The Stepford Wives
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the 1975 film see The Stepford Wives (1975 film), for the 2004 remake see The Stepford Wives (2004 film).
| The Stepford Wives | |
|---|---|
 First edition cover |
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| Author | Ira Levin |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Thriller, Satire |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Publication date | September 1972 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 145 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-394-48199-2 (first edition, hardback) |
| OCLC Number | 303634 |
| Dewey Decimal | 813/.5/4 |
| LC Classification | PZ4.L664 St PS3523.E7993 |
The Stepford Wives is a 1972 satirical thriller novel by Ira Levin. The story concerns Joanna Eberhart, a photographer and young mother who begins to suspect that the frighteningly submissive housewives in her new idyllic Connecticut neighborhood may be robots created by their husbands. The novel has been viewed by some as a satire on stereotypical American housewives, as well as a study on feminism[citation needed].
Two films of the same name have been adapted from the novel; the first starred Katharine Ross and was released in 1975, while a remake starring Nicole Kidman appeared in 2004. Edgar J. Scherick produced the 1975 version, all three sequels, and was posthumously credited as producer in the 2004 remake.
The term "Stepford wife", which is often used in popular culture, stemmed from the novel, and is usually a reference to a submissive and docile housewife.
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[edit] Plot summary
The premise involves the married men of the fictional town of Stepford, Connecticut, and their fawning, submissive, impossibly beautiful wives. The protagonist is Joanna Eberhart, a talented photographer newly arrived from New York City with her husband and children, eager to start a new life. As time goes on, she becomes increasingly disturbed by the zombie-like Stepford wives, especially when she sees her once independent-minded friends — fellow new arrivals to Stepford — turn into mindless, docile housewives overnight. Her husband, who seems to be spending more and more time at the local men's club, mocks her fears.
As the story progresses, Joanna becomes convinced that the wives of Stepford are actually look-alike gynoids, manufactured in secret at the men's club. She visits the library and reads up on the pasts of Stepford's husbands and wives, finding out that some of the women were once high achievers, while some of the men were brilliant engineers and scientists, capable of creating such life-like robots.
At the end of the story, Joanna attempts to flee the town of Stepford as well as warn her new friend Ruthanne, mother of the first black family to move into the town. The men find her and try to convince her that she's mistaken. They take her to her former best friend Bobbie Markowitz, telling her that Bobbie will cut herself and bleed, proving herself to be human. Joanna enters the house to hear loud rock and roll music playing upstairs and sees Bobbie taking a large knife, and realizes that the men told Bobbie to kill her and use the music to cover her screams. Joanna argues with herself about whether or not she is simply paranoid. As Bobbie approaches with the knife, her last thoughts are that Bobbie will prove to be human and everything will be alright. The scene shifts to the men standing outside, wondering what's taking so long, and one of them leaves to call Joanna's husband and let him know where she is.
In the story's epilogue, Joanna has become another Stepford wife gliding through the local supermarket, while Ruthanne appears poised to become the conspiracy's next victim.
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
In 1975 the book was adapted into a science fiction thriller directed by Bryan Forbes with a screenplay by William Goldman and starring Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson and Tina Louise. The film also marked the screen debut of Brat Pack actress Mary Stuart Masterson, playing one of Joanna's children. While the script emphasis is on gender conflict and the sterility of suburban living, and the science fiction elements are thus only lightly explored, the movie still makes it much clearer than the book that the women are being replaced by some form of robot. Goldman's treatment of the book differed from that of Forbes with the robots closer to an idealized "Playboy Bunny"; it has been claimed[1] that the look was scrapped when Forbes' actress wife Nanette Newman was cast as one of the town residents.
A made-for-TV sequel was produced in 1980, entitled Revenge of the Stepford Wives. It was critically panned for poor acting and shallow writing. In this film, instead of being gynoids, the wives undergo a brainwashing procedure and then take pills that keep them hypnotized. As suggested by the title, in the end the wives are broken free of their conditioning and a mob of them kill the mastermind behind the conspiracy.
Yet another made-for-television sequel/remake was released in 1987 called The Stepford Children, wherein both the wives and the children of the male residents were replaced by drones. It again ends with the members of the conspiracy being killed.
A 1996 version called The Stepford Husbands was made as a third TV movie with the gender-roles reversed, and the men in the town being brainwashed by a crazed female clinic director into being perfect husbands.
A remake of the original The Stepford Wives was released in 2004. It was directed by Frank Oz with a screenplay by Paul Rudnick, and featured Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken, Roger Bart, Faith Hill, Glenn Close and Jon Lovitz. It was intended to be more comedic than previous versions. There were many other changes, the film having a different ending and featuring a Stepford-drone replacement for the male partner of a gay town resident.
