Teenage Stereotypes In Pleasantville

Pleasantville is a film about two siblings, David and Jennifer Wagner, and how they get transported into a 1950’s TV show called Pleasantville with the help of an peculiar television repairman and a “magic remote.” Pleasantville is a seemingly perfect town with simple-minded, well mannered citizens who are unable to fathom the existence of anything that could disrupt their “pleasant” lives. When David and Jennifer arrive in Pleasantville, they have to quickly conform to their simplistic way of life but soon the two figure out that fitting into this one dimensional town is not so easy when there are obvious flaws in how their society is run. By bringing these issues to light, David and Jennifer are able to bring color to Pleasantville. Robert

betrayed on Pleasantville that David was fascinated with. Life is in fact perfect in Pleasantville;

(Intro) In the film pleasantville, people tend to value their conventions and stereotypes very highly above other things. They refuse to let things change in pleasantville because they have grown accustom to their ways, but all it takes to change this is for someone to act out and change it or defy their laws which is what a big part of the changes in this movie are about. The director Gary Ross utilizes character development to suggest the idea that challenging conventions will shape a persons identity.

Color spreads throughout the town, threatening the Mayor to change Pleasantville back to what it once was. The two adolescents had roles in the Pleasantville town as well in the real world. David and Jennifer are

“Mean girls, jocks, band nerds, geeks, and freaks” are all terms used to stereotype and group teens in the 2004 movie hit, Mean Girls. This film created controversies in the content that it delivered. The credibility of adolescents is questioned greatly in this film. Mean Girls taught us that popularity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, in fact, they taught us that it’s actually meaningless. Through extreme character development, this movie shows the viewer that at the end of the day, all of the teens are the same. They all struggle to fit in, and that’s really the moral of this hilarious, but raunchy story. Mean Girls captures the struggle that every teen seems to have at some point of where they belong and how they relate to everyone around them. The film takes those stereotypes and melds them into what all high schools should aspire to be: a community.

Change is always occurring. Our lives consist of fierce amounts of changes due to growth, change of mindset, experiences, and society. There is not a feasible way to avoid change. Changes can be positive or negative; nonetheless, it has a powerful influence on an individual’s life. The film Pleasantville is introduced through revealing the structure of society in the 1950s and comparing it with modernized society which is thoroughly divergent.

I don’t get why people like to hate so much on Bluffton. Sure its a small town, well village, but there’s nothing wrong with it. There isn’t much to do here if you’re a college student, I get that, but there’s so much the Bluffton offers us that we just choose to ignore on the daily. We don’t think about this, but how many other college kids could go to school and not really need a car. We’re lucky that everything that we could possibly need is within walking distance and if you do have to drive somewhere, well you don’t have to worry about using too much gas because it will take you less than five minutes to get there. Another thing that we don’t have to worry about is crime. You’re able to go out at night and not have to worry about anything happening to you. There’s even some people who don’t even lock their doors because that’s how much they trust the people here in the village. Ok, sometimes its hard not having anything to do here on the weekend, but the community that Bluffton has makes up for it.

Somewhere there is a town where everyone’s best friend is their next-door neighbor. Everyone here would always stop and talk about what is going on, no matter who you are. Such community does exist, but only in the small town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. The value and importance of community is shown in Our Town by Thornton Wilder using repetition and pattern of events. A few important times this is shown is the play is when Emily and George’s disagreements with each other help grow their relationship. When Howie Newsome greets neighbors while he delivers the milk across town is a significant part of Grover’s Corners’ community. Emily’s death is also meaningful to the community’s connections to each other.

High arched brows, pursed red lips, perfectly curled short hair and the coy side glance is the representation of what most young women strived for in the 1950s. They endeavour to look favourable for men in the hopes of getting married as this was their goal and purpose in life. Media influenced the scale of expectations women had for themselves and this created a misrepresentation of what a young women in the 50’s should strive for. Beauty pageants, Barbie and Marilyn Monroe emphasised on the importance of perfection, beauty, and sexuality. Although these messaged sent strong messages to younger girls, they remain in the era due to, in some way or another, lack of defying normality in the era.

The town of Pleasantville is dull and this is reflected by its lack of colour - the town is completely black and white. Black and white life is simple and uncomplicated. However

David quickly assimilates into the town, and does his best to conform to its basic norms and routines. David uses the same terminology as many of the characters in the show, and he follows the character Bud’s routine by going to his school and work. Jennifer however, does the opposite, and displays numerous examples of deviant behavior. For example, the most deviant act that she displays is when she invites skip to go with her to lover’s lane. The biggest display of affection that the people in Pleasantville engage in is holding hands, sex or even sleeping in the same bed is unheard of. Jennifer introduces the idea of sex into the town and sooner or later many of the towns teens are going to lover’s lane to do just

The 1920’s fashion was a period of liberation, change, and even more importantly a movement towards the modern era. Fashion in the 1920’s varied throughout the decade but one could see the noticeable change from the previous fashion statements and eras. At the start of the decade, women began emancipating themselves from the constricting fashions by wearing more comfortable apparel. As women gained more rights and World War I forced them to become more independent, flappers came to be, mass-produced garments became available, and artistic movements increased in popularity, one can see how the fashions from the roaring twenties characterized the time and redefined womanhood. (1920s clothing 1)

Adversity is what breaks up the pleasant. It is the obstacles we encounter, the ones that mold us and twist us and pull us, little bits at a time. In the movie Pleasantville, adversity is a force noticed only after the town began its cultural expansion. The dramatic colour change from neutral tones to bright, vibrant hues was joined by a shift in personal identities. Directed by Gary Ross, the film maintains that when confronted with adversity, a person’s identity will evolve with the purpose of coping with it. This is achieved through Betty’s challenges, such as unchanging gender roles and her colour change, and the impact these had on her individual identity.

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 Years between the 1950’s and 1960’s was an explosive time in fashion. The 50’s represented an out coming of the new generation. People began to gain their own personal style and appearance, influenced by films and singers (“Vintage Fashion”). Their styles incorporated leather, jeans, corduroy, and the ballet shoes for the girls. Men’s wear began to drastically change. Men would wear a leather jacket, with jeans that narrowed at the bottom, and a simple t-shirt (Peacock 210-211). This was the first time in history that jeans were not just worn by the working class but by all men (“Brief History”). The man’s lust for flesh grew during this time, so women’s skirts began to get shorter and the bikini was invented. Clothes were made to glorify the female body and emphasize every curve. It wasn’t until the Barbie doll was created in the late 50’s that young girls began to have a separate fashion from their mothers. Young girls would wear sweaters with full skirts or pants