preview

Change In Pleasantville

Good Essays

During both the movie Pleasantville, directed by Gary Ross and the book “The Catcher in the Rye” written by J.D Salinger, the main characters in both stories undergo some strong emotional changes. These changes were caused by the events they had experienced during the storyline. While both Holden and David(Bud) may seem very rigid in their personalities, they both underwent a dramatic change, even during the smaller and less meaningful events. That is why life experiences can be the modeling of a person's character and behavior, even if they may impact you in the smallest way. It may be hard to see, but Holden Caulfield sure had changed through his role in The Catcher in the Rye. Being a distraught teen that doesn't really know right from …show more content…

In the movie, a change is considered when a person changes from black-and-white to color. Now as this change may seem very unpleasant for the mayor Big Bob, it always happens when someone changes for good, not for something bad they had done. As stated earlier, David happens to be one of the last people to turn color, as he at first liked the pleasantness of Pleasantville. His sister, Jennifer, was one of the first to find out as she pretty much began the change of Pleasantville with her stunts at Lovers Lane. She tries to explain to David why nobody is happy in Pleasantville, but he denies her, as he believes that Pleasantville will always remain so simple and cheerful. “David: They're happy like this. Jennifer: No, David. Nobody's happy in a poodle skirt and a sweater set.”(Pleasantville-1998). David still had not seen what Pleasantville, was all about. Throughout the rest of the movie, he slowly begins to change by little events that affect him. He fell in love with Margaret, who turned into a colored girl thanks to him. During one there dates at Lovers Lane, it began to rain, something nobody had ever seen in Pleasantville. That's where he showed his true love for Margaret, when he was with her, under the rain. Then he changed Bill, the owner of the soda shop. During the period when Bill would paint on his windows and when the black-and-white trashed his shop, David really saw what kind of mess Pleasantville was. The person that changed David the most however was his “mother” so to say, Betty. After cheating on her husband with Bill, she turned color, and was made fun of by the black-and-white boys of Pleasantville. At one point, they even ganged up on her, but David came to the rescue and did something nobody had ever seen in Pleasantville. He punched the bullies and defended Betty. It was at that point he really changed, because that's the point when he changed color.

Get Access