The Stepford Wives (2004)

The Stepford Wives Trailor

What does it take to become a Stepford wife, a woman perfect beyond belief? Ask the Stepford husbands, who've created every wife to perfection in Stepford, in a very modern comedy thriller called The Stepford Wives. The movie is about Joanna Eberhart, a president of a TV Network, who suffers a nervous breakdown and moved with her husband, Walter, from Manhattan to Stepford, Connecticut. Once there, she makes good friends with a jewish write named Bobbie. Bobbie and Joanna start to realize that everything in the town, especially the women are perfect. The women are beautiful, always put together, great cooks, and of course a wild stallion in the bedroom. Soon, Joanna and Bobbie's husbands start to get clued in on what is happening in the town through a group of husbands controlling and, of course, "making" their wives. The two husbands start to become interested. I thought this was a great movie showing the high standards that society puts on women. In the movie, there is an "ideal" women, which seems to be white, blond, skinny, big breasted, and a great lover, or in other words, a so called "trophy wife". Women are strong and independent people, and in this movie, all that is taken away from the women. For example: Joanna was a president of a huge TV network. She was wildly successful and, consequently, she made a majority of the money. Her husband, Walter, had a problem with this. He gives off a vibe in the movie, during that scene, that women are supposed to be homemakers and men have to bring home the bacon. This is a typical view in society. Men are supposed to be the strong, able- bodied people who make the majority of the money and take care of their wives, while the women stay home, take care of the kids, cook, clean, and give absolutely breath taking sex. Is this reality? This is absolutely not a reality. Women are unique in looks, cooking skills, sexual abilities, cleaning abilities, and parenting abilities. Men also vary in these skills. Are women held to the standard that we know and are experts in all the things listed above? Is society releasing that stereotype? Are men the dominant leaders in the family? Is society trying to perfect women by releasing this "female ideal" and offering plastic surgery, cosmetics, diet pills, and hair dyes? The reason why I thought this was a good movie is that it brings up all of the stereotypes of what a perfect woman is and smashes it into a million little pieces with thanks to Walter. In the end, you find out Walter never changed his wife into a Stepford wife. At the end you also find out that Claire Wellington was the "stepford wife" who created all these stereotypes. Is one person, thing, or media outlet responsible? Or is it everyone's problem that these stereotypes are created and bash independence and uniqueness? Who needs to be the ones to fix it? Is it a community effort or a solo effort?