Their perspectives on life are never quite the same again.
This change is betokened by the gradual addition of colour " first a single rose, then a particular person, then other objects and people, and so on. Colour begins to spread like a virus through the town, and while many are enthralled by the changes, others are angered by what they perceive as a threat to their way of life. The people who are still black and white turn on the other people who have changed to colour. Director Gary Ross said in an interview, "That when we're afraid of certain things in ourselves or we're afraid of change, we project those fears on to other things, and a lot of very ugly social situations can develop." The symbolism and messages in "Pleasantville" aren't subtle which is what Ross intended.
Throughout the movie we see many characters ripen as the people grow and their own perspectives begin to emerge. Perhaps the most noticeable example of this is Jennifer/Mary-Sue. When Jennifer was living in the nineties she was a typical rebel teenager who hated school and thought only of sex and boys. She turned her nose up at reading, having never read an entire book in her life and knew she was never going to make it to college. Over the course of the movie Jennifer begins to discover a new trait in her that she would not of found without visiting Pleasantville. It starts when she tells the other kids a bit about the book "Huckleberry Finn."" As she does so the pages in the book begin to fill in but she never finished the book so Bud has to fill in the rest. After this all the kids are going to the library to get books and they are all reading.
One night we see Jennifer/Mary-Sue in her room reading. Skip comes to the window and says "Mary Sue--C'mon.We were gonna.You know."" But Jennifer/Mary-Sue tells him that she can't because she is studying. She has realised that sex is not such a novelty to her anymore as it is to the other kids and she has found a new interest now.
