Stepford Smiler: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"He always smiled, and he always chuckled, but inside he did not notice anyone, did not care; it was his body that smiled, nodded and shook hands. Nothing touched his mind, which remained remote."''~~|'''[[Philip K. Dick]]'''|''[[Ubik]]''}}~~

{{quote|''"He always smiled, and he always chuckled, but inside he did not notice anyone, did not care; it was his body that smiled, nodded and shook hands. Nothing touched his mind, which remained remote."''

|'''[[Philip K. Dick]]'''|''[[Ubik]]''}}

Everyone loves [[Purity Sue]]. [[Love Is in the Air|They can't help it!]] She's [[Mary Poppins|practically perfect in every way.]] The '''Stepford Smiler''' is much like [[Purity Sue]]: she's bright, chipper, and an all-around pleasant person to be with.

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It's all a lie, of course.

The ~~'''~~Stepford Smiler~~'''~~ is obsessed with projecting an image of wholesome happiness in order to be accepted by her peers. Tragically enough, they'd probably [[The Power of Friendship|accept her]] for who she is regardless of her self-imposed [[Masquerade]]. Her flawlessly crafted facade hides a real person that's usually breaking like so much fine china in order to keep up the deception.

The Stepford Smiler is obsessed with projecting an image of wholesome happiness in order to be accepted by her peers. Tragically enough, they'd probably [[The Power of Friendship|accept her]] for who she is regardless of her self-imposed [[Masquerade]]. Her flawlessly crafted facade hides a real person that's usually breaking like so much fine china in order to keep up the deception.

These are the three main types of Stepford Smiler:

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Depressed Type [[Heroes|Heroines]] or show co-stars that are Stepford Smilers can either be played straight (they really are that [[The Ditz|shallow]]) or to gain viewer sympathy as they struggle to live up to their own impossible ideals. [[Villains|Villainesses]] like the [[Evil Matriarch]] who are Stepford Smilers are usually played one of two ways: it can either humanize them, much like the heroine, or it can accentuate their evil by contrasting it with their soullessness. Feminine pronouns are used throughout this trope because the '''Stepford Smiler''' is a [[Always Female|traditionally female]] role, though there are many male examples too. Sometimes, they're even a couple.

The Empty Type 's mask itself can also hide a terrible secret... ''there is '''nothing''' behind it.'' The void is either a result of using up so much energy [[I Just Want to Be Normal|pretending to be normal]] that nothing is left over, or because there was [[The Soulless|nothing there to begin with.]] The [[Trope Namer|trope-naming]] [[The Stepford Wives|Stepford Wives]] fall into this second category, naturally.

The Empty Type's mask itself can also hide a terrible secret... ''there is '''nothing''' behind it.'' The void is either a result of using up so much energy [[I Just Want to Be Normal|pretending to be normal]] that nothing is left over, or because there was [[The Soulless|nothing there to begin with.]] The [[Trope Namer|trope-naming]] [[The Stepford Wives|Stepford Wives]] fall into this second category, naturally.

Scared yet? It gets worse.

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* Vincent and Carrie Raymond (in Geoph Essex's ''Lovely Assistant'') are astonishingly warm and cheerful [[The Beautiful Elite|Beautiful People]], {{spoiler|though their plans to summon a galaxy-sized monster and destroy the world places them squarely as Insane Type Stepford Smilers}}. Jenny even thinks about the Stepford effect by name.

* ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]''

** [[Harry Potter/Characters/Muggles|Petunia Dursley]] is a fine example of the sort who initially seems to ''be'' her mask. ''[[~~Harry Potter/~~Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|Deathly Hallows]]'' suggests that {{spoiler|her mask developed as the means to deal with her jealousy over her younger, "perfect" sister Lily getting magic and not herself.}}

** [[Harry Potter/Characters/Muggles|Petunia Dursley]] is a fine example of the sort who initially seems to ''be'' her mask. ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (novel)|Deathly Hallows]]'' suggests that {{spoiler|her mask developed as the means to deal with her jealousy over her younger, "perfect" sister Lily getting magic and not herself.}}

** [[Complete Monster|Dolores]] [[Harry Potter/Characters/Ministry of Magic|Umbridge]]. Part of the reason this character is so effective is that she wraps her sadism and violence in an unnerving Stepford mask.

** [[Harry Potter/Characters/Hogwarts Students|Luna Lovegood]] is a Depressed Type played straight. She's an [[Iron Woobie]] who is bullied viciously for her eccentric personality, and she didn't have any friends until she was a teenager. But despite this pain she is still happy and cheerful...''[[Beneath the Mask|on the outside]]''.

*** Luna could also be a subversion, if her serene personality is completely genuine.

** Xenophilius Lovegood puts on a Depressed Type act in ''[[~~Harry Potter/~~Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|Harry Potter]]'' when Harry, Ron, and Hermione come to his house. He pretends that everything is well and good and that Luna herself is only out getting ingredients for soup when he's actually been depressed and afraid because the Death Eaters have Luna and have threatened to kill her unless he captures Harry Potter for them, which is just the thing he's attempting to do.

** Xenophilius Lovegood puts on a Depressed Type act in ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (novel)|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]'' when Harry, Ron, and Hermione come to his house. He pretends that everything is well and good and that Luna herself is only out getting ingredients for soup when he's actually been depressed and afraid because the Death Eaters have Luna and have threatened to kill her unless he captures Harry Potter for them, which is just the thing he's attempting to do.

* Almost the entire main cast of Jodi Picoult's ''Nineteen minutes'' (Barring Peter, Jordan and possibly Patrick)

** [[The Woobie|Josie]] is a Depressed Type, pretending to be the perfect Golden girl whilst simultaneously having to put up with an abusive boyfriend, neglectful mother and niggling suspicion that if she stops smiling for even a second, everyone will realize she's nothing special.