Sukhsharn Kaur Johal SOCL 1010 Barbara Olave 5 December 2014 Pleasantville Film Response According to Newman in Sociology: The Architecture of Everyday Life, a social class “consists of people who occupy similar positions of power, privilege, and prestige” (Newman, 2012). Someone’s position in a social class can affect “virtually every aspect of their lives, including political preferences, sexual behavior, religious affiliation, diet, and life expectancy” (Newman, 2012). The social class that was represented in the film was the middle-class. The show, Pleasantville, portrays the 1950s in which the wife would stay at home cooking and cleaning while the father works. This show holds similar views to the show, Leave it to Beaver. The movie begins …show more content…
They are “colored” because they are different from everyone else. They hold different views from everyone else and are the source of the change. Americans don’t like change and fear it. They are “to be feared” because Americans don’t want racial integration. The movie Pleasantville, represents the racial movement that was going on. Blacks demanded rights and freedoms that the white man had. They wanted racial equality all throughout the United States. White Americans didn’t want there to be racial equality. The racism is institutionalized. Mayor Big Bob and the town fathers establish laws so that the “colored” and the uncolored people of Pleasantville can get along. Big Bob closes Lover’s Lane and the Pleasantville Public Library. Closing the Pleasantville Public Library is harsh. The students who are reading the material that they received from the library affects how they view their world. For example, the art book that David gave to Johnson really altered his view. He began to paint! He never did this before. Big Bob also told the townsfolk that they could only listen to music that is pleasant. The public can’t sale umbrellas and anything that helps prepare for the weather. This is a change from what Pleasantville has been. Pleasantville always had a high and a low of 72 degree weather. Now they are seeing rain. It is a dramatic change and he doesn’t want the townsfolk to buy anything that he thinks is …show more content…
In Pleasantville, people like the things the way they are. The way that is being discussed here is in which women are inferior to men. This is sexism. Sexism “refers to a system of beliefs that assert the inferiority of one sex and that justify discrimination based on gender” (Newman, 2012). The town fathers and more specifically the men try to keep their dominance over women by giving them orders. For example, Bud’s father, George Parker, tells his wife, Betty Parker, that he wants her home by 6 and wants dinner ready on time. This happens after he has a meeting with the town fathers and Mayor Big Bob at the bowling alley. During this meeting, Big Bob discussed how George didn’t receive his dinner and how Burt’s shirt got burned. He stated that the values that once made Pleasantville need to be kept and stay unchanged. The town fathers notice that something is changing about Pleasantville and that this change is unwelcomed. It is unwelcomed by men because they feel like they are the ones who are losing their power. Some even go on riots to prevent this unwanted change. At the soda fountain, there is a nude painting of Betty Parker. The uncolored individuals throw materials at it and as a result, break it. They destroy and damage the soda fountain shop. This is an action of how men try to institutionalize gender roles. By doing this, they are stating that this is wrong and women should not do this. Also uncolored
In Pleasantville, one world came clashing with another. These two different worlds had different values and perceptions of a perfect and pleasant life. When David and Jennifer entered the town of Pleasantville and became Bud and Mary Sue, they were looked at differently because they knew something that the others in Pleasantville didn't know. They knew of change, color, and true beauty and because they were spreading this knowledge, they were considered rebels. After color started to spread, the town of Pleasantville was never the same and they now knew what they were missing. A rebel is defined as a minority, going against the majority. As time passed, and more color appeared, the more "rebels" there were. When these "rebels" become the majority, they are not considered different or threatening anymore.
