The Giver and Pleasantville depict flawless societies, but the scarcity of individuality and change shows that perfect societies that lack growth and learning cannot be truly successful. Pleasantville erases different styles, different living situations, and different colors to erase individuality, which erases emotional development and makes everybody blend together and creates a difference between those with and without their own ideas. An example of this is after the riot when the Soda Shop was destroyed. A Code of Conduct is released that restricts music, the paint colors, the places people are allowed to go, and more. This is a moment in which every shred of individuality is taken away from those who are no longer black and white. People …show more content…
The lack of style with these characters, even with their names, makes every character blend together; it makes them the exact same. This shows us that in a utopia when there is no difference with anyone, it is tough to tell anyone apart from anyone else. These parts of the movie show the viewer that individuality allows people to be expressive and have their own ideas and feelings. Without individuality, people are unable to experience true emotion. Pleasantville prevents danger by preventing change and learning, which shows the viewers that a society without change that denies growth is inherently dangerous. We see an example of this in the scene where the tree in front of David and Jennifer’s house caught on fire. David runs to the fire station to inform them of the problem; however, the firemen sit where they are “with a perplexed expression” (Ross 68). It isn’t until David makes them believe that a cat is stuck in a tree that they finally get up. Even when they get back to the house, the firemen are still unaware of how to put the fire out, and David is forced to do it. This scene shows us that change is a dangerous thing if it is not a constant …show more content…
We see another example of the danger of stopping change during the riot scene. After a picture of Betty is painted on the side of the building, a group of “uncolored” people end up destroying Mr. Johnson’s soda shop by throwing bricks, breaking in, and trashing the furniture. This shows us that unfamiliarity is seen as a threat to those who are not used to it. How can a group of people simply see a harmless painting, and destroy a building over it? When people are not raised to understand and be okay with change, they see it as a threat, something that should be destroyed and kept away at all costs. Change and utopias cannot exist together in peace, so change is erased from existence. Utopias cannot truly succeed without change, however, because when change inevitably does happen, it will cause the downfall of the perfect society. The Giver uses things such as the age ceremonies to ensure everyone is held to the same standards and rules, making uniformity the standard and erasing individuality and advancement. An example of this is shown in the age ceremony. The age ceremonies occur at the year's end and determine how old everybody
Perfection is something that people have been trying to achieve since the beginning of humankind. The Giver and Pleasantville are two of the many fictional societies that try to reach this so-called perfection. Both societies limit or eliminate differences and freedoms of their fellow citizens. This usually leads to the downfall of a society, making it a dystopia. The Giver has ideals such as no bad weather and hard decisions are made for the citizens while Pleasantville has no extreme weather. Issues like fire are practically non-existent. In both stories, the protagonists reject their society by breaking laws. The communities in The Giver and Pleasantville have their similarities and differences, making each society one-of a kind.
...to Pleasantville. However, it is symbolic of the beginning of an awakening for Skip, and the entire town. Shortly after Skip notices the rose, all the other teens start having sex, and they too notice the different colors of the world, and shortly after there is a disturbance in all of Pleasantville. After sex is introduced, they experienced rain for the first time and discovered other pleasures like painting and true passion. David's dad finally viewed his mother beyond the roles she played as wife and mother, and looked at her as a person whom he had an unexplainable love for his teaches and David something as well. They helped David discover his courage and taught him there is no such thing as perfection, and the ideal picture of the "American Dream" does not exist. Additionally, they helped Jennifer discover education and her value beyond a hyper sexual being.
The people that live there are extremely isolated and cut off from many things such as love, art or anything that is outside of their daily lifestyles. The Isolation that Pleasantville is in keeps the excitement and beauty of life away from the people of the town, and it causes characters such as Bill Johnson and Betty Parker much grief. Bill waited the whole year to do what he loved, painting the window of his restaurant, just once a year, and Betty has to live a lifestyle she is truly tired of. Pleasantville is so isolated from the real world that the people don't know that they can do what they want, the only thing they know how to do is to follow their daily routines and customs no matter if they enjoy them or not. This all changes however when David and Jennifer are sent into Pleasantville, Jennifer's actions causes the people of the city to become aware about sex, love and relationships, by doing that she starts to bring the town out of isolation and shows them the possibilities of what they can
“Pleasantville” Conflicts and clashes of all sizes occur throughout the movie. The conflicts cover a wide variety of subjects, from sexual morals to discovering something new about one’s own self. The movie plays out individual struggles along with tying these conflicts in with a larger story line. The setting of the story is a 1990’s family. The parents are divorced, the son is a TV watching geek and the daughter is rebellious and popular at school. The Mom is leaving for a weekend trip, Jennifer, the daughter, has a date that night and David plans an evening home watching ...
In the film Pleasantville everything is made to be perfect. Everyday is the same day. Everything is done a certain way so there is no room for change to occur. Change is brought upon their life through Jenifer and David. They turn their world upside down and bring conflict by introducing new things they were not allowed to feel or be aware of. They slowly introduce color into their world by doing this. The “perfect” village turns into a village full of emotions and new discoveries. Through this film important concepts are demonstrated such as social class, race/ethnicity, sex/gender, and social order and institutions.
