1998

Director: Gary Ross

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy

Repression is a large issue with society.

It’s much easier to surround yourself with people that think the same way as you. That dress the same way as you. That look the same way as you.

And yet, we all crave simplicity. To go back to a time when things were easier. We romanticize the past. To avoid the current issues of the world.

I feel the same way. I miss the world pre-covid. When we weren’t so divided. When the wealth inequalities in America weren’t so clear. When things were simpler…

But they weren’t.

Everything was relatively the same. All the issues were still present. All the repression still existed. I just didn’t notice it as much. And ignorance is bliss.

So, the question is: does happiness only truly exist in a world of ignorance and denial? Or is that not true happiness?

Pleasantville is a movie about repression. And yet it tries a little too hard to be about more things.

When two modern teenagers are sucked into a 50’s black and white TV world, they slowly start to influence the residents with their progressive ways. In doing this, the black and white world slowly begins to gain color.

This movie is great visually. The change in color is so easy to understand and connect with. And the metaphor about breaking the repression of the past works very well.

I don’t like how so many people in the town gain color just from having sex, but that’s just me. It works for the film. And I really enjoyed how it’s the reverse for Reese Witherspoon’s character, how she finally gains color by basically rejecting sex.

I do wish the film stuck to a theme of repression and the fear of change, rather than turning into a direction comparison with racism. When the black and white sections of the town start putting up the “no colored” signs it just feels a little weak.

I feel like the racism angle would have been a little better if there was a single black or asian character in this film.

Aside from these minor issues, I really enjoy this movie. Any moment when a character turns from black and white to color is fantastic.

It really makes me wish that it was this easy to change people’s mind and break through their repression in real life.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️