MovieChat Forums > The Stepford Wives (1975) Discussion > The ending is so wrong.

The ending is so wrong.

posted 11 years ago by missmisfit-1
32 replies | jump to latest

I know that it was the 70's & cynicism was rife & many think "Happy Endings" are dumb or something but I think Joanna should have found a way to cause the Men's Association's downfall.

If this movie is about feminism, it's apparently pro-feminist but it seems to be saying that no matter what women do to achieve the equality they deserve they will fail forever!

Pessimistic, defeatist.

Defeatism doesn't inspire people. Defeatism doesn't raises morale. If Ira Levin wanted to support feminism, he would make something that raised morale. Yes, the Men's Association are despicable but why must they win in the end? Why not show a glimmer of hope?

True, it was the 70's and the folks were weary of the way things were going with Vietnam & whatnot. 70's films express this ennui. But why couldn't they be uplifting? We needed movies that raised morale, not destroy it!

I think someone should rewrite this but change the ending but not in the way the remake did (the remake missed the point of the whole thing & was really stupidly done).

I see many movies as having a social message, even if it's just "entertainment" but movies seem to be defeatist with a Hobbesian view of humanity. Yes, I agree that humanity is flawed but I feel humanity can "think big" & "reach higher".

In MY version of The Stepford Wives, the Men's Association & their evil scheme will fail. There would also be a few sympathetic male characters to represent the good men of the world, the allies.

I love to look in the heads of both Ira Levin & the movie makers. Why write it that way? What's the point?

Why pessimism? Why defeat?

Screw defeat! We as a species need MORE "Happy Endings"! Real life has enough injustice & downer endings on it's own! We need a version of The Stepford Wives where the message is "Yes, you can fight against the oppressors and triumph! Never give up!".

[–] InherentlyYours 10 years ago

The ending has nothing to do with all that, the 70's and so forth ; many thrillers films end in doom and gloom. Any other films where you wish to cite false misogyny and feminism?

[–] PussyCrusher_Principal 9 years ago

Well, it's a horror film, first and foremost. The subject of feminism is really used to drive the plot, as when Joanna says to Bobbi "I messed around with feminism in NYC" ("who hasn't", I believe, was the response), and "I'm not talking a Maidenform Bonfire here, but...", and then, in reaction to the alarm they feel at what they see in Stepford, they go around trying to raise consciousness.

But if you really need to make the ending meaningful, in a (somewhat) positive way in regards to feminism, how about "if we women don't stick together, bad things can happen". The men used a "divide and conquer" scheme to change the wives, as when Bobbie went away and never came back. Just spitballin'...

Takes two to tumble it takes two to tango
Speak up don't mumble when you're in the combo

[–] missmisfit-1 9 years ago

Makes sense.

And like you said, it's a horror flick, and the downer ending was part of it. I now just realized that it's not saying that "Feminism will fail". It ends grimly because that's SCARY. It's just one town, anyway.

Besides, there was a sequel where the "Men's Association" get their comeuppance. The two afterwards are just milking the concept to stupid degrees. I like to pretend that only the first two movies are canon. There's the "Feminism vs. Misogyny" theme and the fact that it allows the bad guys to lose in the end. I like that.

I need to quit getting sensitive about bummer endings and not see every flick as a big social message....and just take each movie on a story-by-story basis.

For me, I'll just check out "spoiler" websites to ease the sting of a grim ending.

.....and get into fanfic writing for relief.

After all
"You don't have to accept the ending they give you." - Joel (To Crow & Tom Servo on MST3K)

[–] austelwx 9 years ago

Downer endings are for adults. So many authors have satirized the cliche of the "coddled, insecure public that can't stand a harsh ending and needs a simplistic, happy Hollywood outcome," and I like to think people are tougher than that. But yikes, threads like this just show how pathetically true that particular cliche is.

[–] grrrdevin 9 years ago

Because when I think of cautionary tales, I think of, "Don't worry! Everything will turn out alright in the end!"

