Analysis Of The Movie ' Pleasantville '

In the movie “Pleasantville” two kids named David and Jennifer, living in the 1990’s get sucked into to a tv show called “Pleasantville” which takes place in the 1950’s where everything is “perfect”. Now living in a completely different era and being named Bud and Mary Sue, they must try to adjust to this new culture while attempting to find a way to get back to their present day. Through the whole movie they realize how much that the world has changed in 40 years. The town of Pleasantville is set in black and white, but as people start to change and feel more emotion they turn into color. While watching the movie it was interesting to watch the characters learn more about the past from different perspectives.

Pleasantville is a motion picture that was released in 1998 which is a fictional drama on

Fruitvale Station depicts the real-life case of Oscar Grant III, a young unarmed black man shot in the back by a white police officer on January 1, 2009 in Oakland. The movie begins with cell phone footage of Oscar Grant’s death recorded by bystanders. Grant’s life was tragically cut short due to a white man’s racism and stereotypical perception of a young black man. The BART police officer Johannes Mehserle abused his authority and shot Grant for no other reason but hatred and racism. At the time of the shooting, Grant was unarmed and pinned on the ground in handcuffs. The movie then walks you through the last twenty-four hours of Grant’s life. As you watch the movie and research the aftermath of Grant’s death you a forced to ask yourself a few questions; why does the media have the right to take away Oscar Grant’s humanity? Where do we draw the line between racism and holding others responsible and will the public’s perception of black men and women ever change? Lastly, we must focus on how this case and others impacts African American society and culture. We also must focus on the necessary changes African Americans must make in order to survive in a world that does not value black lives.

The movie Forrest Gump played by Tom Hank is a story about Forest Gump a simple man and his journey through life. Gump was simple minded and lived his life by a set of values taught to him by his mother (Sally Field). While Forest sat down waiting for a bus, he tells his story. Forest takes part in several defining historical moments such as the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal and also had painful experiences. Despite his setbacks and naive nature, he struggles and triumphs in everything he did. Forrest developed a good self-esteem and self-concept with the help of his mother’s observation, love, and sincerity. With his mother and Jenny’s encouragements, he was able to overcome his physical handicap and become an outstanding runner among other things. This movie is an example of the how a child’s mind developed through series of stages. This paper shows the following key points; intellectual disability, Erickson’s intimacy vs isolation, low self-esteem, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

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

In the 1998 film, Pleasantville, the idea of defying a supreme leader and exploring new taboo ideas is demonstrated by the rebellious mural painted by Bud/David and Mr Johnson. This mural painted in vibrant colours explores ideas that are nothing short of unthinkable to the bland citizens of Pleasantville. The elements painted on the mural include representations of sex, knowledge and music, which is against the core values of this idealistic town. While Pleasantville seems to have the all-american dream with white picket fences and nuclear families, it is evident that they are lacking many of the vivacious elements present in a normal flawed life.

The film Pleasantville shows the changes in American society over the past 50 years by placing two teenagers into the Pleasantville show, which was from the 50’s. The movie depicts how there is no longer the “American Dream” and no longer a perfect way of life and the changes the world has made. The world that the teenagers come from is filled with sex, drugs, money, and is very different from the way the world was in which the Pleasantville Show took place in. Morals and values have changed in the people and in society that the teenagers came from and shows it would be impossible to return back to the kind of life style the world had in the 50’s.

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.

1. Pleasantville most closely parallels the story of Adam and Eve. The similarity presents itself using symbols and themes. Both stories naive to knowledge in the world, caring only about their lives. Both stories have individuals that are close minded to accepting values and experiences out of their comfort zone. A theme included in both stories is temptation. The temptation presents itself in Adam and Eve by the snake offering the couple an apple, the apple will give them knowledge. After eating the apple they gain both knowledge good and bad. Temptation presents itself in Pleasantville, by using Mary Sue to tempt Skip into kissing her. This opens up the door for civilians to new experiences and knowledge. Also in both stories, the

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

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

This family comes together in a time when they all need it. Phillip at one point tells Judd he’s on his side and has his back no what the situation is. Then every time Judd and Wendy meet on the roof to talk they are creating a turning point during a bad time. It can be see that each brother, sister, brother, brother, and/or mother, child moment is a growing point where something/someone else is thinking and acting different. The Altman family displays resilience by walking away at the end and assuring each other that they have their backs.

New Year’s Day, 2009, a man is brutally shot by the BART Police of Oakland, California. Fruitvale Station, written and directed by Ryan Coogler, took audiences by surprise as it resonated with twenty-two year old Oscar Grant, a man who was shot down by the BART Police. This movie takes viewers on an emotional expedition as it takes a peek into the life and death of Oscar Grant and his family. The struggles of originating from an African-American background become apparent as Oscar Grant struggles with steering away from racial stereotypes and the misunderstandings of racial profiling.

Fruitvale station, is a story about the real life Oscar Grant, a black man who was shot and killed by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer in Oakland. This film follows Grant and his last days before the shooting on New Year’s Day. Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale station was his first feature film. Coogler expressed that he was interested in making this film because he wanted people to get to know Grant, get attached, so that when a situation like this occurs again, people will care more about that human life (Wikipedia). In addition, the cast includes Michael B. Jordan (Grant), Octavia Spencer (Wanda Johnson), and Melonie Diaz (Sophina Mesa), amongst a few others. However, there is an underlying concept in this film. This film relates back to Double Consciousness and the internal conflict and struggles within African American men.

I have watched a considerable number of movies this semester so it was hard to choose which one to analyze. It came down to “Remember the Titans” or “Good Will Hunting”. However, the movie that I will be analyzing is “Good Will Hunting”. The reason I chose this movie is that it can be analyzed in many different ways. I will be analyzing different scenes of the movie and analyze them from different angles. I will be analyzing about the symbolism that is happening in the movie. I will be analyzing many different things about the movie. The first thing I will analyze in this movie is the symbolism of things, objects, colors, and