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Title : Pleasantville (1998)
Director & writer : Gary Ross
Cast : Tobey Macguire as David/Bud Parker
Reese Whiterspoon as Jennifer/Mary Sue Parker
William H. Macy as George Parker
Joan Allen as Betty Parker
Jeff Daniels as Bill Johnson
J.T. Walsh as Big Bob

“The movie is about the fact that personal repression gives rise to larger political oppression… That when we ae afraid of certain things in ourselves or we are afraid of change, we project those fears on to other things, and a lot of ugly social situations can develop” -Gary Ross

Discuss the symbolic use of colours in the movie Pleasantville that address specifically the themes of race, sexuality, and personal freedom.

Pleasantville starts off with David and Jennifer in contemporary American Suburbia, and with just one click of the magical remote control, they are transported off to Pleasantville, a sitcom featuring the extremely pleasant life of the 1950s. At first the movie starts off in black and white, the same as the television show. David and Jennifer began to make changes in the calm lives of those living in pleasantville, with the date between Mary Sue and Skip being the first catalyst for change. It sparked of a sexual revolution where more and more teenagers flock of to make out at Lovers’ Lane in their cars. Next, with the help of Bud and Mary Sue telling the people stories, blank books were started to be filled in with words and pictures. The Public library became a place where many people would frequent, each coming out of the building carrying books of different colours. Also, Bill’s love for art and painting grew upon looking through an art book, sparking off a series of unconventional paintings that shocked and amazed everyone in town. These massive changes had a great impact on Pleasantville, which practically turned the whole town upside down. 

The movie makes use of the change of colours from monochromatic black and white to vibrant colours, indicating the change of the people when they begin to discover their other self deep inside them. As they begin searching deeper into themselves and realizing that the lives they led previously were superficial, they start to gain their personal freedom. They are able to explore into their real intersets and follow their beliefs, breaking out of the once rigid society-enforced boundaries on how they SHOULD run their lives, and gaining freedom to do things they have always longed to do so. One very clear example of which is Betty, Bud and Mary Sue’s mother. She was married to a model husband, Mr Parker, whom which she started a happy family with. But deep down in her heart, she does not love Mr Parker. Instead, she had developed feelings for Mr Johnson, a soda shop bar tender. But, knowing society’s conservative and rigid codes of conduct, she can’t afford to be involved in such explicit affair.  But soon after the trend od teens starting to deisplay their love publicly and under the guidance of Mary Sue and Bud, she begins to put up a brave front and confess her feelings towards him, in the end finding her true love of her life. She started off as a black and white character, but soon after she developed the courage to acknowledge that she likes Mr Johnson, the transformation begins as she became coloured overnight.

The use of black and white and the start of the film emphasizes the stubborness and rigidness of Pleasantville, where no one wants to change, no one dares to change. Black and White is boring, and life seems dull and monotonous. one example of monotonous life is when men come home from work shouting “Honey, I’m home” and women prepare dinner for them to enjoy. But under the influence of the new Bud and Mary Sue, one by one the people start to turn into colourful, happy beings. The use of bright vibrant colours show that they have found their personal freedom, they are happy and carefree, not like before where they were confined to strict regulations and codes of conduct.

The use of colours in the movie had also emphasized the existence of racism- in the context of Pleasantville. Afetr the people begin to desicover themselves and transform form black & white to colourful people, they were gradually ostracised. They became the minority group amongst the black and white people who refused to change, leaving them helpless and voiceless. The term used “coloured” is an inference to the American’s racial discrimination of the  whites against the black african americans.  This is a re-run of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, where during one of the court hearings in the story, the whites were sitting on the ground level while the blacks (or coloureds) were sitting in the balcony. In the movie, the ‘coloureds’ and the black and whites were totally different in the way they think (due to transformation of their inner beliefs) and the way they look. This brings out the idea that even amongst a once peaceful and caring society, racial tensions do happen, resulting in realtively serious consequences (eg: bullying of one another, destroying other races’ properties etc.).