Interactionism In The Movie Pleasantville

Pleasantville is a movie about two siblings who find their true colors with the help of others. David and Jennifer fight all the time, and when they fought over the TV remote it broke. Out of nowhere a TV repairman gives them a special remote, allowing them to be teleported into David’s favorite show Pleasantville. Pleasantville takes place in the 50s and is a black and white program. There everyone is happy, life is simple, and there are no conflicts. David and Jennifer become Bud and Mary Sue in the sitcom, and their parents and friends become the other characters in the show. Bud tries his best to make sure the show goes as it normally would, but Mary Sue has other plans. She shows the other teens different ways to show affection for each

It focuses on how we view ourselves and others. An example from Pleasantville would be the use of the words, “swell”, “gee wiz”, and “keenest”. In the movie the townspeople would communicate with each other using these words and other similar ones. Today the word “keenest” would refer to someone complimenting a person or thing. “That is the keenest dress I have ever seen”, in this sentence “keenest” could be replaced with “prettiest”. They are two different symbols, yet they both describe something as looking nice. Another example of interactionism is how men and women sleep at night. In Pleasantville, there are only separate beds for a married couple. They both have a single twin sized bed of which they sleep at night, and when they become intimate they move the beds together to make one big one. The beds symbolize how men and women respect each other, and give each other their space. The clothing in the movie also represents the interactionist perspective. All of the women wear sweater sets that modestly cover their bodies, but also make them look presentable. The men were always seen with their hair nicely done with gel, and wearing dress pants and a nice collared shirt, or the teens wore their letterman jackets. This style of clothing would make a person think of the 50s, the time the movie took place. This perspective helps bring the movie together by

This theory explains why societies fight and struggle for resources. The movie begins with a pretty big conflict between Jennifer and David. They fight and argue over the TV remote because David wants to watch a marathon, while Jennifer has a date coming over. They start to struggle and then cause the remote to be thrown across the room breaking it. This sets the scene for David and Jennifer’s relationship, but as the movie progresses there’s not only a change in color but a change in heart. Another one of the main examples from the movie is at the end when the townspeople fight one another because of the colors changing. The basic characters who have not experienced emotion are still seen as black and white, how they think things should be. While the ones that have changed color have felt the emotions they fight for what should be the new norm. The bright colors and contradicting new art everyone sees causes riots and fights to break out. All of this is taken to court where everyone witnesses the mayor himself change color, and the people began to see that changing color is something you cannot help showing, similar to one’s emotions.
Pleasantville is a movie where routine driven families go through big changes with the help of the three sociological perspectives. Each perspective guides viewers into further understanding why and how the characters begin to see color. The movie is well thought