Pleasantville (film)

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Pleasantville

Pleasantville theatrical poster
Directed by Gary Ross
Produced by Steven Soderbergh,
Gary Ross,
Jon Kilik
Bob Degus
Written by Gary Ross
Starring Tobey Maguire
Reese Witherspoon
William H. Macy
Joan Allen
Jeff Daniels
Paul Walker
Marley Shelton
J. T. Walsh
Don Knotts
Jane Kaczmarek
Music by Randy Newman
Fiona Apple
Robert and Johnny
Gene Vincent
Larry Williams
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Etta James
Elvis Presley
Buddy Holly and the Crickets
Miles Davis
Cinematography John Lindley
Editing by William Goldenberg
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release date(s) 17 September 1998
Running time 124 minutes
Language English
Budget ~ US$40,000,000
Gross revenue $49,805,462
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Pleasantville is an Academy Award-nominated 1998 film released by New Line Cinema in Canada on September 17, and stars Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, William H. Macy, Joan Allen, and Jeff Daniels. Don Knotts, Paul Walker, Marley Shelton, Jane Kaczmarek and J. T. Walsh are also featured.

The film was written, produced, and directed by Gary Ross. This was J.T. Walsh's last film, released after his death. The film was released in the United States on October 23, 1998.

Through their actions, the people of Pleasantville begin to experience strong emotion; consequently, events in town begin to deviate from the accepted norm.

Tagline:

  • Nothing is as simple as Black and White.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Although David (Tobey Maguire) and his sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) are twins, they lead dramatically different high school social lives. Jennifer is concerned mainly with her appearance, relationships and popularity, while David has few friends and cannot even drum up the courage to talk to a girl on whom he has a crush. He spends most of his spare time on the couch, watching television. Jennifer, on the other hand, is very aggressive (as well as sexually promiscuous) and at the beginning of the film makes a date with Mark Davis, one of the most popular boys in school. Their mother (Jane Kaczmarek) leaves Jennifer and David alone at home while she heads out of town for a rendezvous with her boyfriend (who is later revealed to be nine years younger than she is). The twins begin to fight over the use of the downstairs TV; Jennifer wants to watch an MTV concert with Mark, while David needs the TV in order to watch a marathon of his favorite show, Pleasantville.

Pleasantville is a black-and-white '50s sitcom (a cross between Leave It To Beaver and Father Knows Best) that centers around the idyllic Parker family -- George (William H. Macy), his wife Betty (Joan Allen), and their two children, Bud and Mary Sue. David is an expert on every episode and wants to watch the marathon so he can win a trivia contest. During the fight between David and Jennifer, the remote control breaks and the TV cannot be turned on manually. A mysterious TV repairman (Don Knotts) shows up uninvited, and quizzes David on Pleasantville before giving him a strange-looking, futuristic remote control. The repairman leaves, and David and Jennifer promptly resume fighting. However, through some mechanism of the remote control, they are transported into the television, ending up in the Parkers' black and white Pleasantville living room. David tries to reason with the repairman (who communicates with him through the Parkers' TV set) but succeeds only in chasing him away. David and Jennifer must now pretend they are, respectively, Bud and Mary Sue Parker.

Breakfast in the Parker house is promptly served by stay-at-home mother Betty, and consists of generous servings of bacon, eggs, waffles, pancakes, ham, honey, sausage, and other fatty foods. Jennifer is disgusted at the thought of eating so much "animal fat." On the way to school, the pair watch as a group of firemen rescue a cat out of a tree, and Jennifer meets Skip (Paul Walker), the captain of the basketball team and her soon-to-be boyfriend. David tells her that they must stay “in character,” she must make small-talk with her three monochrome friends and not disrupt the lives of the Pleasantville citizens, who do not notice any physical differences between the old Bud and Mary Sue and David and Jennifer. In order to keep the plot in line, Mary Sue agrees to go on a date with Skip, although the two have very different ideas of what a date constitutes.

