- This article is about the film Pleasantville. For other uses including town names, see Pleasantville (disambiguation).
Pleasantville is a New Line Cinema film first released in
Canada on September 17, 1998 starring 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, who also performed those duties
for the more recent film Seabiscuit (2003), which also starred Maguire and
Macy. This was J.T. Walsh's last film, released after his death. The film was released in
the United States on October 23, 1998.
In the film two modern teenagers are mysteriously transported into the fictitious community of Pleasantville, the setting of a
black and white 1950's television show. Through their actions the people of Pleasantville begin to experience strong emotion and
consequently, events in town begin to deviate from the accepted norm.
Synopsis
Although David Wagner (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. Mrs. Wagner (Jane Kaczmarek) leaves Jennifer and David alone at home while she heads on
vacation with her boyfriend (who is later revealed to be nine years younger than she). 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 couch in
order to win a $1,000 grand prize for answering trivia questions about his favorite show, Pleasantville.
Pleasantville is a black and white '50s sitcom (based on Father Knows Best or Leave It To Beaver), and
David is an expert on every episode. 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 remote control. The repairman leaves, and David and Jennifer
promptly resume fighting. However, they are somehow 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, two of the main characters in the show.
Breakfast in the Parker house is served by stay-at-home mother Betty Parker (Joan Allen),
and consists of generous servings of bacon, eggs, waffles, pancakes, ham, ham steak, and other fatty foods. Jennifer, a '90s girl, is disgusted at the thought of eating so
much. 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 having no knowledge of sex until Mary Sue introduces
him to it. The plot is further thrown out of sequence when Bud’s boss Mr. Johnson (Jeff
Daniels), who runs the soda fountain, becomes dissatisfied with his boring, mundane
life. 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 reversal of the sex talk between her
and Mary Sue/Jennifer) and, knowing that her husband George (William H. Macy) would never do any of the things Mary Sue
describes, engages in masturbation. This causes a nearby tree to spontaneously combust.
Bud, realizing the firemen have no other duties other than to fetch cats out of trees, teaches them how to put out fires and
is awarded a medal. He also gets attention from a beautiful cheerleader named Margaret (Marley
Shelton), who bakes him oatmeal cookies, the same 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 confronts him, Bud turns off the TV,
relinquishing his ability to go home in the process.
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 either), while students begin visiting the public library and reading books
recommended by Mary Sue and Bud. Ironically, Mary Sue/Jennifer, who has 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 gains
color.
Pleasantville is changing, double beds even become available in stores.
Slowly, certain 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 (J.T. Walsh) who sees the changes as eating away at the
moral values of Pleasantville. They resolve to do something about their increasingly distant wives and the rebellious teenagers.
A town meeting is called. Betty leaves George and the kids - she is in love with Mr. Johnson and cannot hide her 'colored' face
anymore.
Rioting begins in Pleasantville, touched off by a nude painting of Betty on the window of Mr. Johnson’s soda fountain. The
soda fountain is destroyed, piles of books are burned, and anyone who is “colored” is harassed in the streets. Bud earns his color (Mary Sue having already gotten hers by
embracing her passion for books) by defending Betty from a gang of toughs led by Whitey.
He transforms from a wimpy loser to a strong leader who advocates resistance to the new “Pleasantville Code of Conduct”, a
list of rules preventing people from visiting the library, 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 depicting the book burning and other changes in their
society. For this they are thrown in jail. They are subsequently brought to trial in front of the entire town. Mr. Johnson is
repentant but Bud speaks out, finally arousing enough anger and indignation in Big Bob to turn him colored as well.
George earns his color when, in the courtroom, he cries for the loss of his wife. With this, the entire town becomes
emotional, therefore colored, and the people of Pleasantville are finally introduced to the rest of the world.
Jennifer chooses to stay in this alternate world, planning to go to college as Mary Sue Parker. David returns using the remote
control and finds his mother crying in the kitchen, distraught over her boring life. She had thought it would be so different.
David says, “It's not supposed to be anything".
The movie ends 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.
Cast
- Tobey Maguire as David. David is the protagonist 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 as he hoped it would be. 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 upon being transported to Pleasantville with her brother, 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, she effected her own transformation. By the end of the film she decides to stay (for a while) in a place where
she has changed and attend college.
- William H. Macy as George Parker. George is the stereotypical 1950's 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 tells him how much he really
loves his wife.
- Joan Allen as Betty Parker. Betty starts as the typical 1950's 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.
Symbolism
Though one of the most notable aspects of Pleasantville is its cinematography, 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 "coloreds" 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 Coloreds
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 throw back to To Kill a
Mockingbird, where Atticus Finch makes his famous closing argument. As in To
Kill a Mockingbird, the courtroom is divided by skin color. Sitting in the second floor balcony seats are the "coloreds",
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 picks an apple for Bud from a nearby tree on Lover's Lane,
and he 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. The moment is
repeated a few scenes later, to further enforce this symbolism, when the TV Repairman berates Bud 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".
Rotten Tomatoes
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
Music
-
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".
Soundtrack
Released: October 13 1998
Genre: Pop
Label: Sony Music
Track listing
- "Across the Universe" - Fiona Apple –
5:07
- "Dream Girl" - Robert and Johnny – 1:57
- "Be-Bop-A-Lula" - Gene Vincent – 2:36
- "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" - Larry Williams –
2:11
- "Sixty Minute Man" - Billy Ward &
the Dominoes – 2:28
- "Take Five" - The Dave Brubeck Quartet –
5:25
- "At Last" - Etta James – 3:00
- "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" - Elvis
Presley – 1:47
- "Rave On" - Buddy Holly and the Crickets – 1:49
- "Please Send Me Someone to Love" - Fiona Apple – 4:01
- "So What" - Miles Davis – 9:04
- "Suite from Pleasantville" - Randy Newman – 8:11
External links
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