Intertextuality In Pleasantville

The renaissance was a period of art, education, and a change in the way humans looked at mankind. How did the renaissance change man 's view of a man? Well that is called humanism. Humanism is a movement that focuses on the beauty and intelligence of an individual. Humanism influenced people during the Renaissance in at least two ways such as education and the way we taught about each other.

Archibald John Motley Jr.’s painting, “Mending Socks”, illustrates an elderly woman sitting in a rocking chair. She has a scarlet blanket loosely hung around her shoulders and is wearing a lace-bordered white apron. Above her on the wall is a wooden cross. In the painting she is repairing socks, hence the piece’s name. On the periwinkle table to her left is a small pile of olive green socks. The painting is oil on canvas and contains an extensive amount of contrast. For example, the bright vermillion blanket against the dull eggshell colored door. The disparity between the colors used is prominent. Additionally, the fusion of ornate patterns and simplistic solids is evident. The tablecloth is a geometric mixture of cream and periwinkle. However,

The colors that Mr. West used in the painting are dimmed and dull with the exception of a white gown worn by a woman in the center of the painting (I will elaborate on that later). The color palette that he choose I believe was to show that atmosphere of doom and gloom for the passing apocalyptic flood that just cleansed the land of sin. The brush strokes that make up the human figures are thin and almost invisible to the naked eye. The painting has a light and smooth finish to finish to it, and at the same time the bold outlines of the male figures appear like a sketching. Little detail compared to the woman in the center of the canvas. The clouds are dark and made with

The 1920’s expressed great wealth and luxuriousness through excessive and lavish parties with dazzling effects and no apparent purpose other than to simply entertain. In Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby’s displays of affluence demonstrate that in the 1920’s, opulence was represented in forms of materialistic objects. Hieronymus Bosch's painting “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” suggests that sensuous temptations and the need for grandeur can lead to the corruption of purity. In Philippa Hawker’s article “The subtle art of staging Gatsby's lavish parties,” she describes the effective use of overindulgence and chaos in Gatsby’s parties to represent the shift in societal norms of conservative and refined parties to a more vulgarized form. In John F. Carter, Jr.’s article “‘These Wild Young People,’ by One of Them,” he exposes the changing perspective of his generation from the stringent realistic outlook of the older generation to his looser and more

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.

Even the woman’s frame and posture seem to follow the lines created by the railings of the viewing box. The railings are also implied lines, the first thing our eyes go to is the woman, and then we follow the railings to the man who has his gaze set on the woman. The man’s gaze gives us implied lines that lead us back to the main focus of the painting, the woman. The artist also uses light and dark to guide our eyes to the important parts of the artwork. Most of the artwork is dark, while the woman and the man looking at her are in the light. This makes us instantly look at them. The wide space between the man and woman has no major distractions within in, the artist could have filled that space with some interesting art, but chose not to because it would have drawn the viewers’ attention away from the woman and man. The authors choice of color is quite plain, but the bright colors that follow the sides of the viewing box help guide the viewers eyes to the man in the background, assisting the implied created by the railings. The author used value in the artwork to show what is important. The woman’s body is heavily shaded and doesn’t catch the viewer’s eye. Her head and hand suddenly come into the bright light helping to show that her gaze is clearly on the show; the man in the background is also barely shaded helping to show that his gaze towards her is just as strong as her gaze is towards the

Most people would expect the artists painting to be monopolized by one perspective of nature. However, the artist incorporates both the violent and beautiful sides of nature. The artist explained how “the long-necked lily-flower which, deep in both worlds, can be still as as a painting” (Hughes 22-24). The artist proves how the even if beauty is surrounded by negativity, nature 's beauty will not be consumed by its violence. Most people would also expect the artist to put an emphasis on nature 's violence, especially after the repeated mention of the violent parts of nature. From “The flies’ Furious arena [to the creatures that] crawl that darkness with Latin names” (Hughes) there is not mention of many objects with beauty. Even though the artist knows that there is a lot of violent things in nature, he choses to put a focus on the water lily. Because the artist incorporates both violent and beautiful parts of nature, with an emphasis on the water lily, one can infer that the artist want to create a realist painting, but not dwell in the

The Young Martyr, a painting by French painter Paul Delaroche, is currently housed in the Musee de Louvre in Paris, France. It was finished in 1855 and was painted during the Romanticism era. Although it is not as famous as the Mona Lisa, it is still a beautifully done oil painting that continues to enchant museum visitors.

In the 1950’s the American economy was booming due to the conclusion of World War II. Economic prosperity transformed family life and people put more emphasis on the individual. Television programs represented how people should live the ideal life. With many changes in culture people began to have a different perspective on life. In the 1998 film, “Pleasantville” directed by Gary Ross and the novel, “The Catcher in the Rye” written by J.D. Salinger both depict teenage culture of the 1950s. These works decribe stories of rebellious tennagers and reveal that in order for a person to identify their true-self, he/she must go through a series of rebellious acts.

When you see “Pleasantville” for the first time,it doesn’t strike you hard enough how much sociological theory has just been served to you.Thus,when I was watching it for the first time my mind was going in circles about the following pattern.

“The Open Window” is an oil painting by Henri Matisse made in the summer of 1905. It is a perfect example of the new art current which inspired French Art at the beginning of the century known as Fauvism. It represents the view from the window of the hotel’s room in Collioure in which the artist stayed.

The theme of appearance extends further in Dorian’s life. Dorian’s outer beauty allows him to get away with almost anything, due to the fact that people equals his outer beauty to him being a good person. In reality, Wilde makes it very clear that Dorian Gray is not a good person.

The renaissance was a time of many different improvements and changes to the era previous to it, the medieval ages, the renaissance re-introduced many different Roman and Greek traditional aspects, so much so that renaissance literally translates into “rebirth” in French. Other changes include social such as the rise of humanism and humanist beliefs, secularism, individualism, big changes in mathematical studies, sciences and all types of learning in general, the printing press invention, as well as religious changes, and the arts were also affected and changed with techniques such as chiaro-scuro, perspective, sfumato, and further more to be explained. The renaissance started in the end of the 14th century and ended in the 17th century.

“When the wind blows, some build walls while others build windmills.” This quote was incorporated to demonstrate the different emotions and reactions people have towards change. Change can be both negative and positive and while some people embrace it, others are frightened by it. In collection 3, it can be inferred that many of the stories such as, The Metamorphosis, Life After People, The Starry Night, and The Lord of the Flies, show how change can negatively affect someone 's life, a groups lives, or in extreme cases, the world.

The Louvre is the world’s largest museum with an extremely impressive art collection. It is located along the Seine River in Paris, France. The louvre was originally built as a fortress, then reconstructed to a royal palace. When Louis XIV moved the royal residence to Versailles, the Louvre became an art museum. The Louvre includes Egyptian antiques, crown jewels, Greek and Roman Sculptures, as well as other French noble artifacts. It houses more than 35,000 works of art at any time. Most of the artwork spans from 6th century B.C. to 19th century A.D. The museums most famous piece is Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”. The Code of Hammurabi, the Greek sculpture “Nike of Samothrace” and “Venus de Milo” are also notable masterpieces.