Review of Pleasantville (1998) by Steelerfan23 — 26 Feb 2015

Adam and Eve is a very old story that is well known to everybody. Many stories and other types of media have taken heavy inspiration from the story that originated in the Bible. One of the many movies that have taken the inspiration is the movie Pleasantville. In the movie, Adam and Eve are never mentioned at all. The only think we have to guess that it took inspiration from the story is the same basic theme. While both shares a main theme of sorts, each has certain messages that they attempt to get across to their respected audiences.

Even though they share a general theme, a lot of the main points and messages are different. In Adam and Eve, God created Adam and Eve and placed them into the world. He told them they could do whatever they wanted as long as they did not eat an apple from the tree of knowledge. Originally they were not going to eat the apple, but then the Devil in the form of a snack tricked Eve into eating the apple, forcing Adam and Eve to disobey God’s only order. In Pleasantville, David and Jennifer get stuck in a different world than where they are from. There are already several people living in the town when they arrive. Also when they arrive, they are given no certain instructions of what to do and what not to do. Jennifer does not like how everyone is perfect and does everything the same way. She starts to add color to the world and change how people act.

The similarities between the two stories make it seem like the director was taking heavy inspiration from the story of Adam and Eve. In both stories, a man and a woman are placed in a world that they really know nothing about. In both of them, they are given simple rules that they have to follow but end up breaking the rules. The apple is represented in both stories as a sign of disobedience, in Adam and Eve it represents them not listening to God and in Pleasantville it represents them changing the world they are in. The main similarity between the two stories is the main idea and theme. The main theme of the stories has to do with change and how important it is to sometimes go against the rules.

In my opinion, the producer of the movie did a good job of making the movie Pleasantville. Not once throughout the movie did the producer actually mention Adam and Eve in any way. He just used several amounts of symbolisms to reference Adam and Eve. It is clear that this movie was meant to be a more modern story of the Bible story. I think it is a good thing that they never actually talked about Adam and Eve and never brought it up. It makes the audience think more about what the movie is trying to say. In my opinion, the producer and director did a good job with creating this movie and did a good job of making it like Adam and Eve, but allowing it to be its own story.

The story of Adam and Eve and the movie “Pleasantville” had several differences and similarities. The old story is well known to everyone and has had several adaptations in other stories and movies. One of the many to do so was the movie Pleasantville. But there where so many differences in the movie that it felt like it was an original story. It took heavy inspiration from the old Biblical story and in a good way. In my opinion, the movie was a good adaptation of the story of Adam and Eve.