“Pleasantville” was written and directed by Gary Ross in the year 1998. The story starts in the present day America. Two teenage siblings David and Jennifer, suddenly find themselves stuck in one of the old 1950’s sitcoms. They are the children of idealistic and perfect parents Mr. And Mrs. Parker. David known as bud in the town of Pleasantville was a keen watcher of this show. He was well aware of all the people and characters of this new place. Jennifer however, who was to meet her date was interested in watching MTv. For David this was a dream come true. He yearned for the opportunity to live in the perfect, unchangeable world of Pleasantville. The main theme or central idea of the movie is that it is not possible for one to go back to the 1950’s again. Things would have to change. The moral values, attitude of people and the whole society must change. This illustration is made by the subtle and very ingenious usage of color. The people of Pleasantville began to see colors only when they try and break their monotonous style of life, a life where every takes place as expected.
Bud and Mary sue quite rapidly bring out changes in this new place. Gary Ross uses these changes to indicate the cultural and social differences between the two eras. Of the many issues addressed in the movie one is the issue of male dominion. Mrs. Parker is depicted as a perfect 1950’s wife, who has the house cleaned and dinner always ready. Mary Sue upon being questioned tells her mother about the happenings in lover’s lane and what, sex is all about. When Mrs. Parker tries to relax in her bathtub, a tree outside her house bursts into flames. This is symbolic of the tree of knowledge. Mrs. Parker turns into color for she discovers the missing element in her life. As a perfect wife, she never did anything for herself. She had seen only one form of masculinity, the authoritative attitude of her husband. Ashamed of her color, walking past the road, she finds a soda shop with a colored window. She discovers that the painter was none other than Mr. Johnson. She sees in him the love for color. He at once appreciates her startling beauty in all brightness and color. She leaves Mr. Parker to give up her past life and goes on to live with Mr. Johnson.
The Essay on Analysis of “Pleasantville”
The film ‘Pleasantville’ is about two modern teenagers, David and his sister Jennifer, somehow being transported into the television, ending up in Pleasantville – a 1950s black and white sitcoms. David knows that they have to act like the ‘real’ characters as he definitely knows the world well, but soon he realises that it is impossible – that change is ...
Gary Ross brings out further differences through the incidents that turn Mary Sue and Bud into colored beings. Mary Sue being a Modern, fun loving teenager goes around having sex with people. Though other people turn into colored beings, she still remains colorless. This was due to the reason that she still did not realize the hole in her character and life. When she finishes reading D.H. Lawrence’s book, she turns into color and all her surroundings become colored. This was the first time she completed reading a book. She refuses to burn the book in the man made fire of revolution in the middle of the story. Also the fact that she was not academically sound is re-enforced by her staying back in Pleasantville to go to college. She says to her brother before parting with him that “ Do you think I stand a chance of getting into college back home”.
Another scene reflective of similar differences is the scene where bud defends his mother. Present day teenage kids are assumed to be cultureless and without respect for elders. When Mrs. Parker was being miss treated by a group of bad boys, Bud comes out in front and boxes one of them. This is when Bud changes into color. He realizes the missing bond between him and his mother. When he returns to the present world, David is shown to affectionately wipe his mothers tears. Also in this scene, the color of the blood, which the boxed boy bleeds, is shown to be bright red. Gary Ross is telling us that the color of blood in both people is the same. It’s just that the people of Pleasantville have yet to realize that change is inevitable.
The Essay on Colored People
Integration was a main theme or topic in this memoir. It played an important role in the time when Gates was growing up and had a big affect on him throughout his book. Integration changed the way Gates viewed, whites, blacks, restaurants, hairstyles, church, school, etc. He went from a conformist to a rebel to an Episcopal. His community changed with him and the older generation of course did not ...
Though a work of art well done and executed, there were a few scenes and parts of the movie, which were strange and contradictory in nature. Mary Sue enlightens the place by introducing the concept of sex. This factor is shown to affect Pleasantville only in a positive and pleasant manner. People have sex and are always smiling. No one becomes pregnant, no one is diseased and nor is anyone raped. Other issues such as drug abuse and alcohol abuse are not even mentioned. Gary Ross has not been able to strongly support his view that the present way of life is better then the mythical way of life back in the 1950’s. When Bud is asked by his peers, in the soda shop as to what is outside Pleasantville, he replies a world that is “louder, scarier, a lot more dangerous.” However when there is clash between the cultures of the two eras, nothing scary happens. The only violence in Pleasantville is, the way the bad people react to new ideas. Another such miscalculation is in the way Gary Ross depicts the character of Mr. Parker. Betty leaves Mr. Parker to break free from her monotonous life. She finds Mr. Johnson. Even though Mr. Parker in the end admits his feelings for her, she coldly leaves him to venture the outside world.
Apart from these few scenes the movie does well to bring out the differences in the two eras. The movie ends on a nice note with the music of the Beatles song “Across the Universe.”