The date between Skip and Mary Sue turns out to be the first catalyst for change in the town. Skip has no knowledge of sex until Mary Sue introduces him to it. The plot of the traditional show is further thrown out of sequence when Bud’s boss Mr. Johnson (Jeff Daniels), who runs the soda shop, becomes dissatisfied with his boring, mundane life, confiding in Bud that the only time of the year during which he is happy is Christmas, due to the fact that he gets to paint something new every year for the Christmas mural in his shop's window. Bud initially attempts to convince him to carry on, saying that even if Mr. Johnson does not like his job, he should still do it anyway, but David soon realizes his error and gives Mr. Johnson an art book, encouraging his true passion.

Meanwhile, Skip tells the other boys about sex, and soon the teenagers begin to experiment, leading to a sort of sexual revolution. Betty is curious (leading to a sex talk between Betty and Mary Sue) and, knowing that her husband would never do any of the things Mary Sue describes, engages in masturbation while bathing. As she climaxes, a tree outside on the Parkers' lawn spontaneously combusts.

Bud, realizing the firemen have no other experience than fetching cats out of trees for neighbors, teaches them how to put out fires and is awarded a medal. He is thus noticed by a beautiful cheerleader named Margaret (Marley Shelton), who bakes him oatmeal cookies -- cookies she was supposed to bake for a boy named Whitey (David Tom). Bud’s act of heroism has inadvertently changed the storyline, but he seizes the moment and asks Margaret out for a date. When the TV repairman returns and berates him for altering the show so much, Bud turns off the TV, relinquishing his ability to go home in the process.

Pleasantville soon begins changing at a rapid pace. Double beds become available in stores, colored paints available to buy, students engage in sexual displays in public, and Pleasantville's beleaguered wives become tired of their household duties and begin to think, causing their husbands to reel in shock at their behavior. Meanwhile, things about the town which have changed from the original plotline begin to develop full and vibrant colors, rather than remaining black and white. The mayor, Big Bob (J.T Walsh) notices these changes and becomes concerned. He recruits George Parker, as a respected citizen, to the Pleasantville Chamber of Commerce to help normalize the town again, along with groups of other citizens who remain black and white. At this point, Betty has become "colored" as well and is afraid that George will hate her. Bud helps her to conceal the color with her old make-up, which is still black and white.

People in Pleasantville begin to explore hidden abilities and revel in their new freedoms. Mr. Johnson begins to paint, while Betty finds that housework no longer interests her. The basketball team loses their first game (previously, not only had they never lost, but they had never missed any shots), while students begin visiting the public library and reading books recommended by Mary Sue and Bud. Ironically, Mary Sue/Jennifer, who had never shown any interest in school, finds she likes reading so much that she rejects Skip in favor of a book by D. H. Lawrence, and finds her own color.

Gradually, more objects begin turning multicolor, including flowers and the faces of people who have experienced bursts of passion or change. The only people who remain unchanged are the town fathers, led by Mayor Big Bob who sees the changes as eating away at the moral values of Pleasantville. Certain youths, such as Skip and Whitey and their friends, also remain unaffected. They resolve to do something about their increasingly distant wives and disaffected youths. A town meeting is called. Betty falls in love with Mr. Johnson and leaves George for him, no longer wishing to hide her colored face.

Behavior similar to Nazism, as well as racial segregation and subsequent rioting similar to that of the African-American Civil Rights Movement, soon take over Pleasantville, touched off by a nude painting of Betty on the window of Mr. Johnson’s soda shop; the window is smashed with a park bench, and the soda shop is destroyed, piles of books are burned, and anyone who is "colored" is harassed in the streets. Bud earns his color by defending Betty from a gang of thugs led by Whitey.

He begins to grow from a quiet loner into a strong leader, advocating resistance to the new "Pleasantville Code of Conduct", a list of regulations preventing people from visiting the library and Lovers' Lane, playing loud music, or using paint colors other than black, white, or gray.

