The Stepford Wives: I Still Don't Understand Why Everyone's Boobs Were So Pointy in the 70s.

As much as I am a rooter for Black History Month owning February- I must admit that The Stepford Wives is a swell movie to talk about during "Women in Horror Month". I also must admit that I completely loved this movie- and a lot more than I thought I would. I think I'm a sucker for the slow build up type of movies- and for pointy boobies of course. While the ending of the movie is hotly debated- and the movie as a whole was regarded as anti-feminist by---yeah the feminists- I find that the movie has the power to spark up hours of debate and conversation- because it's that fascinating.

Joanna is a hip photographer living contently in NYC when her lame husband Walter suggests that they movie to the quiet town of Stepford. Joanna soon finds that all the wives in the town have a strange obsession with cooking and doing housework- being domestic more or less. Soon Walter joins the "mens" club and Joanna realizes that all the nerdy, lame husbands in town do not deserve their smoking hot wives...surely something is amiss! She finds comfort in two women who still seem to have their intelligence intact, but it is not long before her friends fall prey to the domestic curse. Desperate for answers- Joanna will soon find out a terrible secret about the true meaning of being a house wife.

What I love most about this movie is how it's a wonderful commentary on the women's movement, in my opinion at least. If you must know the extent of the metaphor but don't wish the movie to be spoiled you should probably skip this part. In fact just skip the review unless you don't really care about feminism or have any interest in watching the Stepford Wives.

While the Stepford wives represent the old- chauvinistic beliefs- Joanna and her enlightened friends represent the achievements of the first women's movement. You know- winning the right to vote and such. However the movement to turn Joanna and her friends into Stepford wives represents the 2nd wave of feminism- when women's rights to abortion, birth control, a woman's right to choose etc were taken away. And of course the satirical ending which may go a little far in my opinion- but it suggests that the "man" will always bring us down- right back to where we started. It's quite an intriguing metaphor and while at first I was enraged at the film's ending I came to realize that it's really just satirizing gender roles- and the insane lengths people will go to keep things... ARCHAIC!

Overall I just really loved how creepy- the "everything is perfect in Stepford" vibe was. The women aren't so robotic that you can pick them out from crowd at a moment's notice- but the actresses all have this uncanny ability to make their eyes so lifeless- it's pretty amazing.

I loved the session Joanna had with her therapist- how the therapist tries to calm her down and tells her she'll be back in a few days and Joanna screams out,

"When you come back, there will be a woman with my name and my face, she'll cook and clean like crazy, but she won't take pictures and SHE WON'T BE ME!"

The argument that perfectly sums up why women's movements were fought in the first place- to avoid the destruction of individuality and the ability to just be yourself without constraint. Again I don't mean to sound too femi-nazi but the movie had my head spinning like mad and had me rethinking papers that I wrote my Junior year of High School! Maybe I read too much into it- but I really thought the whole thing was so intriguing.

Now back to the creepiness. I cannot properly describe to you the anguish I felt when Joanna realized that Bobbie had been changed. I had seen that scene a million times but I never imagined how heartbreaking it would really be once I understood the gravity of the situation. Bobbie was the best! She hated the way that the men were taking over the town and how stupid all the housewives were- and to just see her change like it was no sweat at all? Depressing.

Then the ultimate creeptastic moment- when Joanna stumbles upon her other self.....those black eyes will probably haunt me forever.

And of course the completely and utterly depressing end. I loved how that scene worked- following each house wife through each aisle- so slowly...it was almost painful because you knew who the last house wife would be. The slowness of that last scene was the perfect companion to the film's overall slow nature- understated, creepy and still terrifying in it's own right. Yup- I loved it!

P.S. how perfect was this image at the beginning in the regards to the entire film?

Black History Month Day Two: Naomie Harris/Selena

When I finished watching 28 Days Later only a few weeks ago- I was completely blown away by Naomie Harris. In her, I found one of the most compelling and fantastic performances that I've ever seen woman, man, black, white PERIOD. This woman is a bad ass- with a giant heart. Her past experiences and her back story- are enough to make us bow down at her feet, while at the same time cower in fear that she'll hack us into bits at a moment's notice. Harris' Selena is an inspiration to post apocalyptic survivors everywhere- and her real story is pretty damn inspiring too. For these two reasons I just couldn't decided whether to highlight the Naomie Harris aspect or the Selena aspect- and so....I've chosen both!

Born and raised in London, Harris graduated from Pembroke College with a degree in social and political science. As it turns out- Naomie did not find such an easy time awaiting her in her college years -Harris herself says,

"When I went to Cambridge University, Mum said I wouldn't fit in and she was right, I hated it. The people there were so different to me. They talked about Eton and skiing and here I was, this black girl from Finsbury Park. I just felt so lonely. There was only one other black person in my year; I was very unhappy and cried every day."

Overcoming the adversity she faced growing up, Naomie Harris was able to succeed as one of the most influential and most talked about celebrities in Britain. After her starring role in 28 Days later, Harris went on to star in the 2nd and 3rd Pirates of Caribbean movies as Tia Dalma (and Calypso)

Quite literally she has made waves- and I for one am eager to see where her career takes her.