Both the 1975 and 2004 versions of the movie were filmed in various towns in Connecticut, including Darien, New Canaan, Wilton, and Norwalk. The 1975 version had several locations in the Greenfield Hill section of Fairfield, including the Eberharts' House and the Greenfield Hill Congregational Church. In an early scene with a school bus, many of the children were from the local elementary school.[citation needed] Additional scenes from the 2004 movie were filmed in Bedminster, New Jersey, with extras from surrounding communities.
In a March 27, 2007 letter to The New York Times,[2] Ira Levin said that he based the town of Stepford on Wilton, Connecticut, where he lived in the 1960s. There is also speculation that Stepford is based on the nearby town of Westport, Connecticut, home to the original Martha Stewart show.
[edit] In language
The term "Stepford wife" entered common use in the English language after the publication of Levin's book, and is generally used as a term of satire. It has recently been used by critics to describe Laura Bush,[3] and Katie Holmes after her marriage to Tom Cruise.[4] The label "Stepford wife" is usually applied to a woman who seems to conform blindly to an old-fashioned subservient role in relationship to her husband, compared to other, presumably more independent and vivacious women. It can also be used to criticise any person, male or female, who submits meekly to authority and/or abuse; or even to describe someone who lives in a robotic, conformist manner without giving offense to anyone. The word "Stepford" can also be used as an adjective denoting servility or blind conformity, ("He's a real Stepford employee"), or a noun ("My home town is a Stepford").[5]
[edit] References in popular culture
- In the episode "Croatoin" in the second season of the television series "Supernatural", main character Dean refers to the phrase in reference to a disturbingly docile, suburban yet suspicious family him and his brother are investigating. He says, "that was kind of creepy, right? A little too Stepford?"
- The song "Bozo Skeleton", by American Industral Supergroup Lard dealing with media attitude to music esp. the campaigns lead by the PMRC and Tipper Gore
- Washington Stepford wives
Think we'd be Stepford children
If they could do away
With the music we love the most
- British band Radiohead have a song called "Bodysnatchers", that draws major inspiration from the 1975 movie. Singer Thom Yorke mentioned the connection when the band premiered the song in Copenhagen on May 6, 2006. It is not the first Radiohead song related to The Stepford Wives. "A Wolf At The Door", the final track on the band's sixth album "Hail to the Thief", also contains a reference.
- The Stepford Cuckoos, characters in the X-Men comics, were based partly on the Stepford Wives (See also: The Midwich Cuckoos).
- In The New Traveller's Almanac, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen briefly pass through Stepford en route to Arkham, and note the "agreeable womenfolk".
- Mentioned in Designer Behavior, a song on MD.45's album "The Craving".
- The song "Hey Music Lover" by the British 80's band S'Express starts with a sample from the 1975 movie, where Bobbie says "Oh ... yes ... this? It's wonderful!" when being questioned by Joanna as to her sudden change in appearance.
- The song "Big Mouth Strikes Again" by the British band Chumbawamba contains a reference:
- Stepford husbands, Stepford wives
With longer scissors, sharper knives
So sugar-sweet, they spend their time
As censors, working overtime
- Stepford husbands, Stepford wives
- In the Season 4 Roseanne episode "Tolerate Thy Neighbor", Roseanne tries to scare her new neighbor Cathy by saying that the women in Lanford "all used to be like you, Cathy. Angry, bitter, annoying. But now...we're the Lanford Wives."
- In the Season 4 of Supernatural (TV series) episode 22 "Lucifer Rising", Dean tries to convince the angel Castiel to save humanity by disobeying his superiors who want Heaven on Earth. This will utimately destroy humanity in the process. He exclaims, "You can take your peace... and shove it up your lily-white ass. 'Cause I'll take the pain and the guilt. I'll even take Sam as is. It's a lot better than being some Stepford b**** in Paradise."
- The song "The Last Sucker", a sarcastic song "sung" by George W. Bush, by the pioneer industrial metal band "Ministry" contains a reference in its lyrics:
- I got twins and a Stepford wife
I never had to work a day in my life
I never studied but got my degree
I never had to with my family tree
- I got twins and a Stepford wife
- The song "Alive", a song by the band "Superchick" contains a reference in its lyrics:
- Don't bury me I'm not yet dead
Not a walking zombie with no head
Not a Stepford Wife made to obey
Don't want to go through life that way.
- Don't bury me I'm not yet dead
