History Main / StepFordSmiler

See also such related tropes as BeneathTheMask, BitchInSheepsClothing, BrokenAce, BrokenHero, ComedicSociopathy, EvilAllAlong, EvilMatriarch, ExtremeDoormat, TheFakeCutie, FauxAffablyEvil, HappinessIsMandatory, IJustWantToBeNormal, {{Masquerade}}, SadClown, ThinkHappyThoughts, UncannyValleyGirl, {{Yandere}}, and the darker variants of MinnesotaNice. The CrapsaccharineWorld is basically this trope upscaled to include the entire society.

---->'''Bulma:''' Hey, I'm just gonna throw this out there, but you're really cute.\\

Science does add some credence to the trope, as those who default to a half-smile expression tend to report a generally better mood, regardless of any outside factor. However, this does not extend to a full on fake demi-SlasherSmile, suggesting that even the person's brain chemistry isn't fooled by the facade. Compare TheUnSmile.

The Stepford Smiler gets her name (as does the StepfordSuburbia in which she lives) from the book and later movies ''Literature/TheStepfordWives'', about a village whose men conspire to create the Barbie perfect wife, all with similar eerie smiles.

* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'': Every vampire slowly loses its [[KarmaMeter Humanity]] as the years go by, but the [[VampiresAreSexGods Daeva]] [[TheBeautifulElite clan]] are particularly prone to this. They are presented as [[EvilIsSexy sexy]] and {{manipulative|Bastard}} [[TheCasanova men]] and [[TheVamp women]] that ooze sensuality, and maintain the image of the perfect vampires, but inside they're completely rotten. Years of manipulation drain their ability to feel true attachment until they can no longer [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove comprehend human emotions]] and even though they seem to be passionate and claim to understand desire, they only feel need. This causes many Daeva to became [[TheHedonist depraved]] and desperate to feel again. Things get worse each passing decade, because vampires tend to forget to fake breathing and blinking, gradually turning them into {{Empty Shell}}s and truly establishing their Stepford Smilers status and UncannyValley natures. This, of course, makes humans (as well as [[EvilDetectingDog animals]]) feel that there's something atrociously wrong with them.

** Ruby is cheerful, happy and optimistic, but she is strongly implied to be hiding despair. During Volumes 4 and 5, she represses her trauma from the events of Volume 3 until Oscar cracks the mask when demanding to know how she can keep going in the face of so much pain, horror and fear; it cracks again at Haven when witnessing Cinder charge Jaune makes her flashback to Volume 3. [[spoiler:In Volume 7, her defiance against Salem ends with her collapsing in tears when Salem throws her dead mother back in her face; in Volume 8, she learns the AwfulTruth about what Salem might have done to her mother, triggering a full HeroicBSOD. In Volume 9, Ruby's life is put on the line by villainous {{Despair Gambit}}s that play on her repressed pain, forcing her to confront her feelings once and for all.]]

** Ruby is cheerful, happy and optimistic, but she is strongly implied to be hiding despair. During Volumes 4 and 5, she represses her trauma from the events of Volume 3 until Oscar cracks the mask when demanding to know how she can keep going in the face of so much pain, horror and fear; it cracks again at Haven when witnessing Cinder charge Jaune makes her flashback to Volume 3. [[spoiler:In Volume 7, her defiance against Salem ends with her collapsing in tears when Salem throws her dead mother back in her face; in Volume 8, she learns the AwfulTruth about what Salem might have done to her mother, triggering a full HeroicBSOD.]]

* Every vampire from ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' slowly loses its [[KarmaMeter Humanity]] as the years go by, but the [[VampiresAreSexGods Daeva]] [[TheBeautifulElite clan]] are particularly prone to this. They are presented as [[EvilIsSexy sexy]] and {{manipulative|Bastard}} [[TheCasanova men]] and [[TheVamp women]] that ooze sensuality, and maintain the image of the perfect vampires, but inside they're completely rotten. Years of manipulation drain their ability to feel true attachment until they can no longer [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove comprehend human emotions]] and even though they seem to be passionate and claim to understand desire, they only feel need. This causes many Daeva to became [[TheHedonist depraved]] and desperate to feel again. Things get worse each passing decade, because vampires tend to forget to fake breathing and blinking, gradually turning them into {{Empty Shell}}s and truly establishing their Stepford Smilers status and UncannyValley natures. This, of course, makes humans (as well as [[EvilDetectingDog animals]]) feel that there's something atrociously wrong with them.

!!Other Examples

%% Image kept on page per Image Pickin' threads:

[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/TheStepfordWives https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/faith-hill_1290.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: OK, ''[[TropeNamers you]]'' can stop ''[[TheUnSmile smiling]]'' now... Please?]]

* Daisy, a Newfoundland dog in ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'', can usually be seen with a gigantic smile and only saying "[[CatchPhrase Hi, I’m]] [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Daisy]]!" But when the K-9 Corps needs her help with Sasha, [[http://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/2016/09/29/over-the-river-and-through-the-woods/ she drops her grin]] and explains that life may not always be very rosy for pet dogs.

Contrast with the StrawNihilist, TheStoic, ThePollyanna, YamatoNadeshiko, DramaQueen.

Compare/Contrast with TheSnarkKnight (whose demeanor is typically the [[InvertedTrope inverse]] of the Stepford Smiler), StepfordSnarker (whose motives are the same, but whose mask is made of [[DeadpanSnarker snark]] rather than smiles) and ObviouslyNotFine (if someone is ''trying'' to be a Stepford Smiler, but their sadness is all over their face). Also compare and contrast GrinOfRage, which is when a character smiles when they are angry.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin (sarcastically?) [[InvokedTrope invokes]] this for a moment when his father tells him he [Calvin] needs to go to bed earlier so that he won't be so grumpy each morning; Calvin starts going around with an enormous fake grin instead.

%% * The titular ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' Po. It's implied that he has that cheerful front to hide his insecurities.

%% * The Goodmans in ''Theatre/NextToNormal''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxBh_N73d3M Just Another Day]] is practically the StepfordSmiler ''anthem.''

* In ''Literature/ArcanaMagi'', Reya Everheart is Empty thanks to her [[MindControlDevice therapy sessions]].

Depressed {{Hero|es}}ines or show co-stars that are Stepford Smilers can either be played straight, or played to gain viewer sympathy as they struggle to live up to their own impossible ideals. {{Villain|s}}esses like the EvilMatriarch 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 [[AlwaysFemale traditionally female]] role, though there are many male examples too. Sometimes, they're even a couple.

[[caption-width-right:350: OK, [[TropeNamers you]] can stop [[TheUnSmile smiling]] now... Please?]]

->''"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."''

* StepfordSmiler/RealLife

* ''ComicBook/NewWarriors'': Speedball used to be [[FunPersonified a genuinely cheerful, happy-go-lucky superhero]]... and then [[ComicBook/CivilWar the Stamford incident happened]], the deaths of 612 people on his watch [[BreakTheCutie utterly breaking him]]. Even after coming to terms with his guilt, he's still prone to slipping into [[NinetiesAntiHero his darker, Penance persona]].

!!Examples:

* StepfordSmiler/{{Advertising}}

* StepfordSmiler/ComicBooks
* StepfordSmiler/ComicStrips

* [[StepfordSmiler/AnimatedFilms Films — Animated]]

* StepfordSmiler/ProfessionalWrestling
* StepfordSmiler/TabletopGames
* StepfordSmiler/{{Theatre}}

* StepfordSmiler/WebOriginal
* StepfordSmiler/{{Webcomics}}

* StepfordSmiler/OtherMedia

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