Pleasantville

Carrie Champagne

English 2231

Unit 1 Essay: Pleasantville

October 5, 2005

The visual medium in motion picture films is the core ingredient that makes cinematography so fascinating to its audiences. Through the film mechanisms such as composition, camera work, and color, a story is brought to life on screen. The components of a single scene can reveal the films intended message whether it is obvious to the viewer or hidden in its visual details. The 1998 film Pleasantville is a prime example. The scene when the citizens of Pleasantville encounter their first rainstorm at lovers lane visually portrays the films main point that change is needed in order for a society to grow.

Directed by Gary Ross, Pleasantville is the story of two siblings, David and Jennifer, who after fighting over a strange remote given to them by a strange TV repairman, get transformed into David’s favorite TV sitcom Pleasantville. Pleasantville is a 1950’s black and white soap opera where life is perfect. David becomes Bud Parker and Jennifer becomes Mary-Sue parker. David and Jennifer come to find themselves dressed in 50’s style clothing, having new “pleasant” parents, and that they and their new surroundings have changed to black and white. After attempting to fit into their new environment, David and Jennifer’s knowledge of “reality” begins to change the community and is represented with the town’s introduction to color. The citizens of Pleasantville begin to attempt understanding whether their “black and white” world is more accurate than their new “colored” world.

One scene in particular that expresses this change is the town’s first rainstorm at lover’s lane. The scene begins with David and his girlfriend Margaret date at lover’s lane. The couple sits on the green grass by the lake staring at the vivid colors. Margaret begins to question David about the “real” world, offers him some red, blue and purple berries that she picked herself, and then runs to a tree, picks off a red apple, and offers it to David. The movie then cuts to George Parker, Bud’s father, coming home from work where he is dumbfounded when there is no response to his welcome call of “Honey, I'm home”. The next shot is of Betty Parker and Mr. Johnson in the town’s soda soap. Mr. Johnson, the shops owner, is painting the new “colored” Betty naked when the two of them are startled by a roar of thunder and then a strike of lightning. The final cut again goes to Lover’s Lane where Bud and Margaret are locked in a kiss. After the second sound of thunder and the rain begins to fall, the two break away from each other as Margaret asks in terror what rain is. David comforts her and tells her its just “rain” as they run to the car. After David realizes there is no top to the car to put up, the couple runs to join other frightened kids as they seek shelter under an overhanging rock. David begins to