In protest against the mundane Pleasantville outlook, Bud and Mr. Johnson paint a colorful mural on a brick wall, depicting Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, winged books rising from piles of burning literature, men and women dancing together to rock music, and other things relevant to the changes in their world. For this they are thrown in jail. Bud is visited then by George, who wonders why Betty has changed, after he reveals he hasn't eaten in a very long time because he doesn't know how to cook. Bud simply replies that "people change," to which George wonders aloud if they couldn't just change back to the way things were.

Bud and Mr. Johnson are brought to trial in front of the entire town, with the monochrome citizens on the ground floor, segregated from the "colored" residents who are made to sit on a balcony.

George gains his color when, in the courtroom, he cries for the loss of his wife after Bud helps him realize the truth about what he actually misses (Betty herself, not the tasks she performs). Mr. Johnson is repentant and tries to haggle with the Mayor, but Bud speaks out, finally arousing enough anger and indignation in Big Bob that the Mayor himself becomes colored as well.

With this, the entire town becomes colored -- and the people of Pleasantville are finally introduced to the rest of the world. Televisions at the television repair shop now display full-colored images of various scenic vistas around the world, such as the Pyramids at Giza and the Eiffel Tower, and Main Street, which had previously been a circuit that led back to its beginning again, now leads away to other streets, and ultimately to other towns and cities as well.

Jennifer chooses to stay behind in this alternate world, planning to go to university out of town as Mary Sue Parker. David returns using the remote control and finds his mother crying in the kitchen, distraught over her predictable, middle-aged life and her failed relationship with her junior lover. She complains to him that her life was not supposed to run this undesirable course.

David replies, saying, "It's not supposed to be anything."

The movie ends with a cut back to Jennifer/Mary Sue, reading a book to a sweetheart on the university steps, and with a shot of Betty and George, reunited; however, when Betty turns to look at her husband, it is Mr. Johnson who appears in his place.

[edit] Cast

  • Tobey Maguire as David. David is the boy of the film who feels out of place in the 1990s at the beginning of the film and is more at home in the dream world of Pleasantville. After being transported into the world which he idolizes, David begins to realize that the perceived happiness in Pleasantville is not nearly as fulfilling. He eventually sees Pleasantville not as the utopia he once imagined but as a dystopia as the freedom of choice and expression is severely limited. His transformation happens as he evolves from dreamy outcast to leader of the changes that take place in Pleasantville.
  • Reese Witherspoon as Jennifer. Jennifer, David's twin sister, is in many ways the opposite of her brother. She is initially dismayed at the absence of sex in Pleasantville, but her own personality asserts itself, and she sparks the initial changes in the town. As the story continues, she begins to understand the limitations she has placed on herself in her own life. Her reading of a D. H. Lawrence novel signified her effort to change herself, and thus, By the end of the film she decides to stay (for a while) in a place where she has changed and to attend college.
  • William H. Macy as George Parker. George is the stereotypical 1950s working father with cues directly from shows such as Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best. He is very change averse and when the town begins to change he does not know how to cope. He remains black and white through nearly the entire film until David helps him realize how much he really loves his wife.
  • Joan Allen as Betty Parker. Betty starts as the typical 1950s stay at home mother but evolves in emotions much more quickly than her husband. This causes conflict starting with her change from black and white to color after Jennifer recommends masturbation. She initially tries to cover up this affliction but then decides she should not be ashamed. Her love triangle with Bill Johnson also becomes an issue showing that such taboo events did occur even in 1950s culture.
  • Jeff Daniels as Bill Johnson. Bill starts the film completely unable to do anything that is not specifically defined in his repetitive list of tasks. This changes however when David inadvertently teaches him a small level of autonomy. This autonomy progresses and Bill begins acting out his desire to be creative and paint. Bill evolves into the central revolutionary in the film going so far as to paint a naked mural on one of his windows. After the town turns fully Technicolor it is revealed in the last shot that George is replaced by him sitting on the bench next to Betty.
  • Don Knotts as the TV Repairman. Don Knotts plays a small but memorable role as the TV repairman granting David his wish of being part of Pleasantville. While shown to hate the change happening to his town, the repairman is shown with a smile on his face after David turns from aloofness to compassion for his mother.
  • Jane Kaczmarek as David's Mom. David's Mom plays the foil to Betty by never cooking or cleaning, and shattering an hour of curse-less dialogue with "fuck" at the end of the film. David parallels his treatment of Betty by wiping the make-up off her face and consoling her, showing a complete change since the film's start.
  • J.T. Walsh as Big Bob. Big Bob plays the town's mayor with slight Nazi undertones. He is the most reactionary in the town and decides that colors are indecent. Many subtle references to Triumph of the Will are made in the closing court scene with Big Bob playing the lead. Even he turns to color as he expresses fierce anger towards David. Upon seeing his new face he flees the court room in shame leaving the town to its own devices, ultimately freeing it. This was actor J.T. Walsh's final film as he died of a heart attack shortly after filming.
  • Danny Strong as Juke Box Boy and Marc Blucas as Basketball Hero are two of the teenagers who become "colored". Both actors would have recurring roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer; six other cast members of Pleasantville had single episode roles.

