Pleasantville (1998)

Second viewing; first viewing with original audio; previously viewed on April 2, 2002.

Brother and sister of opposite temperaments are transported into a 50s TV show set in a small town where people live very sanitized lives. They are inserted into that fictional universe by taking the place of two pre-existing characters in that show. They bring with them their own worldview, which causes a local revolution spanning natural events and human behavior. This is signalled by a gradual onset of color into that hitherto black-and-white world.

This is an idiotic film which spawned a critical response which is no less than fascinating as a window into how people's minds work. They clearly saw things which were not in the movie, but were their own preconceptions about the movie. On its Wikipedia page, there is a section about its reception; a curious fact is that Reason smartly noticed that the film was "misunderstood", but then went on to present a slightly less absurd but equally imaginary notion that the film "contrasts the faux '50s of our TV-fueled nostalgia with the social ferment that was actually taking place while those sanitized shows first aired"; in fact, the film does not "contrast" those things because it simply does not go that deep into any social issue. Entertainment Weekly was more accurate: "Pleasantville is ultramodern and beautiful. But technical elegance and fine performances mask the shallowness of a story as simpleminded as the '50s TV to which it condescends". I think "condescends" is the key word here. In its arrogance, Pleasantville forgets that its own "modern" world is just as, or even more, sanitized than the fictional version it depicts. In Pleasantville's world, 90s teenagers have very active sex lives, but are never shown getting pregnant, or concerning themselves with contraception or STDs. As a final note, the wink to "no coloreds" signs is merely opportunistic and means absolutely nothing; by the way, I do not remember having seen a single black person in this film, either in the 90s-set sections or in the 50s-set ones.

Rating: 29 (down from 35)