In the movie, Pleasantville, we see the two main characters in direct contrast with each other. David Wagner, the protagonist, is a shy teenager who is apprehensive about asking a popular girl out. His parents are divorced and he is unhappy in the imperfect world that he lives in. He finds escape in his favorite black and white TV show from the 1950, “Pleasantville.”
By contrast his sister, Jennifer love the world she lives in. She could be considered a “bad girl,” – sexually promisculous smoker. She is concerned about dating the cutest guy in school.
During an argument over control of the TV, Jennifer and David are transported to the black and white TV show world of Pleasantville. Initually they are shocked, but eventually they decide to play along as the TV characters of Mary Sue and Bud.
Pleasantville is a perfect world. The basketball team is undefeated. It never rains. Wives have dinner for their husbands promptly at 6PM. Firemen have no knowledge of fire (for there are no disasters like fire in Pleasantville). A Pleasantville Fireman’s only purpose is to rescue cats from trees. Any problem one may encounter can be solved within a half hour (including commercials breaks).
Interestingly enough there is no interaction with the outside world. Geography classes study the geography of Pleasantville itself, without mentioning where Pleasantville ends. Books contain blank pages, as if to say information from the outside is unimportant or irrelevant.
Mary Sue finds the Pleasantville world unrealistic. She resolves to change the world and teach the characters in the sitcom about how real life is. Bud by contrast realizes that this could turn their world upside down and might not let them get back to the world of reality.
Change occurs. The basketball teams starts loosing. Wives don’t have dinner on the table for their husbands promptly at 6PM. The clouds produce rain. Pleasantville becomes the imperfect world of reality.
The selling point for the audience is the color change in the black and white world. Initually it is subtle: pink bubblegum, a green car at the soda shop; the red cherry on top of a sundae; the red hearts in a card game.
A first the color change in people comes from sexual experiences. One would think the movie is promoting being sexual promiscuity. Instead the movie is promoting change. Color represents seeing the world in a different light. Jennifer/Mary Sue doesn’t become colorized when she has sex, like many of the other characters. Instead she changes when she discovers the world of reading. David/Bud experiences color change when he finally stands up for himself.
The movie deals with alot of other social issues such as racism. When some of the Pleasantville residents turn colors we see “No Coloured” signs in storefront windows. Segregation is seen in the trial of Bud and Bill when the colored people are in the balcony in tribute to “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Censorship is also dealt with. When words start appearing in the books and the citizens start learning about the outside world, the city has a good old fashion book burning reminicent of Nazi Germany.
There is a conversation between Bud and his father near the end of the movie. The father asks his son “What went wrong?” “Nothing,” Bud says. “People change.” This pretty much sums up the moral of the story. Change, no matter how we feel about it, is going to occur. It our duty to make the best of it, and even in some cases embrace it.