A Thought About the Stepford Wives by Gary Hainsworth

I liked The Stepford Wives when it was a book. The 1975 movie has its moments and the 2004 "remake" is something that happened, is somehow a thing that exists, and I never bothered with the sequels or TV stuff; so, as far as I'm concerned, only the book by Ira Levin exists.

What I like most about the book is that it never reveals if the wives are robotic changlings or if Joanna got with the proverbial program and dropped being a photographer and devoted career woman to become a dotting housewife instead? Either interpretation works. 

Did cutting Bobbie's hand with the knife prove she was human? Was Joanna Eberhart murdered and replaced by a ? Would the Voight-Kampff test have been more effective? 

I suppose the ambiguous, open ended ending works best in books and not movies. Whether she became a metaphorical robot due to conformity - a spiritual death - or was replaced by an actual robot after her husband murdered her, either interpretation works. 

In the 1975 movie, the latter occurs. In the 2004 movie, something nonsensical does. Stick with the book. It's not a long read and I think it holds up well for a book that was published the year Nixon ran for a second, albeit ultimately truncated, term.

© 2016 by Gary Hainsworth