Pleasantville
Popular culture is the artistic and creative expression in entertainment and style that appeals to society as whole. It includes music, film, sports, painting, sculpture, and even photography. It can be diffused in many ways, but one of the most powerful and effective ways to address society is through film and television. Broadcasting, radio and television are the primary means by which information and entertainment are delivered to the public in virtually every nation around the world, and they have become a crucial instrument of modern social and political organization. Most of today’s television programming genres are derived from earlier media such as stage, cinema and radio. In the area of comedy, sitcoms have proven the most durable and popular of American broadcasting genres. The sitcom’s success depends on the audience’s familiarity with the habitual characters and the situations
“Pleasantville” Conflicts and clashes of all sizes occur throughout the movie. The conflicts cover a wide variety of subjects, from sexual morals to discovering something new about one’s own self. The movie plays out individual struggles along with tying these conflicts in with a larger story line. The setting of the story is a 1990’s family. The parents are divorced, the son is a TV watching geek and the daughter is rebellious and popular at school. The Mom is leaving for a weekend trip, Jennifer, the daughter, has a date that night and David plans an evening home watching ...
...ily instead of able bodied Americans (who they would have to pay 5 to 10 dollars per hour) are struggling in the job market. From this it can be concluded that a specific message that both films possess is that change is good and it is an essential element towards development. That is the reason why documentary film maker Michael Moore emphasizes in his documentary those American companies are required to hire Americans. In the film “Pleasantville” a great example of the above theme occurs when Jennifer points out two teenagers as proof that the citizens of Pleasantville have an abundance of potential, according to her they simply do not know any better. Two teenagers can be seen having a conversation, they seem to be engaged in a conversation but it is simply not going anywhere, but as they both begin to get physically closer the girl’s bubble gum develops colour.
Family comedies have evolved throughout the past century. What was once revered as classic has completely changed forms and turned into the comedic experience we witness today. Family sitcoms in particular have been converted to show a broader picture of how family’s interact in today’s world. This greatly appeals to today’s audiences and is what people want to see. Modern family specifically has tapped into what nontraditional families are all about and even with being so alternative has resonated with every type of family, making it one of the most popular shows on TV at the present moment. The pilot episode of Modern Family uses hyper-irony, allusions and uses references to technology to enforce comedic impact.
McCarthy, Tyler. “Sitcom success a reflection of changing society.” Daily Campus. 29 Jan. 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
As Mrs. Maslin suggests in this film Gary Ross' vision of a ingenious fantasy of ''Pleasantville'' is portrayed well. One of the very first things the films opens with is David's mom on the phone discussing parental visitation rights. The camera then flashes to David who is very obviously living vicariously through the life of Bud, the son in the sitcom, and experiencing a sense of nostalgia for a place he has never been. David imagines himself in Bud's home with hot meals that await him as he awakens in the morning and returns home from school. Even as David and Jennifer attend school in their real lives, it appears that David still longs for the perfect place of security , and, again, lives vicariously through someone else. David watches and daydreams of the conversation he wishes to have with his crush. You see him observe a cool and popular kid talking to and asking his crush out on a date. David places himself in the interaction betw...
Younger generations and the more vulnerable in society can be influenced in avoiding peer pressure, but for the individuals filled with wisdom, the shows can reflect based on American modern society. Everybody Loves Raymond and Full House are great shows who faces similar life obstacles a typical person living in the US has today. As a result, most modern family comedy sit-coms are reflecting our society’s generations and the more vulnerable. Based on the success of early family sit coms, American’s adapted to a fast pace lifestyle with the help of modern
The people that live there are extremely isolated and cut off from many things such as love, art or anything that is outside of their daily lifestyles. The Isolation that Pleasantville is in keeps the excitement and beauty of life away from the people of the town, and it causes characters such as Bill Johnson and Betty Parker much grief. Bill waited the whole year to do what he loved, painting the window of his restaurant, just once a year, and Betty has to live a lifestyle she is truly tired of. Pleasantville is so isolated from the real world that the people don't know that they can do what they want, the only thing they know how to do is to follow their daily routines and customs no matter if they enjoy them or not. This all changes however when David and Jennifer are sent into Pleasantville, Jennifer's actions causes the people of the city to become aware about sex, love and relationships, by doing that she starts to bring the town out of isolation and shows them the possibilities of what they can
The concept of change is conveyed through the film Pleasantville in various ways such as colour from black and white to a colourful Pleasantville. This film portrayed the changes that occurred in American society over the past 50 years. The movie describes various changes that occurred such as in sexual relations, violence, and family matters and roles. Pleasantville film represents the viewer with how the racial and sexual equality began and that the world we live in is not perfect. It also depicts the on-going changes in everyday lifestyles of the American citizens. Another change was the civil rights movements, reversed racism. Also, women’s liberation was submissive but not sexual. Moreover, sexual revolution the advent of the pill. Pleasantville
“Peoria State Hospital? What’s that? Oh is that the Bartonville Insane Asylum haunted house? That place is scary!” This is what pops into many people’s mind when they think of Peoria State Hospital. Peoria State Hospital, PSH, is not just a scary haunted house; it is a very important part of history. PSH was one of the first mental health facilities of its kind. Peoria State Hospital is considered a pioneer in the treatment of mentally ill patients due to the innovative treatment methods it used. PHS influenced mental healthcare not only in Illinois but across the entire United States as well. This facility became terribly downtrodden in its later years due to the launch of new local facilities and programs and the degradation of the buildings. Toward the end PSH was eerily similar to the hospitals they sought to replace. Peoria State Hospital marked a major turning point towards the improving of mental healthcare by helping people with and curing, their mental illness not only in Illinois, but in the entire country (Bittersweet).
