Very pleasant indeed!
[the geography teacher uses a pointer to demonstrate, on the classroom blackboard, the world of Pleasantville, which consists of Elm Street, Main Street, and the Town Hall]
Miss Peters: Last week, class, we discussed the geography of Main Street. This week we’re going to be talking about Elm Street. Now, can anyone tell me the difference between Elm Street and Main Street? Tommy.
Tommy: It’s not as long?
Miss Peters: That’s right, Tommy, it’s not as long. Also, it only has houses, so the geography of Main Street is different than the geography of Elm Street.
[Jennifer is frowning in bewilderment. She raises her hand]
Miss Peters: Mary Sue!
Jennifer: Yeah. What’s outside of Pleasantville?
[the entire class turns to look at her]
Miss Peters: I don’t understand.
Jennifer: Outside of Pleasantville? Like, what’s at the end of Main Street?
Miss Peters: [chuckles and shakes her head] Mary Sue. You should know the answer to that! The end of Main Street is just the beginning again.
[the teacher points at the intersection of Elm and Main. The class feels released to giggle at Jennifer/Mary Sue’s clearly stupid question, and Jennifer frowns again]
What would you do if your life is all about doing routine? Where you live is merely a round street that always starts and ends in the exact same place? Welcome to Pleasantville, a town with only a few hundreds population. A town with daily routine written all over it, a town with no surprises that make themselves black and white.
This film tells a story of two teenagers from the 90’s that sucked into a 50’s sitcom called Pleasantville. What makes it interesting is how two world of “colors” and “black and white” could sent simple life moral in a sarcastic and understandable way.
Like the tagline for the movie, Nothing is as simple as Black and White.
