The 2004 "Stepford Wives" heavily prioritizes its gender politics over nuanced character development, with many characters feeling more like exaggerated archetypes than real people. The plot bends over backward to lampoon traditional masculinity and suburban femininity, leaving little space for subtlety. Forced representation isn't the primary issue, but the overall ideological thrust takes clear precedence over narrative depth.

This film gleefully mocks traditional gender roles and the nuclear family, portraying them as regressive, sinister, and worthy of ridicule. Husbands are depicted as clueless or malicious, while the women’s eventual rebellion serves as a clumsy celebration of modern gender norms. The treatment of American suburban culture is more a parody than a fair exploration.

Traditional perspectives are largely cartoonish and quickly torn down; dissent from the film’s modern worldview is portrayed as foolish, villainous, or both. There’s hardly any representation of alternative worldviews, unless they’re destined to be ridiculed. Reasoned discussion or pluralism is essentially absent.