In the film Pleasantville everything is made to be perfect. Everyday is the same day. Everything is done a certain way so there is no room for change to occur. Change is brought upon their life through Jenifer and David. They turn their world upside down and bring conflict by introducing new things they were not allowed to feel or be aware of. They slowly introduce color into their world by doing this. The “perfect” village turns into a village full of emotions and new discoveries. Through this film important concepts are demonstrated such as social class, race/ethnicity, sex/gender, and social order and institutions.
In Pleasantville, everyone is so empty in their minds. For instance, every character always did the same thing over and over. It’s like everything falls into the right way that it should be. The basketball players always score, the wives are always cooking and taking good care of the husbands and children. Husbands are working, children are little precious angels who never get in any kind of trouble. No worries, no problems, just plain good stability. There is no wrong for them because everything was in sync.
This movie is about David and Jennifer, who live in Southern America in the ‘90s which was said to be a liberal state, are sent from reality to a TV show ‘Pleasantville’ in 1950s. From reality looking through this TV show, Pleasantville looks like an ideal place for people to live in, but getting a closer look and being part of this world you actually realize that it is very different from what is shown on TV. After David and Jennifer arriving to Pleasantville, they become colorless, everything there is either black, white or gray. People then expose their conservative lifestyles with suppression of sexuality, discrimination and restrictive of personal liberty and imagination. In Pleasantville, people assume that there is no outside world other
The first topic that is found in the movie that was taught in class is conflict. Conflict is expressed disagreement over perceived incompatible goals. Although it may seem it, conflict is not always a negative thing. Conflict is needed and can help growth of relationships. Many conflicts are started because people have different conversational styles. In class, we learned that there are guidelines that one should follow in order to help prevent conflict or help solve it. The guidelines include clarifying goals, helping others save face, using constructive criticism skills, using empathic listening skills, monitoring nonverbal be...
Pleasantville is about the radical changes that happened to Americans as many started to modernize not only in technology but social reforms. Jennifer is the sister of David who was obsessed with an old television show called Pleasantville that described the perfect American family. Jennifer is a self-obsessed teenager who only cares about boys, smoking cigarettes, and basically not following the norms of society. After being transported into the television show by a mysterious old man, she is forced to act like the other teenagers despite her being the completely opposite from them. After becoming the character of Mary Sue, she begins to change others around her. Instead of their actions being dictated by external factors such as the City Council and and what seems to be right, they begin making decisions of their own. The women in the show, including Jennifer, were very limited in their rights in the world of men. They were seen as homemakers, to cook and clean for the family, but Jennifer, being Jennifer, starts to preach that they do not have to hide. There is a much higher quality of life if they can embrace the change. They come up with new beliefs such as openly showing affection, which the adults are extremely worried about. Back then, such public display was not right and made
When people think of Central Park, the thought of African-Americans once owning the land is inconceivable. Yet, this was the case 150 years ago when there once thrived a place called Seneca Village.
“A Cultural Approach to Television Genre Theory” argues that the application of film and literary genre theory do not fully translate when analyzing television, because of “the specific industry and audience practices unique to television, or for the mixture of fictional and nonfictional programming that constitutes the lineup on nearly every TV channel. 2” The goal of media genre studies, Mittell asserts, is to understand how media is arranged within the contexts of production and reception, and how media work to create our vision of the world.