotypes are being evoked and re-worked in the course of the film?
3. In terms of body type and physical/visual representation, how are the women of Stepford portrayed before and after their transformation?
4. How is the version of technology literally permeating the female body we saw in Demon Seed related to the version we see in The Stepford Wives? 5. At the end of the film we see a couple in the supermarket: they are arguing about moving to Stepford. What are they debating? How are they represented? What are the arguments they (and the other couples we've seen) give to each other about wanting to move or not?
Ira Levin, who wrote the novel and screenplay for The Stepford Wives, also wrote Rosemary's Baby (1968), and The Boys from Brazil(1978).
There were many other films that took on the "Stepford" theme: The Revenge of the Stepford Wives (TV, 1980), The Stepford Children (TV, 1987), and The Stepford Husbands (TV, 1996).
Joanna Eberhart: Katharine Ross
Think about topics we brought up with other films too: sexuality, having sex with a machine, childbirth and technology, visualizing the inside of the body, using technology to control women, and imagining technology as something that heightens or enables violent experiences.
Cast Information
Cast overview:
Bobbie Markowe: Paula Prentiss
Walter Eberhart: Peter Masterson (I)
Carol Van Sant: Nanette Newman
Charmaine Wimperis: Tina Louise
Dr Fancher: Carol Eve Rossen
Ike Mazzard: William Prince
Kit Sundersen: Carole Mallory
Marie Axhelm: Toni Reid
Mrs Cornell: Judith Baldwin
Marie Ann Stravros: Barbara Rucker
Claude Axhelm: George Coe
Ed Wimperis: Franklin Cover
Raymond Chandler: Robert Fields
Mr Cornell: Michael Higgins (I)
Contact the instructor: dk2244@yahoo.com