Symbolism In Pleasantville

A particularly effective element of the production was the use of costume. The costumes exposed the time period, transporting the audience back to 1981, immediately involving me in the story. Costume represented the social class the characters belonged to. Mr and Mrs Lyons were rich and had a high social status, their costume established their character; Mr. Lyons was wearing a suit and Mrs. Lyons wore tights and uniform. In contrast, the Johnson family were living in poverty, and this is also shown through the usage of costume. I as audience felt empathy for Mrs Johnson as through costume I could see her financial struggle.

Uncle Frank’s action needed to be punished because he was racist and did not have respect for women and especially the Indian people. This transforms David from the young clueless boy into a young even maybe adult person he is by the end of our novel knowing more than maybe even modern day adults about how hard life is and how cruel the world can

David must pretend, not just for the remainder of the novel, but for the next forty years, to be ignorant of Frank’s crimes, and much of what is happening because his parents do not realise that he has

A TV repairman shows up out of nowhere on their doorstep offering to fix the remote. The repairman quizzes David on Pleasantville trivia and after he answers all of his questions correctly, he gives David a “special remote”. The brother and sister fight over the remote and get zapped into the television show “Pleasantville”. This sets up a majority of the clashes with a 1990’s brother and sister team going back in time to a perfect small town family of 1958. The time period chosen for the television show was intentional. The oldies telev

Pleasantville, (before David and Jennifer) is a “dream world” if you will, everyone is always happy and there are never any conflicts with anyone. Once the two of them arrive however, everything changes. In Pleasantville everything is black and white, but after Jennifer has sex

Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is a tragic love story about two young lovers who are forced to be estranged as a result of their feuding families. The play is about their struggle to contravene fate and create a future together. As such, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood would try and emulate Shakespeare’s masterpiece. This had been done before in many films. Prominent among them were, Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 “Romeo and Juliet” and Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 “William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.” Both films stay true to the themes of Shakespeare’s original play. However, the modernised Luhrmann film not only maintains the essence of Shakespeare’s writings, Luhrmann makes it relevant to a teenage audience. This is

For example, Liz once receives a dollhouse from her grandfather and father. Liz is in a state of confusion as to how to play with the present if she does not even play with dolls. Her mother comes up at informs Liz that “it’s for [her] Calico Critters” (26). Linda Prince does not force her daughter to play with the dollhouse with dolls, but suggests that she plays with it with her “boy toys”. Furthermore, Liz goes through various phases when she would dress up as her role models.

Newland declares to the table that women have the right to be “as free as [men] are” (Age of Innocence 38). As the women talk further about Ellen, Newland states that he is sick of the “hypocrisy that would bury a woman” for preferring to be with her husband, contrary to what others believe (Age of Innocence 37). Newland sees a small connection between the women’s opinions and his own relationship with Ellen. He begins to see he must make a choice between Ellen and May, unbeknownst to him that his choice will be what is “socially acceptable” to old New York (“Edith Wharton” 2). Newland then decided that May should have the same “freedom of experience” he has (Age of Innocence 42).

Traumatic experiences may negatively impact one emotionally. Neglect and lack of support from one’s care taker can take a toll on one’s mental health. In the film, Jennifer is struggling internally because her father refuses to establish a relationship with her. He chooses to see the worst in her, which leads her to feel isolated. She is unable to feel joy about her accomplishments because she does not have her father’s approval. The Principal at her school encourages Jennifer to believe in herself and value her accomplishments. She empathizes with Jennifer and confides in her about her own father’s disapproval. This helps Jennifer feel like she is not alone and that it’s possible to move on without the support of one’s parent. The reassuring words of her Principal instill Jennifer with a sense of pride, instead of her usual feelings of disappointment and worthlessness. This indicates that lack of positive reaffirmation is impacting her development. This impacts her cognitive development. She is experiencing negative feelings and self-doubt due to the lack of support from a parent figure. There is another significant event

“A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house, and reach the height of romantic felicity- but that would be asking too much of fate! Still I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it.” She describes the house that her and John get to share in lengthy sentences. Although as the story progresses her sentences become short and pessimistic. John is becoming more controlling and the narrator is deteriorating faster.

The film Pleasantville directed by Gary Ross is about two modern teenagers, David and his sister Jennifer, somehow being transported into the television, ending up in Pleasantville, a 1950s black and white sitcom. The two are trapped as Bud and Mary Sue in a radically different dimension and make some huge changes to the bland lives of the citizens of Pleasantville, with the use of the director’s cinematic techniques. Ross cleverly uses cinematic techniques such as colour, mise-en-scene, camera shots, costumes, music and dialogue to effectively tell the story.

In Jean-Honoré Fragonard painting The Happy Lovers (appendix: fig. 1), viewers are able to get a glimpse into the light-hearted, playful Rococo period. The Happy Lovers is a 35.5 x 47.75 in. oil painting, that was created between the years 1760–5 in France for an unnamed aristocrat; however, it can now be found in the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California. The Rococo period was a result of artists resisting the stiff monarchy, and desiring open expressionism–this was particularly emphasized through nature. The two great artists from this period are Fragonard and François Boucher, Fragonard’s teacher. A result of Boucher teaching Fragonard, specifically in the continuation of pastoral, Boucher was a great influence. This is obvious when The Happy Lovers is compared to Boucher’s The Bird Catchers (appendix: fig. 2). Both paintings include subjects of women holding bird catchers and doves, ultimately symbolizing woman’s ability to control relationships. More specific to The Happy Lovers, the woman dangles the cage above the boy, who is carrying a dove, a symbol of Venus–the goddess of love. However, in the bottom left quadrant of the painting there is an even larger cage with more doves, hinting at the idea that women can easily capture many men. This further expands the sensual intention Fragonard creates. In placing this scene within a secluded landscape, Fragonard emphasizes the flirtation and secretiveness between the two lovers–creating an unstructured, blissful

The film “Pleasantville” is an extraordinary movie about a David, a senior in highschool, who is shy, awkward and does not fit in with the other kids. When he is not at school he spends his days memorizing every detail in the 50’s sitcom Pleasantville. His parents are divorced and fight about whose turn it is to take David. He would prefer to be inside his beloved TV show, where everything is perfect. His sister Jennifer, on the other hand, is popular in school, the boy she likes has just agreed to come over and watch TV. Unfortunately for David this happens on the same night that he wants to watch a Pleasantville marathon to win a competition. The two siblings end up breaking the remote fighting for control, this is when the strange TV repair man shows up and gives them a fancy new remote with unknown consequences. When a button on the remote is pushed, Jennifer and David are transported into the 50’s TV show, Pleasantville, where David

In Pleasantville, the film displays the change of an extroverted and introverted pair of teenagers from the mid-20th century who take a life experiencing journey into a

The playwright was trying to get quite a few messages when he created this play. First of all, I believe he was trying to show social change and the power and potential that an individual has inside of them, despite their circumstances. I think that this play/movie reveals the true messiness of life and how with the right mindset, you can make it through anything you