MovieChat Forums > The Stepford Wives (1975) Discussion > Getting the hell out of Stepford...

Getting the hell out of Stepford...

posted 15 years ago by novastar_6
9 replies | jump to latest

Anybody else watch this movie and look at Joanna and Bobbie and think if the story had taken a different turn toward the end, it could've been a whole different story altogether and they might've been a precursor to Thelma & Louise? Right after I saw this movie for the first time I was thinking, I could see those two, getting their hands on a couple of guns, getting their kids, getting in the station wagon and getting the hell out of Stepford, away from their husbands and the zombie wives and all that. But at the same time I could see Joanna once she realizes something is VERY wrong and her husband is involved in it, I could see her being so fed up that she just flat out kills him in the midst of their escape. Anybody else get that when they watched this movie?

[–] Zero_70 15 years ago

I really hated the ending of this film. They were such strong characters it would of been great if they had managed to break free and then destroy all the freaky deaky men!

[–] rockmail 11 years ago

Uh no. "Interesting" movies have drama, tragedy and conflict. You're looking for a boring happy ending. Try watching some Power Rangers or something.

[–] missmisfit-1 11 years ago

I would have loved a happier ending as well.

[–] Gosee88 15 years ago

Oh yea I did notice that. I thought I was the only one.

[–] fiatlux-1 14 years ago

It would have been awesome if they had been able to escape. They could have blown this whole thing open and gained worldwide exposure. To see Diz splashed across the T.V would have been great!!!
I was kind of mad at the end of the film, as if I were Joanna I would have fled that town without my kids!!!!! They wouldn't have been hurt, no kids had been hurt. I would have fled from that doctor's office and gone right to the police in the next town or someone! She didn't need to tell them that the women were robots (they'd check her for needle or restraint marks first if she did that). She could have made up something.
OR she could have gone to the cops, then called and threatened to expose the group. Even if people didn't appear to believe them, it would be very dangerous indeed for their work to gain ANY kind of exposure.

"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

[–] mandy-woods 12 years ago

i totally agree with this, i said this to my husband many times, as soon as she left the psychiatrists office she should not have gone back for the kids, me being mum tho its probably easier said than done, but she knows that they have no intention of hurting the children just the woman, so go to the nearest town tell the police, and go back with police escort, show them bobbie let the cops investigate etc, would have been nice to show how they made the robots who was doing what at the mens association a little bit more at the end for me. If she had gone back with the police and walter had taken the children the cops would have made him get the kids there is so much more i would have liked to know.

[–] genevaporter 11 years ago

Did she really know that they wouldn't hurt the kids? The kids weren't the main targets, but Joanna's kids were girls. What would have happened to them after they had turned 18? The patriarchal extremist town probably wouldn't want them to go to college. Some of the more sympathetic fathers might opt to get their daughters married to an out-of-town husbands, but they couldn't guarantee that their daughters, once exposed to the world, would not want to join in the feminist movement they find so threatening. So its very likely Joanna's daughters could eventually be replaced.
As for going to the police, the police would not believe her. They'd find out she's seeing a psychiatrist and her husband and other Stepfordians think she's been acting erratic. They'd conclude that she was crazy and that she was making up these stories because of some domestic dispute. They would never take her seriously and they certainly wouldn't waste money on an intensive investigation at some crazy woman's say-so.
She could have left without the kids, but I doubt any court would award custody to her, with her fixed history of of mental illness. Back then, psychiatry and mental illness were still taboo.

[–] InherentlyYours 10 years ago

'Back then, psychiatry and mental illness were still taboo.'
-------------------------
1975 wasn't that long ago that mental-illness was taboo--and it's still misunderstood and makes people uneasy (apathetic) today. But for her to escape, wouldn't it be unfaithful to the book? How does the book end?

[–] tabbycat 9 years ago

That never happens because, as in all good thrillers, the bad guys are always several steps ahead. The men have been down the same road many times and know what to expect at each point. The women never do. Their fear and knowledge of the conspiracy at any point is always outmatched by the men's planning. By the time Joanna visits the psychiatrist -- actually alerting someone outside the town -- it is already too late.