It's hardly even worth complaining, then, that Anchorman uses its faux satire of the 1970s as an excuse to play out male fantasies of knocking uppity women — like
aspiring anchorwoman Christina Applegate (View from the Top, The Sweetest Thing)-- back down into their proper place; as with the new Stepford Wives, Anchorman pretends to send up passé attitudes while actually expressing very contemporary fears.