Now in regards to the character of Selena- I can't tell you how wide eyed I was when she hacked up her partner Mark at the film's beginning.

Right at that moment- any living human watching was convinced that this girl did not mess around. Her constant ruthlessness was evident throughout the film- yet she seemed to soften a bit with the introduction of Hannah. Knowing a bit about Selena's back story seems to explain this change- as Selena was forced to kill both of her parents when they became infected in hopes of saving her younger brother. However once she had killed both parents, Selena found that her brother too had become infected- and she was forced to kill him as well. Perhaps Selena's softening is due to her reoccupying that role as an older sister- as she is given another chance to protect her sibling. This fact alone- makes me love her even more.

The character of Selena in many ways emulates that of Duane Jones--although a bit differently. She is defying the stereotype of women characters in horror movies- and more importantly African American women characters in horror movies. She is a strong, woman who tends to take care of Jim more than Jim takes care of her- a complete 180 from what we are used to.

Sure Jim ends up saving both girls at the end- but Selena from the start took the reins and pulled Jim in and out of trouble in a true reversal of roles. She is not a character who was brought simply into the mix in order to bring comedic relief, boobs, or a quick first death. Nor was she really brought in to offer up some sexual tension--and while there is romance it is not at the center of the film. Instead, Selena and Jim stand as two individuals ready to do anything it takes to survive. Sure they may have fallen in love-

but not at the expense of gratuitous sex scenes or other such nonsense.

Not to get completely preachy here but the very fact that our last two remaining male and female characters that are left (save for Hannah) are black and white- gives such an outstanding blast of hope for the future. Yes it may have only been Great Britain that was quarantined- but the simple fact that the addition of Jim and Selena's relationship may be the key to ending racism is enough to bring more than a few goosebumps to my arms. The character of Selena is one that I think will go down in history as one of the most powerful female leads of all time and one that will always make me proud to be a woman (sorry that was cheesy) GO WOMEN WOOO!

Fun fact about Naomie Harris? She's a Buddhist!

Black History Month Day One: Duane Jones

For the first day of my Black History Month of Celebration, I’ve chosen one of the, if not the most important African-American figures in horror movie history. Even though his birthday is tomorrow- there was no doubt in my mind that Duane Jones would be my very first Black History mention- and he represents the whole month on my Black History banner- because he is that important.

Before Duane Jones came along as the zombie ass kicking Ben in Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, African-Americans were consistently cast in roles pertaining to their ethnicity. Before Ben was brought into America’s living rooms, virtually no one had seen a black actor portrayed as the hero in a major motion picture. Even more groundbreaking is the fact that Duane was cast as the hero among a cast compromised solely of white actors.

Due to the subject matter of the film, the zombie metaphors and how it has to do with the idea of fearing “ourselves”- many thought that the casting of Duane Jones was a significant and intentional casting choice made on Romero’s part. This however has famously been regarded as untrue as Romero has stated several times that Duane “simply gave the best audition”.

That statement rings true as Ben’s character is one of the best in any horror film. I just couldn’t get enough of his quick thinking, resourcefulness and especially his patience in dealing with the highly annoying, catatonic mute Barbra.

How he managed to not kill her, we’ll never know. Cast intentionally or not, Duane Jones’ role as Ben was extremely groundbreaking and changed history.

One of my favorite facts about Duane Jones is that originally, the character of Ben was written as an uneducated, mindless, truck driver. Jones himself an educated and well spoken individual refused to portray his character in such a way and turned the character of Ben into the powerful, intelligent Ben we see on the screen today. And thank god. Who were we suppose to identify and like in this film if Ben wasn’t suppose to be as awesome? The Coopers? Gross. (Yes I know Mr. Cooper’s idea about the basement was technically right- he still is an asshole).

After Night of the Living Dead, Jones taught acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and later became a professor of theatre at the State University of New York at Old Westbury. On July 22^nd, 1988 he passed away at the age of 52 due to cardiopulmonary arrest.

Since Ben’s death is one pretty tragic event at the film’s conclusion, many reviewers pointed out that the shooting of Ben easily resonates in the minds of Americans and forces them to recall the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Whether you choose to see this as a parallel or not- Duane Jones’ role as Ben should always just stay fresh in your mind, adding to the idea that black or white- we are all humans and all have the potential to be zombies. (or to be mistaken as one)

“It never occurred to me that I was hired because I was black. But it did occur to me that because I was black it would give a different historic element to the film”

More interesting facts:

Prior to being cast in Night of the Living Dead, Duane Jones was just an unknown stage actor.

After his starring role, Duane never saw any of Romero’s other films- especially Dawn of the Dead or Day of the Dead claiming that Night of the Living Dead was “his” time.

Duane Jones never vocalized to his students about his past and his career as the star of Night of the Living Dead. In fact, no one ever found out until during a group meeting at a café where they happened to being playing the film on the TV there. The student’s sat in awe and after this particular occasion word quickly spread about how famous the theater professor really was.