Olivia Lewis 2/16/13 Blue Group Cinematic Analysis Movie: Pleasantville Part A: In the 1990's, Twins Jennifer and

David are very different; Jennifer is popular but shallow, while David is shyer. One night, when David wants to a watch a marathon of his favorite show, Pleasantville, a 1950's show about a classic American family, Jennifer wants to watch a concert, and the two end up fighting. Their magical remote then transports them into the black and white world and house of the Parkers, the main family of Pleasantville. Jennifer and David have no choice but to pretend to be Mary Sue and Bud Parker, the two perfect children from the show. They soon learn about the constant routine of the isolated Pleasantville and discover that the Pleasantville people know about nothing beyond their own streets. David and Jennifer start introducing new, colorful, wonders, such as rain and books, to the innocent citizens of Pleasantville. With each new innovation, more and more objects and people of Pleasantville change from black and white to full color. The children and housewives of Pleasantville become more rebellious leaving the unhappy working fathers to band together to maintain the old traditions. Soon, the traditional mayor, Big Bob imposes new laws outlawing loud music, the library and color paints, and many public shops start discriminating against "colored" people. Despite these new rules, David and Mr. Johnson paint a mural of a world of free thought on a wall and are thrown in jail. At the trial, David's arguments for free expression and change cause Big Bob to feel so much anger and emotion that he and the entirety of Pleasantville turns colored as well. While David decides to return to the real world, Jennifer decides to stay in Pleasantville to pursue her education. Back in the real world, when David finds his upset mother crying, he delivers the theme of the movie, that there is no such thing as a perfect life.

Part B: The main plotline of Pleasantville takes place in a television show during the 1950's in America, and the show represents the apparent innocence and wholesome values of the time. The sitcom, Pleasantville, with the same name as this movie, revolves around an idyllic American family, including the working father, the traditional housewife, and the two smart and obedient children. When the protagonists from the 1990's, Jennifer and David, first arrive in Pleasantville, they find that the innocent citizens of Pleasantville have never experienced things like "fighting.... questioning of authority... fire," or even missing a shot in basketball (Philbert 1). Many television shows during the 1950's, such as Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best, featured similar family situations, which portrayed what those times considered ideal family for the post-World War II era. When the movie Pleasantville appeared in theaters in 1998, many critics praised and analyzed it as a film with social commentary of the American family in the good old days and modern times. Several critics compared Pleasantville to the movie, The Truman Show, saying that both films were "satirical yet moving pro-individualist parable[s]," as both concerned characters breaking away from their limited and mundane of life to have an adventure (Leong 3). Critics also discussed Pleasantville's plot of real people with true emotions living in a bland town only containing constant repetition and no change (Philbert 2). Overall, the critics focused on Pleasantville's message and theme that there is merit to a world open to change and breaking away from old traditions.

Part C: Pleasantville is full of metaphors, and the film displays symbolism through the use of black and white versus color. When Protagonists Jennifer and David first arrive, the entire world of Pleasantville is black and white, the Pleasantville books are blank, every shot goes in at basketball practice, there are no fires, it is always sunny, and there is no sex. Throughout the film, however, with each new loss of innocence and change, more parts of Pleasantville are turned to color. When one Pleasantville citizen loses their virginity, for example, a rose changes to full color, this first change representing the lack of purity. Then when one character reads a novel for the first time, she turns from black and white into full color to represent the character change. While the weather in Pleasantville had previously always been sunny, the appearance of rainfall represents new birth to the Pleasantville citizens. Later on the movie, when many of the Pleasantville citizens have gained color, the black and white citizens begin segregating shops and restaurants by putting up "No Coloreds" signs. This discrimination reflects is similar to racial segregation occurring during the 1950's in America, where there was segregation and there were many "No Coloreds" signs. These metaphors from Pleasantville represent the changing ways in the town and the connection to the former reality of the United States.

Works Cited Leong, Anthony. "Pleasantville Movie Review." Rev. of Pleasantville. Mediacircus.net. N.p., 1998. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. <http://www.mediacircus.net/pleasantville.html>. Philbert, Candia. "Pleasantville and The Truman Show." Rev. of "Pleasantville" and "The Truman Show," dir. Gary Ross. 1998. Ringling.edu. Ringling College of Art and Design, n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. <http://webspace.ringling.edu/~ccjones/curricula/1112/satire/readings/criticalpapers/philbert.html>.