Pleasantville_Message_Portrayed

Explain how the message of the film is explored in your text. The film Pleasantville portrays many messages throughout the film. Three of the most important ones are change, knowledge and sexism. Change, knowledge and sexism are explored through the film with the help of techniques. Change is one of the many messages portrayed through the film Pleasantville. Pleasantville encounters many changes and these changes occur because of Bud and Mary Sue. When a somewhat unusual remote control transports them from the tired real world to Pleasantville, the twins unintentionally in the begging make change but then as the movie goes on Bud and Mary-Sue realise the change is for the better. The first time we see change in Pleasantville is when Mary-Sue asks “What’s outside of Pleasantville'” No one had ever asked this question before and even the way the camera has been shot makes us feel that Mary-Sue is really challenging this new world. We see this when the teacher replies with “what a silly question Mary-Sue”. Not only is Mary-Sue disrupting the normal routine of Pleasantville, but Bud is too. He does this when he discourages Skip from asking Mary Sue out on a date. Up until that moment, no one on the basketball team had ever missed a basket, even in practice. They hadn't even lost a basketball game. When Bud tells Skip that asking Mary Sue out might not be a good idea, Skip responds by saying he wouldn't know what to do if Mary Sue wouldn't go out with him. He throws the basketball at the hoop and misses. The rest of the team stares at the missed ball and moves out of its way. The camera focuses on the ball as it rolls against the ground and the coach warns everyone not to touch it. Change has certainly started to occur in the daily routine of Pleasantville but also in a different way. Knowledge is also a key idea portrayed through the film as it promotes change. People in Pleasantville gradually change from black and white to colour. The characters awaken into colour in Pleasantville when they experience something they were afraid to experience before or when they have changed attitudes. Examples include when Jenn was reading a book and when George admitted his true feelings for Betty. The first time that we see colour in Pleasantville is when a rose turns red. Sexism is yet another message portrayed throughout the film Pleasantville. When the rose turned red, we first thought that it may be a sign of love between Mary-Sue and Skip but later we realise that Skip experienced something new which was sex and therefore the rose turned red. Sex had been exaggerated in the film to such an extent that it has become humour. One scene in particular is when Betty questions Mary-Sue about what happens at lover’s lane. Betty says that kids are spending so much time up there and wonders if it is just holding hands. Mary-Sue says it is that and sex. This is when Betty questions “Oh. What's sex'”. This seems quite exaggerated since Betty has two kids of her own. Another exaggeration used in this film is that when they have sex, they always have one foot on the ground. This indeed seems very strange. A symbol used in the film Pleasantville is big beds. Most couples in the film sleep on single beds, hence when someone wants to go buy a big bed it is generally related to having sex. A conversation between George and Whitey explains how they react to big beds. They talk about Bill Miller wanting to get a big bed. “Oh, my gosh. What's he gonna do'”. Therefore, sexism is a key message in the film as it creates exaggeration and humour. Overall, change, knowledge and sexism are all the key messages portrayed in the film Pleasantville as they all interact with each other.