In Ernest J. Gaines A Lesson Before Dying a man is sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit because of his skin color. His Godmothers dying wish is that Jefferson dies a man. She elects Grant, the community educator to help mold Jefferson into the hero that he is destined become. Grant and Jefferson undergo many conflicts that metamorphose their friendship. Each of them as individuals has beliefs that bring them closer or tear them further and further apart. The overlaying theme of race and racism is ever important in this novel. There are many characters who exhibit racism, not just the whites towards the blacks. The blacks are also racist to the mulattos in the community. Grant and Jefferson come from the same background but end
Gender institutions is defined as “the total patterns of gender relations that structure social institutions, including the stereotypical expectations, interpersonal relationships, and the different placement of men and women that are found in institutions”( Andersen). Bud (David as a Pleasantville civilian), has a relationship with a girl named Margaret in Pleasantville. Margaret is the stereotypical innocent girl-next-door. She bakes Bud cookies to show her interest in him in the beginning of the movie, which is a typical girly action for a young girl in the fifties. The most clearly depicted example of gender institutions is the family life that all the families live in Pleasantville. The parents are the classic fifties mom and dad where the dad comes home from work expecting his made-up wife and cheerful children to welcome him at the door with a hug and kiss as well as dinner waiting on the table. One night when the father, George Parker, comes home from work to an empty house and no dinner prepared for him, he does not know what to do with himself. He calls throughout the house “Honey, I’m home! Where is my dinner?” And he gets no response (Pleasantville). After realizing no one was going to respond and there was no dinner prepared for him, he immediately goes to the bowling ally to meet up with his guy friends to discuss with them the problems he is facing at home with his wife. Again, the guys meet at a bowling ally, which would more likely be a place for men to hang out at rather than
They had no right to do anything other than what they were supposed to do. They did not have the same rights as men did. They were considered to be nothing but a form of maid to their husband. They were not allowed to have a say in anything including themselves. Their opinion was not as valuable as men. Gender roles are institutionalized in Pleasantville through the way women and men were expected to do certain roles. In the film women were expected to do the housework and stay at home. It was not normal for a women to work or to not have dinner made .A woman was supposed to stay in the house with the kids, prepare food for the family and have it ready when the husband came back from work. They were also expected to look beautiful at all times with their makeup and hair done so they can look attractive for their husbands. They were to not worry about a thing because It was not allowed for them to worry about anything since they only had to worry about pleasing their husband. They were also supposed to act “ladylike” because anything other than this was not accepted in their village. Men were the only workers in the family and were the sole provider because women were not allowed to work. Being the sole provider gave them power over their family which contributed to the feeling of male superiority and gave women less power in the household. They were also to be the decision makers of the family. The gender of a person determined everything. It determine how you were supposed to act and what was your role within your family. Gender roles also dictated how each gender is to speak, think, act, and engage with each
After the women come across a shattered jar of canned fruit, they converse about Mrs. Wright’s concern about the matter. Mrs. Peters states, “She said the fire’d go out and her jars would break” (Glaspell 918). The women here identify with Mrs. Wright’s concern, because they understand the hard work that goes into canning as part of the demanding responsibilities women endure as housewives. The Sheriff’s reply is “Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves” (Glaspell 918). In other words, the men perceive the event as insignificant; they clearly see women as a subservient group whose concerns hold little importance.
All through time, the world has been racist and intolerant of people different from themselves. Countless millions have suffered due to the bigotry of people that couldn't understand change or differences among one another. There was a time when any soul that wasn't blue eyed and blonde haired in Germany, anyone with darker skin where immediately classed as inferior and not human. Even now, when you are not aware, racism is still a considerable problem. But sometimes it isn't one person being racist against another, but rather one person being racist against them self. The movie crash shows good examples of how racism against oneself, caused by fear and misunderstanding, is just as malevolent and evil as racism against another person. Fear is what makes people act racist. Farhad is one of many examples in the movie of a person who recognizes his own race and paralyzes himself through his own fear. Farhad believes that since he is Persian he is immediately being persecuted against and cheated. He flips out at the gun shop when the owner was insulting him which just furthers his fear of Americans. After the events on 9/11, which are referenced a lot in the movie, Farhad thinks that anyone who is Middle Eastern isn't welcome in America. Even after the gun shop owner was rude; his shop was destroyed by racist people who hated him. It is this same fear of being cheated because of his race that makes him very untrusting to people he doesn't know. He calls a lock smith to come fix his door because it won't lock. He immediately thinks that Daniel is trying to cheat him and steal money from him just because of his past endeavors.
