Stepford Children

December 29, 2003 5:54 PM

Stepford children as the new Stepford Wives? Margaret Talbot in The Atlantic makes the case for a more appropriate Stepford movie circa 2004.
posted by Armitage Shanks (10 comments total)

My new fiance, the Japanese Britney Love Doll. NSFW. Say "Yes, papa-san," Gracie. If silicone implants are good, maybe silicone stem to stern is better.
posted by jfuller at 6:17 PM on December 29, 2003

I cast my vote for the "Stepford Americans"
posted by thedailygrowl at 6:28 PM on December 29, 2003

It was but a few weeks ago that the NY Times had in its magazine section some pics that were to illustrate the film, a film, also written by Ira Levin. In fact the photos were odd (for me). The photos displayed gorgeous women with sissified and very handsome males waiting on their every whim. So what I sawq--I may misinterpret--was that when the women of the first film were show, they depicted a male fantasy of subservient beautiful and dutiful wives; when the roles were reversed (the Stepford men), it seemed to dpict a fem dom thing in which the women were now "on top" and the men had become what at one time the women had been. I am not sure what Levin was trying to say--was it that the feminist movement had in many respects castrated the males? or that the high heel was now on the other feet? Whatever the case, I found the photos unnerving. As for the film, I will ask my wife if I might have permission to see it.
posted by Postroad at 6:40 PM on December 29, 2003

Stepford movie circa 2004
posted by jazon at 8:14 PM on December 29, 2003

Oh... the movie was linked in the next older post. My bad. Guess I should have read the entire front page first.
posted by jazon at 8:16 PM on December 29, 2003

This was pretty substance-free. Talbot, along with countless other writers, seems to think that the mere mention of SAT coaches and exclusive nursery schools constitutes a piece of searing social commentary. I'm not sure what generation of independent, non-Stepford kids she means to contrast with this one - was it when boys were expected to go into the family business and girls were expected to become the kinds of wives that the movie satirizes in the first place?
posted by transona5 at 8:54 PM on December 29, 2003

Too bad the Stepford Children have already been done, albeit a few moments too soon.
posted by calwatch at 10:25 PM on December 29, 2003

They actually filmed this near where I live. No one missed the subtle irony of filming it "on location" in Fairfield county, Connecticut.
posted by thanotopsis at 8:30 AM on December 30, 2003

I maintain that I will never see anyone in my life working as hard as my high school classmates, each desperately planning each hour, each activity, each show, each sport, each award to maximize their chance at getting into an Ivy league.
posted by effugas at 8:55 AM on December 30, 2003

Actually, the remade Twilight Zone had an episode (feat. Amber Tamblyn) with a Stepford child-ish theme. But instead of being replaced or reprogrammed, I believe they just killed any of the children that refused to reform.
posted by synapse at 9:00 AM on December 30, 2003