I’ve been interested in the movie The Stepford Wives since I heard it was coming out. I figured that since I’m a stay at home wife and mother, I really wanted to know what was being portrayed and whether I agreed with it. So last night I got a babysitter, rounded up Liren, and we had a Girl’s Night Out to go see The Stepford Wives.
I really liked the movie. It was funny and surprising and the not-so-hidden end message was a good one. I was very relieved to find the ending different from the one in the book.
I was thoroughly amused by the over-the-top portrayal of the perfect hommaker. It’s probably needless to say, but that ain’t me. I try to keep a house that is sanitary, but it doesn’t gleam. In fact I frequently fail to reach the “sanitary” goal. As for always ‘looking my best’ I choose my clothing for comfort and for movability. Have you ever tried to catch a toddler while wearing heels? (I have, at church, not fun.) Hair fixing and make-up nearly never happen.
I actually did fix-up to go out last night and when Chalain came to drop off Liren they both said “wow, you look good.” The compliments were nice. It’s nice to know that if I choose to do something besides the mommy ponytail and bare face I can make it work. I actually kind of admire people who pay attention to good grooming daily. Not the people who are afraid to go out ungroomed, but the ones who can do both with aplomb and tend to do the “well-groomed” thing. I admire it, but hair curling and make-up applying still end up way down the priority list. Go figure.
To veer back onto topic, Do men want Stepford Wives? Well I suspect that there is an attraction there, otherwise this movie wouldn’t exist. The fantasy of someone beautiful who awaits your every whim has to be attractive. But I suspect it would eventually be boring. A Stepford Wife couldn’t change or grow. That’s what makes long-lasting marriages so wonderful, changing and growing together. Would Howard like it if I kept the house cleaner? Definitely. Would he like it if I paid more attention to grooming and fitness? Probably. Would he want me turned into a brainwashed bimbo? Nope. Not a chance. It’s one of the reasons I love him.
I think you’ve pretty much nailed it, O Sandra of the Tayler Clan: it’d be neat to have a wife who is jaw-droppingly gorgeous and whose only motivation in life is to fulfill my every whim…for a couple of weeks. then I’d want my real wife, who talks about things that I find eye-crossingly dull and manages to interest me, who almost never wears makeup (who’s she going to impress anyway?) and who never really keeps the house clean without my help…which, sometimes grudgingly, I do provide regularly.
Marriage is a partnership, and it isn’t always fun, and it is rarely wine and roses – but is all the sweeter in those moments when you do have them.
Good Morning.
I’m hoping to see the movie while it’s still on the ‘big screen’.
I read the book when it first came out and enjoyed it thoroughly, tho I’ll admit it scared me a bit at the time. Those were the days when the ‘Women’s magazines’ still promised that if we just (1) baked these brownies, or (2) filled the tub with jello or (3) whatever, we’d live happily ever after and our husbands would love us forever.
And, Disney was touting the miracle of animatronics in the Lincoln display at Disneyland. And Playboy was promising the eternal pleasure of having an airbrushed Playmate – a new one every month, in fact.
Anyway – the book has stayed alive in my mind all these years. I’ve even used a snippet to develop my approach to grocery shopping (a task I never enjoyed before).
I’ve written about this before and I won’t bore you with the details here but I can tell you, it works for me.
I’m glad you enjoyed the movie – you’re the first person I ‘know’ who has seen it. Now I’m looking forward to seeing it even more.
I hope you’re having a SUPER day – Be good – The Lady, Anne
I’m glad you liked the movie! The only review I’d heard for it so far was negative, but I’ve been curious to see one version or the other (or even read the book) ever since mentioned it and grocery shopping in her journal. (If you haven’t seen that entry, I recommend it — it’s here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/lady_anne/46091.html .)
Still haven’t decided if I want to see the new version in the theatre or watch the old one on DVD. Maybe I’ll wait and see what Lady Anne has to say about it. 🙂
I actually surfed out to Lady_Anne’s post about Stepford Wives via your journal about a month ago. It was pivotal in my adding Lady_Anne to my friends list and Stepford Wives to my reading list. Both were good choices.
“Well I suspect that there is an attraction there, otherwise this movie wouldn’t exist.”
I would not attribute such sound logic to the machinations of Hollywood production.
Apparently, someone with influence believed that this would make money, with enough promotion and perhaps a few stars thrown into the mix. That’s probably true, as it turns out — but the popularity of the movie is not necessarily based on men’s secret fantasies. People go to see well-promoted star vehicles on almost any topic.
The success of the old movie “On the Beach” was not because people were secretly longing for the end of the world. But it was interesting to watch. ];-)
“Do men want Stepford wives?”
I imagine that some do — and that some women even want to be Stepford wives. But the general attitude portrayed by “Mike” and the gang is immature, and simplistic, and is not a path to happiness in any real sense. And I don’t think it represents a large portion of the population.
As it happens, I have a unique qualification here: I have the privilege to be married to the real life. ]:-D
She spends a considerable portion of her day figuring out ways to make me happy. I spend a considerable portion of my day thinking of ways to make her happy. This works! We have an extraordinarily good time together — and a car ride is a vacation, we enjoy good weather and “bad” weather, and we’ve remained happy through some circumstances that would be considered very stress-inducing by most folks.
If you can achieve that — if you can find someone and make them happy, and they in turn make you happy — than you are far surpassing the simplistic goals of the people in “The Stepford Wives”.
Everything else is small stuff by comparison. ];-)
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