Pleasentville - Magical Realism
...ale where no one is truly living a meaningful life. Shortly after the two teens arrive they begin to notice that in this black and white world certain color starts to pop up. They then conclude that the color appearing is due to any act of spontaneity, original thought, artistic expression or even a release of ones true emotions. For example, Jennifer brings a boy into the back seat of his car and proceeds to engage in sexual activity with him. When they are finished the two kids look out of the car and notice that there is a single red rose among all the colorless flowers. This rose symbolizes true emotion and is a prime example of magical realism. Another incident of magical realism is when David goes to the library and realizes that all of the books have no writing in them. They are all filled with blank pages. The message the movie is sending here is that the town doesn’t want people expanding their minds or using their imaginations. Books such as The Catcher in The Rye are mentioned as they deal with the loss of innocence. The significance of this is that the authorities in Pleasantville do not want people to be exposed to any form of corruption. In the words of the Mayor, “anything unpleasant” will not be allowed in this town. When David realizes this he goes to the restaurant where all of the teenagers are. When he arrives at the diner he finds Jen telling the story of Huck Finn. Apparently a few of the teens wanted to hear what Huck Finn was about so Jen told them what she could remember. When David opens the book he notices that the pages are beginning to fill in as Jen tells the story. Along with the pages appearing he also looks around the restaurant and notices that certain people who are being touched by the story are beginning to come into color. The symbolism here is that they are being enlightened. This use of magical realism expresses the importance of expanding one’s mind within society. Further symbolism can be seen here as magical realism is used to protest censorship. The most prominent scene in this movie when magical realism manifests itself is when David and Jen’s T.V. mother decides to surrender to her sexual desires. At the moment of climax the tree right outside her window spontaneously bursts into flames. This burning tree conveys the amount of passion and pent up emotion that has existed inside this woman. Finally she gathered the courage to release it and as she opens her eyes she realizes that she is now in color. At this point in the movie it can be inferred that each person has their own unique way to release the color within themselves. In David’s case, he needed to stand up for himself. In Jen’s case she needed to have a deeper way of thinking. The Movie is trying to tell the audience that we all have our shortcomings in life and we need to seek them out and conquer them. Soon the town becomes divided between the people wh...