The film ‘Pleasantville’ produced in 1998 by Gary Ross showcases the uprising of change in Pleasantville, a utopian sitcom based in the 50’s. The characters in the film represent many different lifestyles and aspirations. Several characters like Betty and Mary-Sue are inspired by the promise of change and act upon it. Other characters are reluctant to change their regular routines, but are eventually pressured into changing. Certain people feel threatened by this sudden upsurge of change, and refuse to let it affect them. Everyone in Pleasantville is divided over this promise of change and only the bravest act upon it.
...nce our perceptions on reality and the concept of a utopian society. The connection between our own society and elements of the novel enable readers to recognize that although a literal utopian society is not possible, the closest we can come to perfection is to find a balance between what is and what we can imagine.
society, everyone wears the same clothes, follows the same rules, and has a predetermined life. A community just like that lives inside of Lois Lowry’s The Giver and this lack of individuality shows throughout the whole book. This theme is demonstrated through the control of individual appearance, behavior, and ideas.
The Giver presents a community that appears to be perfect on the surface. Jonas's community is free of warfare, pain, sorrow and other bitterness we suffer in our society. The world seems to be secure and undergoes little conflict. Such a community seems flawless and is the idealistic society that we longed to live in. However , through Jonas's training, the imperfections of the Utopian community are revealed. The community allows little individual freedom and choice. In allowing only one person, the Receiver, to bear the memories of the world, the community frees itself from suffering and conflict. As a result, it gives up the ability to experience true feelings, passion, individual privacy, freedom and knowledge. To maintain the community's order, strict rules are applied to the inhabitants. "Releases" ( a less offensive term for kills) are performed to the citizens who jeopardize the stability and peace of the community. The inhabitants' careers and spouses are chosen by the Elders (or government).
These two societies also have many different customs, ways, and styles of living. The Brave New World is clean, sanitary, and organized. Where as in the reservation there’s garbage every where, its dusty, and full of dogs and flies, the complete opposite. In the Utopia people aren’t born anymore, they are grown. Another difference between the two worlds is in the Reservation people are still born the “old fashion way.'; In the Brave New World everyone is young and pretty their whole lives thanks to chemicals and conditioning. It’s the complete opposite in the savage reservation. As seen by the old man, it’s shown that people in the Reservation age normally, loose their teeth, and get wrinkles. The reservation represents more of an old, more class time period whereas the Utopia is perhaps not to distant future gone wrong. In both societies, both of them still are imperfect but in completely different ways.
Lowry writes The Giver in the dystopian genre to convey a worst-case scenario as to how modern society functions. A dystopia is an “illusion of a perfect society” under some form of control which makes criticism about a “societal norm” (Wright). Characteristics of a dystopian include restricted freedoms, society is under constant surveillance, and the citizens live in a dehumanized state and conform to uniform expectations (Wright). In The Giver, the community functions as a dystopian because everyone in the community conforms to the same rules and expectations. One would think that a community living with set rules and expectations would be better off, but in reality, it only limits what life has to offer. Instead, the community in the novel is a dystopian disguised as a utopian, and this is proven to the audience by the protagonist, Jonas. Jonas is just a norma...
The society in The Giver by Lois Lowry is fairly broken and messed up. Everyone inside the community thinks that everything is under control and they like living that way, because they don’t know any other way to live. To them they live in the perfect world, a utopia. To everyone outside of the community it is a dystopia. They are controlled immensely. There are a few reasons why the community is a dystopia, they have no choice or freedom, and they don’t know what color, music, real emotion, and feelings are.
The Giver Essay Have you ever wondered why the world we live in isn’t a Utopia? The community in the Giver was destined to fail because of the lack of truth toward the citizens. Some evidence for this statement comes from the short story Harrison Bergeron, where characters like him find flaws in their community. Another story to back up the statement is from Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, evidence from here shows that people think of differences as a bad thing. The last article that provided evidence was an article on Genetic Engineering, which shows that there is always a con to a pro.
Pleasantville is about the radical changes that happened to Americans as many started to modernize not only in technology but social reforms. Jennifer is the sister of David who was obsessed with an old television show called Pleasantville that described the perfect American family. Jennifer is a self-obsessed teenager who only cares about boys, smoking cigarettes, and basically not following the norms of society. After being transported into the television show by a mysterious old man, she is forced to act like the other teenagers despite her being the completely opposite from them. After becoming the character of Mary Sue, she begins to change others around her. Instead of their actions being dictated by external factors such as the City Council and and what seems to be right, they begin making decisions of their own. The women in the show, including Jennifer, were very limited in their rights in the world of men. They were seen as homemakers, to cook and clean for the family, but Jennifer, being Jennifer, starts to preach that they do not have to hide. There is a much higher quality of life if they can embrace the change. They come up with new beliefs such as openly showing affection, which the adults are extremely worried about. Back then, such public display was not right and made
...e of reality, seizes the pleasures in their lives and portrays a loss of freedom. Both their perfect worlds were full of lies and instead of shielding its inhabitants from evil they gave individuals no rights of their own. What appeared in the beginning as a perfect utopian society was actually an imperfect dystopian environment.