[edit] Symbolism

Though one of the most notable aspects of Pleasantville is its extreme contrast - particularly its rich contrast between color and black and white - the symbolism in the film should be noted as well. The most obvious symbolism exists in the "colored" versus those who are still black and white. As a reference to the racism in the 1950s and 1960s in United States, there is a sign posted in a shop window at one point declaring "No colored Allowed", which referred to store owners refusing service to Black Americans during the aforementioned era.

Towards the end of the film, the courtroom scene is a throwback to the To Kill a Mockingbird movie, where Atticus Finch makes his famous closing argument. As in To Kill a Mockingbird, the courtroom is divided by color. Sitting in the second floor balcony seats are the "colored", where Black Americans sat in To Kill a Mockingbird, and the black and white people (White Americans) are sitting on the floor seats of the courtroom. Bud, like Atticus Finch, also makes an impassioned speech to the judge and jury about the unfairness of the trial at hand; however, Bud is not the lawyer but instead one of the accused.

In addition, there is a scene involving Bud and Margaret where she grabs an apple and eats it. It strongly parallels the story of Adam and Eve, symbolizing the "Fall of Man," or in this case, the moment where Bud stops trying to live Pleasantville as a television show and really starts being his own version of Bud.[original research?] The moment is repeated a few scenes later, to further enforce this symbolism, when the TV Repairman envys Margret for that bite.

Gary Ross was quoted about the symbolism of the film, saying, "This movie is about the fact that personal repression gives rise to larger political oppression...That when we're afraid of certain things in ourselves or we're afraid of change, we project those fears on to other things, and a lot of very ugly social situations can develop". [1]

Another symbolic aspect to consider is the assumed connection between colors and loss of innocence. For example, most of the time when a black and white person had sex or experienced a moment of pleasure, they obtained color. This idea is somewhat of a paradox and does hold true for certain characters in the movie. Jennifer has sex profusely but only gains color when she eschews sex in favor of reading her first book. Bud gains color only after he defends Betty from a band of thugs and experiences true anger and defense. Another theory is that when the person experiences change in themselves, they change into color. This holds true for both examples already given (Jennifer reading instead of going out, and Bud gaining confidence) as well as how Big Bob changes color because of his outburst, while he usually has a calm personality.

[edit] Utopian views

Many times in film, the 1950’s are portrayed as perfection. Therefore it could almost be looked at as Utopian. In Robert Beuka’s book, SuburbiaNation, he says, “Pleasantville a morality tale concerning the values of contemporary suburban American by holding that social landscape up against both the Utopian and the dystopian visions of suburbia that emerged in the 1950’s” [2] This movie is the perfect example of how a Utopian society couldn’t last. Two outsiders come in and turn everything they knew upside down.

