Review of Pleasantville (1998) by Sillygoose05 — 26 Feb 2015

Is Pleasantville like Adam and Eve?

The title of the title of the movie basically says it all. Pleasantville. A movie that represents the story of Adam and Eve in many ways. Yet, it has its own unique twist in character descriptions, setting, and theme a little. It has its similarities, yet, it has it’s differences. The story starts out with a brother and sister who are two complete opposites. Right here, we get a reference of yen and yang. Two opposites that balance out each other, even though those two aren’t balanced out themselves. David, the nerdy brother, is basically obsessed with a TV show called Pleasantville; a show based in the 5o’s starring a perfect family living in a perfect world where everything is “pleasant” and perfect. David absolutely had to watch the marathon on the one night of the year that it showed. As always, there was one complication. Jan, the rebellious sister, had a guy coming over that night to “study”, and she wanted to use the living room. Now, before we go any further, does this remind you of something? David represents Adam, the guy who follows the rules and doesn’t rebel to anything. Jen represents Eve, the girl who is rebellious and goes against the rules.

While arguing who gets to have the living room, they both start fighting over the remote. They break the remote and a mysterious TV repair man arrives at the door. He comes inside and has a discussion about Pleasantville with David as he gets his tools and looks at the TV. Pleasantly surprised that David knew so much about Pleasantville, the TV repair man gives David a remote and leaves. Confused, David tries out the remote and gets sucked into Pleasantville along with his sister. They are completely dumbfounded and shocked when they realize that they turned into the characters of Bud and Mary Sue. They see that the TV repair man talks to them through the TV and tells them he put them there because of David and how much he knows about Pleasantville. He then gets offended because David yells at him, and tells the brother and sister that they need to stay there for a week. Know, the TV repair man was like God. He ruled over David and Jen and put them in a situation where they have to follow the rules.

Jen and David act as normal as they can and try to follow along with the story. Well…at least David tries to. Jen, being the rebellious character she is, breaks the rules and starts changing Pleasantville, starting with having sex with one of the basketball players at Lover’s Lane during their date. After they did their thing, the basketball player drops Jen off at her house and starts driving away. He reaches a corner and what does he see? A red rose. Now, keep in mind, this show was based off of a 50’s show, so everything was in black and white. As soon as Jen started changing things and started showing people lust, change and uniqueness, people started gaining color. In one of the scenes, David has a date with a girl at Lover’s Lane and eats an apple off of a tree. Another reference to Adam and Eve.

The TV repair man (God) noticed and told David to stop changing things around. David, string to break rules and get color, told him it was a good thing. While this is going on, people who like the old ways of black and white, turn racist. Yes, racist. They have conferences and say, no coloreds allowed, and ruin a diner because the cook expressed his artistic views, almost like people did when they segregated African Americans. Still, people with color still rebelled and listened to rock and roll, still kissed, and still did things that are against the rules. The mayor of Pleasantville gathers people of black and white together at a bowling alley, a man’s place to be, and says that they will finish this in a pleasant way, and stop this “monstrosity” from happening and continuing.

The Mayor, a true believer of no change, sets a trial for Bud, saying that he ruined things and it was his entire fault. See, the Mayor bent his own rules. Jail and trials weren’t a thing in Pleasantville before David and Jen came. Bud told a heart touching story that changes is a good thing, and that everyone has potential. Everyone in the Jury turned into coloreds instead of being black and white, except for the mayor. Bud tried to make the mayor mad, making him feel emotions. He pushed and pushed the mayor to his boiling point, making the mayor yell, which turned him into a colored too. Embarrassed from being wrong and confused, the mayor ran out. Everyone in Pleasantville gathered around and realized that having color wasn’t a bad thing. David, knowing his true potential of helping people, decided it was time for him to go back to the real world. Jen finds her true place in Pleasantville and stays. David returns home and puts his learning experience to use with his emotionally broken mom.

So, personally, I think the movie Pleasantville was a good interpretation of Adam and Eve. Yet it has its differences. For example, everything David and Jen did had a positive impact in the end, while Adam and Eve were punished for what they did. Yet, Pleasantville basically caught the essence of Adam and Eve. The changes made it unique. I enjoyed the movie. I think it was really nice. Yes, it had its “scenes”, but it wasn’t just about lust. It had a good moral story of balance and being yourself and learning your true colors.