Pleasantville Film Analysis Essay

In the movie “Pleasantville” two kids named David and Jennifer, living in the 1990’s get sucked into to a tv show called “Pleasantville” which takes place in the 1950’s where everything is “perfect”. Now living in a completely different era and being named Bud and Mary Sue, they must try to adjust to this new culture while attempting to find a way to get back to their present day. Through the whole movie they realize how much that the world has changed in 40 years. The town of Pleasantville is set in black and white, but as people start to change and feel more emotion they turn into color. While watching the movie it was interesting to watch the characters learn more about the past from different perspectives.

'Pleasantville', a postmodernist film by Gary Ross, tells the story of David and Jennifer who are living in the 1990's and are teleported into the TV show 'Pleasantville' a 1950's sitcoms which shows the life of a so-called 'perfect' 1950s utopian society "full of family values", something Davis longs for. Ross employs the element of Intertextuality to to convey ideas of change and how to deal with it. He incorporates allusion, parody, pastiche, cinematography and character referencing or alluding to other works of fiction, and successfully highlights these ideas about change and dealing with it through the events occurring in Pleasantville after the arrival of Jennifer and David.

betrayed on Pleasantville that David was fascinated with. Life is in fact perfect in Pleasantville;

In the 1998 film, Pleasantville, the idea of defying a supreme leader and exploring new taboo ideas is demonstrated by the rebellious mural painted by Bud/David and Mr Johnson. This mural painted in vibrant colours explores ideas that are nothing short of unthinkable to the bland citizens of Pleasantville. The elements painted on the mural include representations of sex, knowledge and music, which is against the core values of this idealistic town. While Pleasantville seems to have the all-american dream with white picket fences and nuclear families, it is evident that they are lacking many of the vivacious elements present in a normal flawed life.

How are we made aware of the filmmaker's attitude towards change? Refer to three specific episodes from the film. (excl. concl. stages)In Pleasantville, the filmmaker, Gary Ross, conveys his attitude towards change through the characters of David and Jennifer who are transported into the 1950s sitcom "Pleasantville". He doesn't necessarily demonstrate change to bear a positive result; rather, he addresses that change is essential to the development of society and self and that it is important to understand and accept change. Ross contrasts the ignorance and mindlessness of the unchanged people of Pleasantville with the hunger for knowledge that the changed (or coloured) people possess, communicating to the viewer that change and knowledge

Pleasantville is a film by Gary Ross in 1998. The plot takes place in a nostalgic way to 1950s, the era when American society lives in a simple but not poor life. In Pleasantville, everything seems to be stable and simple. People live in black and white world, no chaos or mayhem. They only know that they already have a pleasant life in this small town. However, by considering the following examples,

The lack of color on the television show Pleasantville describes a lot more than our technological advancements, it artistically captures the lack of free will we once had. Breaking free from their shells of self awareness the people of Pleasantville start to display their true colors so to speak. The distinct changes or unusual new found attitudes stirring up inside pleasantville remind myself of our very own past here in the united states over the last century or so.

Pleasantville is about a 90s kid named David Wagner who is hooked to rerun of a show baes about the 1950s called “Pleasantville” were everything is considered to be simpler than any other time. David uses the show to escape from his not so pleasant reality that he share with his more popular and urban sister, Jennifer. The two 1990s teenage siblings find themselves in a 1950s sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that complacent world. - [ ] The purpose/thesis statement was to show that there is not a certain way to live life and that sometimes we must break the rules the society is set up so that we can find our truest self, even if others may not agree. - [ ] Pleasantville functionalist perspective that is shown throughout the movie first starts when we see the relationship between the TV parents Betty Parker and George Parker and how they interact with each other with the wife staying to take care of the house and the kids while the husband goes out off to work to make a lived for them.

