MovieChat Forums > The Stepford Wives (1975) Discussion > The comedy in The Stepford Wives

The comedy in The Stepford Wives

posted 2 years ago by Drooch (5333)
14 replies | jump to latest

I think this is one of the best horror films ever made, and I love how it keeps dropping clues as to what’s going on before the final reveal.

As you reflect on the film and process the revelation of what these men were doing, there’s something kinda funny about the whole ‘plan’.

These guys are like the ultimate sticky-fingered geeks who went too far. They’re total losers, to the point that they want to turn their wives into big-titted sexbots who obey their every command. It’s the ultimate fantasy of grubby internet autists 🤣

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[–] Nanook (1415) 2 years ago

Just saw this again recently, and it has really held up well. Ira Levin knows how to play those paranoia/conspiracy strings well. And iirc, the pharmacist guy is referred to as 'ugly but with the prettiest wife,' and another husband stuttered; not that there's anything wrong with those, but yeah, they were basically sexbots with worse AI than we have today.

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[–] Drooch (5333) 2 years ago

I started rewatching it recently and was blown away by the constant Easter Eggs which work as darkly humerous clues as to what’s coming. The opening few minutes have Joanna photographing a man carrying a mannequin across a New York street - little does the poor woman know she’ll become one of them soon enough - and when her husband enters the car the daughter says ‘Daddy, we just saw a man carrying a naked lady across the street’ to which he replies ‘well, that’s why we’re moving to Stepford’. Genius writing, we think he’s being disapproving but that is literally why he is moving to Stepford.

His character is what I find so funny. This seemingly nice nerdy guy with a family has plotted to take them to a town where he can have his wife ‘scanned’, murdered and replaced with an obedient sexbot. He’s such a grubby self-toucher that he doesn’t even care that the kids might cotton on that something’s wrong with mommy, who presumably won’t age, to say nothing of murdering their real mother.

The portrayal of men in this feminist fantasy is so overblown it becomes hilarious. The satanists in Rosemary’s Baby were portrayed borderline comedically. Stepford takes its villains more seriously but ends up being just as funny.

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[–] Nanook (1415) 2 years ago

Yep. Interesting juxtaposition of the wife's horror of losing her personhood to some color by numbers idea of "what a man must want," while it's hardly likely the husband came up with the plan by himself and was seduced in to it by a groupthink conspiracy. There's no sane person who would be ok with a Fleshlight/Infocom-tier lifemate. Noticed other threads wondering how they handed the issues of aging and kids. Like most sci-fi/fantasy, it's best to take in the wide view and not get caught up in the details.

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[–] OnanTheBarbarian (10328) 2 years ago

This film is a parody about patriarchy as it has existed for millenniums. So the men are "everyman". These guys are not loser geeks. They're your average men. To look at them as an aberration misses the whole point of the film.

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[–] Drooch (5333) 2 years ago

Hence why I said ‘The portrayal of men in this feminist fantasy is so overblown it becomes hilarious’.

I’m sure the writers thought they were illuminating something about males, and unironically believed in ‘the patriarchy’, but they ended up accidentally making a comedy.

It’s still a fantastic horror film, but just thinking about those grubby guys and their insanely elaborate plan to turn their wives into big-tit sexbots has me rolling every time 🤣

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[–] OnanTheBarbarian (10328) 2 years ago

Well, c'mon, even the most sexist guy on the planet loves his wife and doesn't want to replace her with an automaton.

So yeah, that's far-fetched.

But what makes it a great movie is that it uses the ancient theatrical parody to tell a compelling story which explains the conflict between males and females in traditional sex roles. So yeah, it's horror, but it's classic farce. And farce is always comical.

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[–] mirelurk (884) 2 years ago

It's meant to be funny, it's a satirical film. That's how satire works, you exaggerate/magnify details in order to highlight their absurdity

It's based on a book by Ira Levin and the humor in it is completely intentional. You SHOULD think that the men are pathetic

You always manage to one-up your own ignorance. If you enjoy the film so much you could bother to do a little research on it

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[–] Drooch (5333) 2 years ago

No, the audience is not supposed to laugh at the horror of what the men in Stepford are doing. Levin’s book is a serious attack on the males pushing back against the second wave feminism of the 60’s, and the film carries this over. Understand the material before wading in here and trying to dictate what the creators intended.

Drop the smug tone and spend that energy on learning your subject matter, and learning how to write - have you heard of a full stop?

You’re that same queen who obnoxiously burst into my other thread, spewing your homoerotic fantasies about ‘beefy man hands’. You got smacked down there and now you’re stalking me? Eew. Fuck off dude.

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[–] mirelurk (884) 2 years ago

Are you retarted? I first saw this movie as a child and I still understood that it was supposed to be comedic

This isn't a debate. Just google the film and you'll see that it's satire. Stop being such a moron, please

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[–] Drooch (5333) 2 years ago

Fuck off, stalker.

What the fuck is ‘retarted’? Learn to spell, retard, and I told you to use full stops, know what they are?

You watched this horror film as a kid and confused it for a comedy? Sounds like you need to watch it again, certainly before wading in here and embarrassing yourself, just as you did in the last thread.

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[–] mirelurk (884) 2 years ago

You have mental problems

Instead of admitting that you have majorly misinterpreted this movie you actually try to defend your retarded opinion

What you claim to not believe is just common knowledge. This is a satire film. There is no denying or getting around that unless you're retarded

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[–] Drooch (5333) 2 years ago

There’s nothing to ‘defend’, you have no valid point, you’ve completely misunderstood the film. You’re just an obnoxious twat stalking me from another thread.

There’s no substance to what you’re saying, and you hilariously describe others as ‘retarded’ while failing to understand what a full stop is. Absolute cringe.

You're one of the worst dumb fuck internet maggots I’ve ever encountered, all you’ve done here is make a complete prick of yourself.

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[–] mirelurk (884) 2 years ago

You could literally just google the movie and find out it's a satire, but you'd rather keep googling pics of Sean Connery's meaty hands 😭

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[–] Drooch (5333) 2 years ago

It’s not a satire, it’s a horror film built around the backlash to 60’s feminism as I explained, I don’t care what BS you pulled out of Google.

The only reason you’re here is because you got smacked down and publicly humiliated in the other thread, and you thought you could stalk me for some petty revenge. Needless to say, it’s backfired horribly and you’ve only made yourself look like even more of a prick.

Now take your homoerotic fantasies about Sean Connery, The Rock, and whoever else, and fuck off.

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