Pleasantville is a very interesting movie. It deals with nearly everything we have gone over in the past few sections of our learning. It is a great portrayal of sociological subjects including norms, subcultures, social change, resistance to social change, traditional vs modern values, individuality, etc. The eight traditional values of the United States are very prevalent in Pleasantville.
Throughout the movie “Pleasantville”, there are numerous social issues. This paper will look at and identify some of them, as well as defining the basic social issues and how they relate to the movie. Some sociological concepts found in the movie include Race and Ethnicity, Age Stratification, and Social Interaction. Throughout the movie, there are plenty of examples, but I will use the three main concepts I found. The example of Race and Ethnicity would be Discrimination.
The movie ordinary people is describing a family who is having trouble trying to function with each other normally after losing their son and brother Buck to a boat accident. Buck was the reason that the family was sticking together and were functioning more normally than ever. They would be more connected by talking a lot with each other, doing family activities together, laughing and smiling all the time with each other. Then after that it changed them completely which left them being bitter, depressed, and even having lots of flashbacks of their pasts. Like how Conrad tried to commit suicide because of the lost, which he was lucky enough to survive from that.
Picture a world the only emotions and actions you are allowed to convey are pleasantness. A world where being pleasant triumphs over civil rights, gender roles, artistic expression, and social change. Pleasantville is a 1998 American comedy-fantasy film that explores a simplified and traditional time that fears evolution. Directed by Gary Ross, the movie depicts two teenage siblings, David and Jennifer, who are magically transported into a black-and-white 1950s sitcom called Pleasantville. While in Pleasantville, their actions dismantle the social system and in turn introduce the town to a life of color and modernity.
The story “Good Country People” is based around four very different characters, and discusses the everyday objectives that they face. The main character Hulga is the well-educated atheist daughter of Mrs. Hopewell. Hulga who suffers from a deformity has a wooden leg and doesn’t really have much of a life outside of the farm. Mrs. Hopewell is a judgmental overbearing mother pushing her daughter to be something’s she’s not.
The movie Pleasantville is based on how an ill-perfect utopian society can change and cause chaos. As two millennials travel back into time (1950’s) into a world without the new technology or the newest social conform that impacted them. Quickly they introduce new ideas and standards that changed the citizens of Pleasantville. The first scene that changed my perspective was the struggle Jennifer had playing Mary Sue.
Pleasantville, directed by Gary Ross, is a year 1998 comedy with effective underlying issues. A universal idea, change is often inevitable, and leads an individual to make decisions about their actions that have widespread consequences. These essential ideas involving change are in Gary Ross ' 1998 film ‘Pleasantville’ by employing film techniques to convey his message. Through considering the developing characterization of the two protagonists, it becomes clear that change can either enrich or hinder an individual 's progress, highlighting its incredible influence in our society.
Eatonville is a place of repression, what with how Janie worked in the shop, and how gossip ran rampant through the town if deliberation occurred. Eatonville is not a negative and antagonistic place, but simply a place of high standards, which did not suit the independent nature of Janie Crawford. Opposing this place, the rural location known as “The Muck” has almost entirely different motifs. The Everglades was home to farmers and common workmen, not the high-class citizens of Eatonville. People were also free to come as they were, and be treated equally.
Conformity is gradually oppressing the world in which we live in. This ideal is prominently illustrated in the film Pleasantville which is directed, and produced by Gary Ross. Pleasantville is a great demonstration of the dangers of abiding by society’s expectations, and the freedoms that come with rebelling to these expectations and embracing change. Gary Ross uses several literary techniques such as; colour (symbolism), and character development to indicate the lack of creativity, and originality in society. Throughout the film, Ross illustrates how obstructive conformity can be to society, and how rewarding rebelling to societal norms can be for not only self growth, but societal advancement as well.
In the early stages of the 20th Century, much of the United States began to see the country’s culture and history start to take form and adapt to the rest of the world. A large part of this transformation rooted from themes of dishonesty, immorality, and infidelity that came from the upper class. Known for hosting lavish parties, illegal activity and frequent affairs, many began to see how skewed this morality had come to be. While this had become the norm of the upper class at the time, it is attributed to having shaped part of the nation’s culture and formed what the time period is known for today. In the book, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates how the morals of the upper class are skewed and the overall effect of this immorality to the country through Tom Buchanan’s hypocrisy and affairs as well as through
“Pleasantville” Life is filled with ups and downs and often times it can be very unpredictable. We are constantly being overruled by a system of sovereign authority. Nonetheless, it is important to acknowledge that everything is changing, and sometimes, there are point of fluctuation and moments that could transform our lives and who we are, but only if we embrace them. Recently, I watched a movie called “Pleasantville”. This film had me questioning about many moral concepts, but I was more interested about its emphasis on conservatism an acceptance.
Between World War I and the Great Depression, the 1920’s were unique and special years in American history. The best way to represent that time would be by historian Frederick Lewis Allen providing the historical account of America in the 20’s in Only Yesterday and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famed novel, The Great Gatsby. Both of them reflect America in the Twenties by showing lifestyles and behaviors of people who lived in that time. We can follow their beliefs, actions, and morality through the works. While Allen was seeking to capture a decade, F. Scott Fitzgerald did a good job by pointing to the main issues during that time.
Forrest Gump takes place in modern history of the United States, emphasizing race relations between blacks and whites, disability and southern culture. Beginning in the south during the 1950’s, the movie highlights segregation, and ends with the way African-Americans are portrayed today. Forrest Gump begins with the main character sitting at a bus stop, and it isn’t until Forrest speaks that the audience realizes he has a disability. Throughout the movie Forrest is portrayed as a simple, white southern male from Alabama who has a below average intelligence. The movie takes places during a significant era between the 1950 's and 1980’s, and recalls different events of Forrest’s life, underlining how he surpasses the expectations society had for him.
Humans live in a world where moral values are very clearly set determining what is good and what is bad. We know what scares us and how racism should be treated. Nevertheless, this was not the case back in Alabama during the 1950s. In the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee narrates the lives of the people of Maycomb, Alabama, focusing on the story of Scout and Jem Finch, and the case of a said to be rape. In this emotion filled narrative, readers learn how life was back then not only in general, but for the separate social statuses that there was.
“A Streetcar Named Desire” is a very elegant film in which the Southern gothic culture is demonstrated profoundly. Tennessee Williams uses the characters in the play to bring about a sense of how corrupt society truly was in the 1940’s in the South. The 1940’s was marked by an immense amount of violence, alcoholism, and poverty. Women at the time were treated as objects rather than people. Throughout the play Tennessee Williams relates the aspects of Southern society to the characters in the play.
