Review of Pleasantville (1998) by Mattx505X — 26 Feb 2015

In Movies and stories there will often be some similarities and some differences. The story of Genesis is often used in movies but is changed slightly too where it gives hints and clues that give the viewer an insight idea of what the meaning is. Often in movies an object such as an Apple can make a slight connection or hint to what its interpretation is in the story. In movies there will be audio and visual cues that were told or explained in the books or novels.

In Pleasantville there were a lot of connections and similarities to the book of Genesis. In Pleasantville there was a TV repair man who showed up right after David and Jennifer broke the TV remote, after they broke the remote he gave them a new remote that looked like something from the future. The TV repair man symbolizes and represents God. The TV repair man sent David and Jennifer into Pleasantville with the intention of David living out his favorite TV show but he did not think that they would end up changing Pleasantville completely. In Pleasantville Lovers Lane symbolizes The Garden of Eden. The surrounding and area of lovers lane really connects to the description of the Garden of Eden and its role in the story of Genesis. During this time in Lovers lane David’s girlfriend notices the changes in Pleasantville and notices a red apple on the grey colored tree and picks it off and hands it to David. David’s girlfriend giving David the apple symbolizes Eve giving Adam the apple from the tree of wisdom.

Now In the movie there were differences as there were similarities that symbolized and represented the story of Genesis. In Pleasantville change was a good thing to the people of Pleasantville. In Genesis it was considered a bad thing and wasn’t necessarily wanted. God told Adam that he could eat any fruit in the garden except for the fruit on the tree of Wisdom. Being told that he could eat any fruit in the garden but not from the tree symbolizes the TV repair man allowing David to go into his favorite TV show and living out the life as bud but telling him that he couldn’t change anything while he was in the show. In the end of Pleasantville everyone in Pleasantville was happy and enjoyed being in a changed colored world. In The end of Genesis Adam and Eve were banned from the garden because they disobeyed God, God banished them from the Garden and they were sent to live somewhat happily ever after.

The Directors overall interpretation of the film was that change is a good thing. In both stories all of the characters changed in their own way. For example David was no longer a shy quiet kid; Jennifer was no longer a rebel. Adam and Eve were both smart but rebellious for disobeying God. The director tried to get as many interpretations as he could from the story of Genesis. For example he used Lovers lane to represent the Garden of Eden because they both had deceiving moments in both stories.

I thought this was an overall good interpretation of the story of Genesis it had a lot of connections and representations. In the end the overall message it leaves you with is change. Change is good and sometimes change can be for the greater good. The movie had a lot of imagery and visual cues that gave the viewer hints and was done very well by the director. I thought this movie was well written and an overall good movie and I enjoyed watching it. There is also a life lesson to be learned from this movie and that is that one little decision or choice you make can change your whole future.