American Dream In Pleasantville

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Bernie Sanders said that “For many, the American Dream has become a nightmare”. In Pleasantville, there’s a society that is shown to be the true American Dream for many individuals. Where the father brings home the pay, women stay at home, and everyone is too friendly. However, the American Dream has changed and it happens to be different for everyone. The 1950s style of the “good life” was acceptable then , however, times have changed and so have the people. The portrayal of the American Dream in the movie is unrealistic because it is shown as a Utopia where there is no form of expression, ideas are unknown, books are empty, sex is unheard of, and art is banned. The display of the American Dream is Pleasantville is depicted as the perfect …show more content…
David being the nerd and a die-hard fan of the tv series Pleasantville. While Jennifer is shown as the popular and shallow girl of the school. David has plans to watch the Pleasantville marathon while Jennifer wants to watch the MTV concert, while fighting for the remote they break it. Within a matter of seconds a “tv repairman” appears asking David questions about Pleasantville. Eventually, the repairman gave David the remote and while turning on the power button, David and Jennifer get transported in the world of Pleasantville as Bud and Mary Sue. Pleasantville is a town that is in black and white, where firemen rescue cats from trees, books do not have writing, parents sleep on separate beds, sex is unknown, and the basketball team does not miss a shot. Jennifer changed the whole concept of Pleasantville by having sex with Skip, Paul Walker, and she slowly begins changing the minds of the students. Jennifer begins to question why nobody knows about the “outside world”, she gets people to start reading, and David shows Bill, the restaurant owner, art. By exposing people to different experiences people began to change colors. Betty Parker, the mother of Bud and Mary Sue, ends up experiencing her own revelation and falls in love with Bill Johnson and leaves her husband confused. Throughout the course of the movie people begin to change color except for Big Bob, the mayor of Pleasantville, some town members, and George Parker. Books are burned and art is banned. Towards the end of the movie David and Bill get arrested and show up to court the whole town changes to color due to David’s speech to his father and Big Bob. Once everyone changes color David returns back home and Jennifer stays in
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