[–] DodgersRule 8 years ago

This ending was terrifying. As it is supposed to be.
It worked for me.

[–] InherentlyYours 8 years ago

There always, always has to be a woman to find pretentious hidden meanings of females being wronged, feminism etc., and also cite the 70's as some target also. The year is was made is irrelevant

Yet, when men are defeated and doomed by women (or men) in a film, there is no reaction. Women like the OP are venting their own demons, I think. And over a harmless horror film/thriller

[–] MissMargoChanning 8 years ago

There always, always has to be a woman to find pretentious hidden meanings of females being wronged, feminism etc., and also cite the 70's as some target also. The year is was made is irrelevant

Ira Levin, a guy, wrote the damned thing. The year the book was written and the year the film was made is very relevant. Feminism was a large part of the story. Men, at that time were feeling a loss of control.
It isn't all that relevant today. That's why that awful thing they call a remake didn't work.

Yet, when men are defeated and doomed by women (or men) in a film, there is no reaction. Women like the OP are venting their own demons, I think. And over a harmless horror film/thriller

Well, off the top of my head, I felt the same sense of sadness at the end of The Mist..... Another "harmless horror film/thriller".

"Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night"

[–] eastSixtyEightgrl 8 years ago

What if Joanna damaged her android replacement in the struggle? Just enough that fixing it would be to costly and starting over take to long. Diz makes the decision to take human Joanna and turn her into a half human/half android. She is still under the control of Diz in this new form thus making it worse than if she had died. The look in her eyes at the end of the film would make sense as she is still human though under the influence of her android programming.

[–] kaskait 8 years ago

The film implies from the start that the wives are real women. The robots are only temporary.

Whether they could be half android as well is certainly possible.

[–] MissMargoChanning 8 years ago

Personally, I thought the ending was perfect.

The book and the film had basically the same end.

I use to think Joanna was foolish to come back to town after seeing the psychiatrist. She should have just driven away instead of coming back for the children. They would have been just fine.
She could have stayed with friends in the city and eventually filed for divorce and custody of the kids......

Nah! Not a good ending for a great little thriller like this. 

"Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night"

[–] jmillerdp 8 years ago

It's like the popular story "The Lottery." Or the movie "The Wicker Man." An insular, secretive community that's hiding a pitch dark secret. And, an innocent, or innocents, are doomed to be taken down by it.

Ira Levin devised the most diabolical horror plots ever. And, he likes to ride them to their end. This book/movie follows that trend.

[SPOILERS]

It is so completely evil! And, I so completely love it! It's one of those cinematic moments where my tears are welling up. Not because of sadness. But, of joy at how cinematically perfect the moment is. Beautifully freaky, including Owen Roizman's cinematography, and Dick Smith's makeup work on Katherine Ross. I so wish this would get a restoration and a Blu-ray.

Plus, the fact that the robot is the one who kills the original is just absolutely twisted.

For those wanting a "happy ending," you get it! It's just a purely EVIL happy ending, as shown in the still photos of the "idyllic" new Katherine Ross with her family.

I. Drink. Your. Milkshake! [slurp!] I DRINK IT UP! - Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood

[–] Melton (3443) a month ago

Well said

[–] rascal67 8 years ago

Perhaps the ending could be read as the failure of feminism.

Exorcist: Christ's power compels you. Cast out, unclean spirit.
Destinata:💩

[–] scorp_gal_03 8 years ago

My problem with the ending was that Joanna just seemed to give up when she spotted the robot. Why wouldn't she have at least tried to fight it off? It didn't seem true to her character to just accept what was happening.

[–] MissMargoChanning 8 years ago

Perhaps she was still trying to register it all....
Even after stabbing my friend and seeing what I had seen, I am still not so sure that I could comprehend the sight of this robot who looks like me... even BETTER than me in a carbon copy of my bedroom. I'd be a bit stunned by it all. I'd still be reeling at the thought of such a betrayal on my husband's part.

"Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night"