Pleasantville: Gender Roles and Humanism .
Projected in a black and white 50's sitcom, Pleasantville portrays the parable of a totalitarian society inflicted by racial discrimination. With deliberate echoes of the Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, and books such as "1984" and "Brave New World", Pleasantville makes clear that the rigid controls of both religious and political authority run contrary to human nature. In exploring one society's instinctive response to such authority, the movie specifically addresses the concept of gender roles. It is of noteworthy importance that the director selects women as the primary instruments of change and corruption. Luring man from his flawless and noble behavior, women are presented as the lustful corrupters of 1950 ideals.
This cynical depiction is largely influenced by a historical pattern which has continuously placed women as the root of all evil. Since ancient times women have been linked with the bodily desires and drives of humankind. Moral dilemmas, often represented through the body of a women, are understood to be the punitive outcomes for the consumption of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Presenting numerous biblical references of women's first corruption, the entire movie is, in fact, loosely structured around the Garden of Eden in Genesis. One scene is even devoted entirely to the "picking of the apple" when Bud and his new girlfriend first drive to Lover's Lane. Representative of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Bud's girlfriend curiously picks a shiny red apple to give to him. Bud, though originally opposed to altering their "pleasant" way-of-life, commits man's first sin when he accepts a bite. In this scene his girlfriend is very literally viewed as a parallel to Eve and an instrument of corruption.
On a more general level, Mary-Sue is, in fact, the true Eve of the film. Thrown into a 1950's suburban utopia, she sows the first seeds of discord and introduces a newfound freedom that literally changes the way the world looks.
Pleasantville was sexist, like the real 50's because the power structure of Pleasantville was male and women were confined to the traditional realm of the home. ... Pleasantville was sexually repressive also. ... There was no freedom of thought in Pleasantville. ... School did not serve a purpose for the teenagers of Pleasantville. ... Pleasantville was racist. ...
"Pleasantville" is the film directed by Gary Ross, outlines the lives of two teenagers, David and Jennifer. For David, an ideal world of Pleasantville, a 1950s TV soapie, is an escape from the harsh reality of his less-than perfect life, where he is nobody. ... Previously, Pleasantville is the most "pleasant" town, where everyone is friendly, everything is perfect and nothing could ever go wrong, but, an accident with the television remote control makes David and Jennifer travel back in time into the town of Pleasantville, where David is Bud and Jennifer is Mary Sue, the children of George and...
The symbolism and messages in "Pleasantville" aren't subtle which is what Ross intended. ... Violence is as new as anything else in Pleasantville and it seems to freeze the moment. ... Like all movies Pleasantville is not just made to entertain. ... This is what the director of Pleasantville wants us to see. ... We can be like the people of Pleasantville without even knowing. ...
In the TV land of Pleasantville, everything is what it seems. ... Never was there a situation that the people of Pleasantville hadn't encountered, much less weren't able to deal with. ... Pleasantville was full of constraints. ... To the people of Pleasantville, there was no world outside its borders. ... They realized that there may be more out there than what Pleasantville had to offer. ...
PLEASANTVILLE The movie was about a brother and sister from the 90's who get zapped into the 50's television show Pleasantville where everything is perfect and nothing ever goes wrong. ... Before the two teenagers arrived, the people of Pleasantville had never heard of sex. ... Well, she took care of that and before you knew it sex and masturbation was taking Pleasantville by storm. ... Before she read the book, all of the books in Pleasantville were blank. ... In conclusion, the movie Pleasantville, as ridiculous as it was, demonstrated a functionalist point of view. ...
In Pleasantville Bud and Mary Sue changed the Pleasantville world forever as well. ... Even hate crimes were committed on the colored people of Pleasantville. ... This is exactly what happened to Pleasantville. ... In a way, Pleasantville resembled our world and lives. ... Pleasantville. ...
Dispite the difficulties the characters in Pleasantville are better off for experiencing change in their lives. ... David's social dismay has evidently lead to his search for comfort, predictability and security -- Pleasantville. ... After being cast into Pleasantville David discovers, the citizens of Pleasantville are characters -- automatons going through their roles at the dictates of the show. ... Dispite, Jennifer's initial rejection and dismissal of Pleasantville Jennifer really grows into a meaningful character. ... Once into Pleasantville Jennifer experiences difficulty accep...
In Pleasantville, writer and director Gary Ross introduces us to his outspoken point-of-view about the direction in which North American culture is heading. ... Pleasantville is a journey of overcoming fear. "Let the real you out," said David, the main character, to the mayor of Pleasantville. ... In Pleasantville, the world literally ends at the city limits. Space twists back upon itself in Pleasantville, and "the end of Main Street is just the beginning again." ...
The very mention of sex in Pleasantville brought about a look of puzzlement, because the people of Pleasantville had never been exposed to sins of sexual promiscuity. ... This of course appalled the adults of Pleasantville. ... Well that is a question that you should be asking yourself because the people of Pleasantville sure thought so. The language of Pleasantville was so innocent that it made me sick. ... Turning Pleasantville into a backlash of animosity. ...