In many of the Utopian societies there were restrictive gender roles. Beuka says these gender roles are also seen in suburbs. In Pleasantville the men and women have very clear roles. They each know what is expected and it's not something that is questioned. When Joan Allen's character, Betty, doesn't come home her husband George, played by William H. Macy, isn't sure what to do . He doesn't know where the food is kept and he doesn't know how to cook; it's a female job to do that so he never needed to learn. George eats olives for days straight simply because it's not his job to cook. Another aspect of utopianism seen in the film is their idea on sexual relations. Although their take is much more drastic than real Utopian communities were. The Shakers were completely abstinent and in John Winthrop's "city upon a hill" it may have been happening but it wasn't something that was talked about. In Pleasantville they have no idea what sex is until Jennifer or "Mary Sue" introduces the idea to Paul Walker's character. Betty is completely oblivious to the idea and Jennifer has to explain it to her. It seems that once they are introduced to this color comes into their world and things start to unravel.

This town is the perfect place, "it never rains, the highs and lows rest at 72 degrees, the fire department exists only to rescue treed cats, and the basketball team never misses the hoop." [3] In geography, they learn there are two streets, Main St. and Elm St. Mary Sue asks what happened at the end of Main St. and the teacher seems to be frazzled over the question and simply answers that it starts back at the beginning of Main St. The idea of one way in, one way out comes from Thomas More's Utopia; it's part of their perfection. In both examples it gives them the sense of seclusion, this way nobody can come in and corrupt their thinking. It's not until the twins get sent through the television that someone from the outside had come into Pleasantville.

"Pleasantville is a false hope. David's journey tells him only that there is no "right" life, no model for how things are "supposed to be'". [4] The reason for Utopian communities being set up was to do just what David found out doesn't exist, the live "right" life. John Winthrop went because he wanted to live a perfect life to appease God, many leave for different religions. It all comes back to the same thing, they want perfection. Unfortunately, it seems that just about all of them found there is no perfect world. In the end the residents of Pleasantville figured this out as well.

[edit] Reception

The movie stands with an 86% "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Noted film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars calling it "one of the best and most original films of the year."

[edit] Awards and nominations

The film won the following accolades:

The film was nominated for the following achievements:

  • Academy Awards (1998)
    • Best Art Direction/Set Decoration - Jeannine Claudia Oppewall and Jay Hart
    • Best Costume Design - Judianna Makovsky
    • Best Music, Original Dramatic Score - Randy Newman

[edit] Music

Main article: Pleasantville (soundtrack)

The soundtrack features many staples from the 1950s such as "Be-Bop-A-Lula" by Gene Vincent and the 1961 classic "At Last" by Etta James. The main score for the film was composed by Randy Newman; he received an Oscar nomination in the original music category. The soundtrack does however feature some contemporary artists and includes two songs by Fiona Apple, who uses a similar scene in her "Across the Universe" video.

The film also uses musical compositions that reflect the theme of change, innovation and challenging conventional norms. Take Five by Dave Brubeck presented in a 5/4 time signature, very unusual at the time of its release in 1959. Composer Claude Debussy's Claire de lune is also featured in the film. This piece, among others in the popular Suite bergamasque, presented what were radical harmonies at the end of the 19th century that have had a major and enduring influence on modern musical composition.

[edit] Soundtrack

Released: October 13 1998
Genre: Pop
Label: Sony Music

Track listing

  1. "Across the Universe" - Fiona Apple – 5:07
  2. "Dream Girl" - Robert and Johnny – 1:57
  3. "Be-Bop-A-Lula" - Gene Vincent – 2:36
  4. "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" - Larry Williams – 2:11
  5. "Sixty Minute Man" - Billy Ward & the Dominoes – 2:28
  6. "Take Five" - The Dave Brubeck Quartet – 5:25
  7. "At Last" - Etta James – 3:00
  8. "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" - Elvis Presley – 1:47
  9. "Rave On" - Buddy Holly and the Crickets – 1:49
  10. "Please Send Me Someone to Love" - Fiona Apple – 4:01
  11. "So What" - Miles Davis – 9:04
  12. "Suite from Pleasantville" - Randy Newman – 8:11

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

[edit] Further Reading

  • Beuka, Robert A. SuburbiaNation: Reading Suburban Landscape in Twentieth-Century American Fiction and Film. 1st ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2004. 14-15--Nicole 08 00:12, 29 April 2008 (UTC)