Pleasantville by Garry Ross

Pleasantville

In the film Pleasantville, directed by Garry Ross the protagonists David and Jennifer destroy many great aspects of Pleasantville. Despite this they also introduce the community into a brand new world. Some of the many qualities that were changed by David and Jennifer were the town's repression of sexuality, the unexposed literature and arts in the society, and Pleasantville's immunity towards violation.

Jennifer, David's twin sister introduces sexuality to the society of Pleasantville. The two siblings David and Jennifer were magically transported into David's much-loved black and white 1950's sitcom, Pleasantville. Jennifer the more extroverted of the two finds Pleasantville dull and uninteresting since everything is stereotypical and as a result she is determined to change this. As a teenager of the 1990s, Jennifer is much more sexually aware than teenagers or even women of the 1950s. We see this expressed humorously when she informs Betty of masturbation. When Jennifer tells Betty that Lover's Lane is where people have sex, Betty asks "What's sex?" Jennifer educates Betty of sexuality and Betty changes from black and white to colour which George doesn't approve of. Afterwards Betty meets Bill Johnson the soda shop owner and finds that he accepts her for who she. He complements her by saying, "... It's beautiful." Betty is told that she is beautiful thus she gains confidence since she knows that somebody admires and loves her for who she is. By being exposed to these sexual desires Betty finds self-confidence to speak up, express her feelings and leave George, which takes place in the climax of the movie. By Jennifer introducing sexual desires to the citizens of Pleasantville, the community's innocence is lost however the community develops confidence and becomes more self-assured.

David and Jennifer educate the citizens of Pleasantville of Literature and Art. The Pleasantville library was filled with books yet they were without words, which indicate that the town has been safely tucked away from the insecure reality, since Art and Literature is the key to knowledge and the world we live in. The quotation, "Oh my gosh...It's beautiful, Bud" is the reaction from Mr Bill Johnson, the Soda shop owner after Bud/David presents him an art book from the library. Another example would be, "so how does it end? (Margaret)...Well, OK, Let's see, they were running away--Huck and the slave (David)..."The words in the book start to appear while David tells the story to Margaret and the others. David is found explaining the rebellious story of Huckleberry Finn to Margaret, who is eager to understand the story since the community of Pleasantville which has been kept unexposed to Literature and Art. The citizens of Pleasantville are slowly exposed to the outer world and get to know about cruel