During these scenes we meet David who is one of the protagonist of the film. David is shy and reserve likes to spend his time watching Pleasantville. Then we meet Jennifer who is David’s sister, not shy at all, popular, smokes which would not be consider lady like in earlier years and very sexually active. The two live with their mother who is divorce. They all have common issues that have become part of society, divorce rates in America are about 40% to 50% now, David’s shyness can be the result of the separation between the family and even Jennifer’s rebellious ways can be a call for attention. Besides being twins David and Jennifer don’t have anything in common, a fight over an unusual remote control transport David and Jennifer inside the TV to

In the movie, a change is considered when a person changes from black-and-white to color. Now as this change may seem very unpleasant for the mayor Big Bob, it always happens when someone changes for good, not for something bad they had done. As stated earlier, David happens to be one of the last people to turn color, as he at first liked the pleasantness of Pleasantville. His sister, Jennifer, was one of the first to find out as she pretty much began the change of Pleasantville with her stunts at Lovers Lane. She tries to explain to David why nobody is happy in Pleasantville, but he denies her, as he believes that Pleasantville will always remain so simple and cheerful. “David: They're happy like this. Jennifer: No, David. Nobody's happy in a poodle skirt and a sweater set.”(Pleasantville-1998). David still had not seen what Pleasantville, was all about. Throughout the rest of the movie, he slowly begins to change by little events that affect him. He fell in love with Margaret, who turned into a colored girl thanks to him. During one there dates at Lovers Lane, it began to rain, something nobody had ever seen in Pleasantville. That's where he showed his true love for Margaret, when he was with her, under the rain. Then he changed Bill, the owner of the soda shop. During the period when Bill would paint on his windows and when the black-and-white trashed his shop, David really saw what kind of mess Pleasantville was. The person that changed David the most however was his “mother” so to say, Betty. After cheating on her husband with Bill, she turned color, and was made fun of by the black-and-white boys of Pleasantville. At one point, they even ganged up on her, but David came to the rescue and did something nobody had ever seen in Pleasantville. He punched the bullies and defended Betty. It was at that point he really changed, because that's the point when he changed color.

Every civilized human being is affected by conventions for better or for worse and they affect humanity in a variety of ways. Conventions are commonly use as obstacles characters must overcome in films in order to create positive change, Pleasantville is no exception. In the film Pleasantville director Gary Ross utilizes character development to suggest that the idea that overcoming conventions is necessary to inspire positive change in ones self are the community around them. First of all one of the best character to support this idea is marry sue.

The movie Pleasantville filmed in 1998 and set in the 1950s depicts an interesting cross section of the cynicism of modernity and the idealism of the past through juxtaposing old and new facets of television. The show, Pleasantville existed in an enclosed predictable ecosystem with no knowledge of corruption or world outside itself depicting the values portrayed in television of the 1950s. Everyone had a role and like most sitcoms, even today every episode concluded in a positive manner, usually with a lesson that reaffirmed the viewer’s beliefs.

The film “Pleasantville” is full of symbolism and it has two main themes. The represented themes are “the power of change” and “the loss of innocence.” Throughout the film the themes are portrayed through characters and the events and change they undergo. The characters live in such a perfect world, where nothing bad can happen. That is until two teens, David and Jennifer, come and turn their tailor-made world upside-down.

The fashion during the 1950’s represented the way life was lived in this era. Before this decade, it was a time of conformity and mediation. The clothes worn represented the wholesome, good, clean citizens that Americans were expected to be. In the past years, everyone had dressed the same so that no one would particularly stand out from their cookie cutter life. The early 50’s was when people started to feel less pressure about what they wore. “No longer did people feel like they had to conform to a certain look for certain situations” (retrowaste.com- 1). “1950s fashion saw the introduction of many new styles as well as many styles that paid homage to the 1920s” (retrowaste.com- 1). Women dressed in clothes to portray them as the ideal housewife.

Adversity is what breaks up the pleasant. It is the obstacles we encounter, the ones that mold us and twist us and pull us, little bits at a time. In the movie Pleasantville, adversity is a force noticed only after the town began its cultural expansion. The dramatic colour change from neutral tones to bright, vibrant hues was joined by a shift in personal identities. Directed by Gary Ross, the film maintains that when confronted with adversity, a person’s identity will evolve with the purpose of coping with it. This is achieved through Betty’s challenges, such as unchanging gender roles and her colour change, and the impact these had on her individual identity.