As explained in the FS 101 Online Presentations, many film scholars have argued that horror films often contain profound political ramifications as well as some insights into the material world. How does The Stepford Wives (Bryan Forbes, 1975) engage with the conventions of the horror genre (and film style) to address some of the fears and anxieties on the 1970s (particularly in the context of second-wave feminism) through the notion of the “return of the repressed”? Secondly, how do films like Get Out and/or Don’t Worry Darling pay homage to The Stepford Wives?
In your response, please analyze at least ONE key example or scene in The Stepford Wives that best exemplifies this notion and contextualize your ideas by engaging with at least ONE key point addressed in ONE of the following essays:
Read: Jane Elliott, “Stepford U.S.A.: Second-Wave Feminism, Domestic Labor, and the Representation of National Time” Download Jane Elliott, “Stepford U.S.A.: Second-Wave Feminism, Domestic Labor, and the Representation of National Time”(pdf)
Read: Anna Krugovoy Silver, “The Cyborg Mystique: “The Stepford Wives” and Second Wave Feminism” Download Anna Krugovoy Silver, “The Cyborg Mystique: “The Stepford Wives” and Second Wave Feminism”(pdf)