In Pleasantville the lack of diversity is prominent in the film as they are no black people in the film, which supports the fact that the myth of a suburban utopia was only aimed at middle-classed white families, it secludes non-white
I chose chapter 34,”Racism in Toyland” by Christine Williams in which she talks about the culture of retail. She starts off by saying she had to buy a gift for a six year old and discussed the choices she had to buy the gift. The choices were: The Toy Warehouse, which is a big box store that had a vast array of low-cost popular toys; Diamond Toys, which is a high end chain store that has a more limited range of high quality toys; or Tomatoes, which was a locally owned shop that sells relativity small, offbeat assortment of traditional and politically correct toys. To her retail like anything else also has a racial inequality (and gender and class inequality as well) influence to where we shop, how we shop, and what we buy. Within the retail industry, they sustain such inequalities with their hiring policies that favor certain kind of workers and advertising
The theme of racism plays a significant role throughout Gaines’ story, as we see Jefferson falsely accused of murder and consequently sentenced to death, and Mr. Wiggins repeatedly belittled and abused all as a result of racism. At the beginning of the novel, it is the racism of an all white, all male jury that results in Jefferson being sentenced to death. I think it would be impossible for an all white jury to be unbiased when judging the actions of Jefferson because these white men have never lived as a black man and therefore, would not be able to relate to how Jefferson viewed the situation he found himself in when Mr. Gropé was shot. Jefferson’s trial was unfair and by today’s standards unconstitutional because the jury was not impartial and ought to have included a mix of races and genders. This theme of racism continues through the novel as Grant is disrespected and humiliated by several of the
Django Unchained, directed by Quentin Tarantino was released to Australia in 2013. The film is set in the south west of the US around 2 years before the Civil War. it follows story of ”Django” a sold off slave who is set free by passer by Dr King Schultz, a bounty hunter who needs Django’s help in finding two criminals because he doesn 't know what they look like. They end up killing the two within the first 30 minutes of the film and decide to become partners, they keep up this partnership for over a year, killing and collecting many bounties for the state, until finally they are able to buy out Django’s wife Broomhilda for her freedom as well. Throughout the film there are many central issues presented which have challenged the particular
Social class is a category that is pre-determined; Something that people most likely can’t help but deal with. Usually, being in a specific social class comes with certain advantages, privileges, and/or disadvantages. Throughout the introduction of the book the realities of social class are made clear by describing both of the girls’ environment, social past and present interactions, and economic capital. Jolly is stuck in a social class indicated by the fact that she lives in a very low quality area, and even then she still can’t afford to pay rent for her apartment. Lavaughn sees this and comments “I go to meet this Jolly like she says / at her place. The building was broken-down looking, / it was even a worse place than where we live,” adding to the effect of poverty that shapes Jolly. In addition, Jolly is incapable of holding down any sort of job, even one in a factory. During a conversation with Lavaughn, she says “‘I’m canned,’ Jolly says, and she translates immediately. / ‘Fired.’” (p. 55), further revealing her status as a lower class citizen. This poverty shapes Jolly because she learns to live in a different way than others that are her age; she has to take more responsibility, she learns to live frugally, and is forced to be a hard worker. Furthermore, social class shapes Lavaughn as well. To begin with, Lavaughn’s
The two movies that I will be doing my research paper on are “Friday Night Lights, and “Remember The Titans. The reason I chose to do these two movies together is because the both made a big impact on my life growing up with my father who walked out on me and my mom and having to grown up teaching myself how to do things on my own, and becoming a young man I am today.
What color are nationality are you? It’s a question that is often asked in many cultures within our society. Many people tend to think that if someone looks like they are black then they are black. The movie, Skin, has opened my eyes even more to this misconception that one is simply defined by the color of their skin.
All throughout the movie social class is a problem. Social class is the division of classes based on social, economic, and achieved status. All of the events on the ship are broken down based on which social class each person falls under. The upper class were those who were on a luxury trip, and
Social class, as defined by the film, is something that affects who you are as a person. In the film, the people saw class as the defining factor of a person. They saw class as a barrier between people. If one person is in a different class than another person, then obviously, they are not supposed to associate. They allowed their social class to dictate their action each day. It was amazing to me just how much the people in the film allowed their class to truly define them and really serve as a boundary in their life. The people in the film lived their daily life with their social class as the most influential factor. Their worth and value as individuals was not determined by anything else except the amount of money they had. It was really interesting to see how the amount of money a person had somehow equated with their worth in society. The same is true within our society today, but in the film, this aspect was especially evident. The film really shed a light on just how impactful social class is and just how much we allow it to