In the film “Pleasantville” directed by Gary Ross, two teenagers, David and Betty, get zapped into a TV show about the “perfect” world of Pleasantville. Although seemingly perfect, Pleasantville lacked change, freedom and knowledge, which caused the citizens of Pleasantville to live a boring and repetitive life. Through the clever use of various film techniques, Ross shows us the flaws of the Pleasantville ideals throughout the film.
Change is an important idea portrayed in the film, allowing the progress of Pleasantville. At the start of the film, Pleasantville was a town where all citizens did not change. The restriction of change caused the citizens of Pleasantville to live a routinely and orderly life. However after these people started to try out new things such as blow bubble gum or read books, they began to change and progress. Ross clearly shows this through the clever use of colour. Citizens that have changed and discovered themselves begin to show their “true colours”. The Mayor of Pleasantville realises this and tries to repress it when stating the crime that David and Bill supposedly committed of “applying the following forbidden paint colours to the north wall of the Pleasantville police station... red, pink, vermillion, puce ...”. To the Mayor, he still believed that the Pleasantville ideals were the best, however David did not as he knows that the Mayor wants things to stay “pleasant,but there are so many things that are so much better, like silly...or sexy...or dangerous...or brief...”. Through the use of dialogue, Ross shows us the ignorance of the Pleasantville idealism. Ross shows us that although the Pleasantville ideals have a good intention, it is ignorant of the fact that it is preventing change...both good and bad. Ross wants to show us that change is vital for progress and although there are going to be consequences, the rewards will greatly outweigh them. Conflicts between different ideals such as that of Pleasantville and David are...