Fields & Frames - Stepford wives & Get Out

So whilst exploring further into my ideas of doing something relating to self-image and how social media influences it (PSA style film), I was reminded of 'The Stepford Wives'. 

'The Stepford Wives' was a novel released in the 70's that took a look at the ultra whitewashed American woman, pitching an eerily realistic town that replaces the women with perfect robot replica's. The replicas are the ideal all American women; 

• Obedient 
• Well groomed 24/7
• polite & well spoken
• attractive 
• sexually available & willing. 

This well-liked novel was then adapted into two films, the first releasing in the 1970's, the next in 2004. The 1970's was a lot more of its time and was very representative of the book due to only being years apart. However, the 2004 version was updated to be more modern, this included the addition of a gay couple and free-spirited women in her late forties to fifties.  

I like how the film's and book show a very dark side to the female ideal, they depict it as a man's choice of what women should be. These husbands, the head of a typical American household, actively choose to replace and kill their original wives, in order to attain the newer and more subservient model. 

One of my first projects was looking at the dehumanisation and objectification of women and humanisation of objects. I did this through photographs. I got my model to lie naked in a cardboard box full of bubblewrap, full makeup and looking as dolled up as she could. I had her giving me the least expression she could, effectively trying to look as clinical as she could. This piece was inspired by the works Ayano Sudo & looking into how sex dolls have been treated more and more like sentient beings, whilst women are being seen as less so. 

This theme is actually very similar to one of my latest favourite horror's & dark comedies; 'Get Out". In Get Out we have our lead man (who is black), finally visiting his girlfriends (white) parents. There is a clear racial divide early on and we slowly come to see this very uncanny situation that our unprepared lead finds himself in. The similarities between Get Out and The Stepford Wives is the sense of unease as we are presented with a community of very off individuals, in the case of Get Out, this is with people asking very racial and ignorant questions.

One scene in Get Out I really liked was the video our protagonist is forced to watch near the end of the film, this video is set out to explain how the process of body swapping with work. This video is very retro and feels like the overly whitewashed family adverts of an older America. 

This video is really unsettling, the music already sets you up to be unsettled and the very nonchalant way of revealing the horrors that lie ahead really resonated with me.