Control In Pleasantville

756 Words2 Pages

This movie begins with David (Toby Maguire) he stays more to himself and his sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) is more outgoing they both live different high school lives. David is a big fan of a 1950s black and white TV show called “Pleasantville” and he wants to watch a full marathon. However, Jennifer wants to watch her own show and they begin to argue over who gets the TV remote and due to the force the remote breaks into pieces. Suddenly a strange television repair man (Don Knotts) shows up and gives them an unusual remote control. When using the remote, they are somehow transported into world of “Pleasantville” and they now play the roles of Bud Parker and Mary Sue Parker brother and sister on the show and their perfect town would …show more content…

In Pleasantville, sex is not known and is forbidden, Bud and Mary Sues parent’s beds are even separated from each other. When Jennifer first meets Skip Martin (Paul Walker) the star athlete of the school’s basketball team and happens to have a crush on Mary Sue. Jenifer says “you can pin me any time, Skip or maybe I should just pin you” Skip laughs and reply’s “That’s silly, Mary Sue. How could you possibly pin me”? When skip and Mary Sue (Jennifer) drive up to “lovers Lane” on a date and Mary Sue becomes rebellious and introduces a clueless Skip to sex, Later the word spreads and all the teens start doing the same. Which does show the honest actions young teens partake in but does not express the harsh reality of STDs or pregnancy it expresses has a nonchalant …show more content…

Then color starts to appear to the environment and even to the people of Plantsville and everyone in the town becomes worried. It seems that the more realistic situations the more color appears, also by expressing emotion. When a rain storm approaches people become, horrified and do not know how to react but Bud (David) reassures them that it is just water and they learn to enjoy it. They start to show acts of discrimination towards other colored people compared to the colorless people for example when Whitey picks on David for having a colored girlfriend. The hidden message can be interpreted in different ways, such as one person can make a difference, or change as we known it is necessary. Even in the town of Pleasantville, where everything is supposed to be perfect had to be changed no matter the cost because perfection does not exist the message Gary Ross, the director wanted his audience to know. It also shown that standing up for yourself is sometimes needed to make people understand how you feel. When David stands up to the mayor telling him that these people have done no wrong the stubborn mayor discovers anger himself and his color changes

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