If replacement of workers by robots is associated with conservatism, one can imagine other metaphors for "Stepfordization" on the left, such as brainwashing. Two old classic films, both available from Amazon, use this metaphor in social satire. In Invasion of the Body Snatchers, space pods from outer space quietly take control of the minds of the inhabitants of small town Americana, in a clear reference to the perceived fear of the Communist Red Menace gripping America at the time of the film's original release. Another timeless classic, The Manucharian Candidate, staring Frank Sinatra, deals more directly (and more realistically) with the troubling scientific possibility of Communist brainwashing of Americans, of the sort which is actually thought by some to have taken place during the Korean War.

Perhaps the producers of the current film could have gone much further with the social satire potential of the remade Stepford Wives, which, unlike the 1975 classic, is now more of a comedy than a horror flick. Writes A.O. Scott of the New York Times, "Every time you think [the remade Stepford Wives] might be venturing toward social criticism, it pulls back into homily and reassurance, refusing to tell anyone in the audience anything she - or he - might not want to hear."

Perhaps this is the ultimate social criticism - the Stepfordization of The Stepford Wives itself as a film that robotically avoids its own tantalizing possibilities for social satire, almost as if it were written by a committee of robotic spin doctors of different political persuasions, over-eager not to do anything that might offend.

There is, however, a rich cinematic history of using robots and brainwashed characters to deliver social commentary, especially in an era of perceived de-facto censorship as some say we are currently experiencing. I already described many of these issues and available books and topics on this topic in my earlier post (here). I've listed some further videos and products below.