PLEASANTVILLE (1998)

The movie is about two teenagers who magically gets drawn into the 1950s fictional, black-and-white television sitcom, Pleasantville. The show portrays a very stereotypical image of the 1950’s. In Pleasantville, both David and Jennifer are forced to take on the roles of Bud and Mary-Sue, respectively. But as they play along in the perfect and pure little town of Pleasantville, their presence soon influences drastic changes. As the citizens of Pleasantville discover sex, art, books, music and the concept of nonconformity, color erupts in their black-and-white world. Color spreads throughout the town, threatening the Mayor to rid of the sinful colors, and change Pleasantville back to what it once was.

The film also covertly represented the double standard for men and women. In the time of the 1950’s, women were said to stay at home. Women were supposed to stay in the house, with the kids, prepare food for the family, and have it ready for the husband when he walked in from work. Women of this time period were supposed to look beautiful at all times, never have a bad moment, and were not to worry about a thing, especially social problems.

Through the usage of color, the movie was able to tackle major social issues and allude to the bible. The main element of change as interpreted from the movie could very well be a symbolism of sin, as many of the non-colored feared.
Pleasantville can very well be the equivalence of the Garden of Eden, a place of innocence and perfection. However, when Jennifer and David are placed in Pleasantville, things begin to change as Jennifer and her ’90s permissiveness contributes initially to the discovery of sex. Thus, such an act has broken the perfect harmony of Pleasantville and soon everyone who doesn’t conform to the norms of Pleasantville undergoes a vibrant color change. This color change is believed to be an act of sin and corruption for the most part of the movie. In the bible, Genesis introduces the story of the Garden of Eden where there is a "Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil." As many may know, Eve was tricked by the serpent to eat from the tree, and thus brought knowledge and evil to mankind. In Pleasantville, this was portrayed as the discovery of books (the good) and  openness of engaging in sexual activities (the evil). All of a sudden, the youths of Pleasantville became very interested in the empty books in the library that suddenly became filled with words and stories and they also started flocking to Lover's Lane.

Betty Parker, the repressed housewife, is symbolically a representation of Eve. She’s so innocent that she doesn’t even know what sex is. When she “sinned”, she wasn’t even aware that what she was doing was wrong. Particularly in this scene, Mary-Sue plays the role of Satan as she spreads the knowledge of “evil"; she teaches her mother about sex and how to satisfy herself.

Does this scene remind anyone of anything? Particularly, this scene looks like an exact duplication of the “Garden of Eden” story in Genesis. The tree with the apple represents the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.” And as the bible story goes, Margaret picks the apple from the tree and she gives it to David and he eats it. Following this scene, it rains and thunder in Pleasantville for the first time ever. It seems to represent God's angry judgment of the sinful activities going on in Pleasantville. Particularly, it is identical to the bible as God banned Adam and Eve from the garden and brought about punishment and hardships to mankind after Adam ate from the tree, which parallels how God sent rain to Pleasantville after David ate from the tree; it could be a sign of God's unsatisfaction towards his behavior.

Not only was the film Pleasantville a great depiction of American culture, but it also touched on social problems, of today’s age and of history. The use of colors was a great way to represent the issues of race in a satirical and covert manner. The American society is fearful of change and Pleasantville effortlessly symbolizes the past American society’s fear of racial integration. As the movie progresses, the citizens of Pleasantville begin to change and find more fulfillment in their lives. Once this happens, the people turn from dull black and white to vibrant Technicolor. As the people suddenly change into color, black and white citizens believed that whoever was changing into the colors was corrupt.
Prejudice is amongst all American’s, and it’s not just about race. Prejudice is about being intolerant to differences. Pleasantville powerfully displayed the discrimination American’s can show towards each other. The true citizens of Pleasantville, or the black and white folks were prejudice against those who turned to multicolor. Each person who turned into multicolor was change because they began to find their own selves. The multicolor was symbolic of change, finding one’s own personality, and breaking out of the “social norms.” Color became a sign of evil in the town of Pleasantville.