History Film / Pleasantville

A deliberately troperrific 1998 movie starring Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire, who play main characters Jennifer and David, a pair of siblings who -- during an argument over who gets to use the big TV in the living room break the remote -- wind up TrappedInTVLand due to a strange TV repairman and a stranger magical remote; specifically, they wind up in ''Pleasantville'', an old black-and-white show portraying the stereotypical 1950s American suburb (along the lines of ''LeaveItToBeaver'' or ''FatherKnowsBest'', but even more idealistic). David is thrilled because it's his favorite show; it is a happy world where nothing bad ever happens (as a contrast to David and Jennifer's unstable home life). Jennifer, being more of a party girl, finds Pleasantville incredibly dull and wants to liven the place up. They both want to get home, and David wants to do so without upsetting the community - but the repairman gets antsy and they're stuck.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Hi, Jonathan and Riley from the BuffyVerse!

** They did. Listen to the music they listen to on the radio.

** One can only assume those same people never saw ''BackToTheFuture'', or forgot that the lustful, smoking Lorianne lived in 1955.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of a more seemingly idealistic time in America, which of course was rife with problems like censorship and racism that the film shows we have progressed from since then.

* DeadTVRemoteGag: Causes the plot.

* Deconstruction: Of a more seemingly idealistic time in America, which of course was rife with problems like censorship and racism that the film shows we have progressed from since then.

A deliberately troperrific 1998 movie starring Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire, who play main characters Jennifer and David, a pair of siblings who -- during an argument over who gets to use the big TV in the living room -- wind up TrappedInTVLand due to a strange TV repairman and a stranger magical remote; specifically, they wind up in ''Pleasantville'', an old black-and-white show portraying the stereotypical 1950s American suburb (along the lines of ''LeaveItToBeaver'' or ''FatherKnowsBest'', but even more idealistic). David is thrilled because it's his favorite show; it is a happy world where nothing bad ever happens (as a contrast to David and Jennifer's unstable home life). Jennifer, being more of a party girl, finds Pleasantville incredibly dull and wants to liven the place up. They both want to get home, and David wants to do so without upsetting the community - but the repairman gets antsy and they're stuck.

A deliberately troperrific 1998 movie starring Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire, who play main characters Jennifer and David, a pair of siblings who -- during an argument over who gets to use the big TV in the living room -- wind up TrappedInTVLand due to a strange TV repairman and a stranger magical remote; specifically, they wind up in ''Pleasantville'', an old black-and-white show portraying the stereotypical 1950s American suburb (along the lines of ''LeaveItToBeaver'' or ''FatherKnowsBest'', but even more idealistic). David is thrilled because it's his favorite show; it is a happy world where nothing bad ever happens (as a contrast to David and Jennifer's unstable home life). Jennifer, being more of a party girl, finds Pleasantville incredibly dull and wants to liven the place up. They both want to get home, and David wants to do so without upsetting the community - but the remote gets broken and the repairman gets antsy and they're stuck.

* BrickJoke: David helping put out a fire is a hilarious example. First of all the movie establishes that all the firemen in town ever do is getting cats down from trees. Later, due to the ArtisticLicenseSexEd trope above a tree bursts into flame. David catches wind of it and runs to the nearest firestation. Of course due to its pleasantry fires never happened in Pleasantville and this happens:

-->'''Jennifer''': We're supposed to be at home, David. [[LampshadeHanging We're supposed to be in COLOR!]]

** The scene where Bud and his girlfriend are in Lover's Lane. She tempts him into eating a red apple. Now what [[TheBible biblical story]] involves eating a certain Forbidden Fruit?

* FridgeLogic: A rare in-universe example, all over the place with the show. Highlighted once they enter the show's world where the things never addressed in the show simply don't exist. There are [[NobodyPoops no toilets]], there's literally nothing outside of Pleasantville, and the residents [[NoHuggingNoKissing don't even know what sex is]]. And of course, the entire world is actually monochromatic.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Hi, Jonathan and Riley from the BuffyVerse!

** Though, one would be hard-pressed to find an actual 50s sitcom where the outside world, pop music, and sexuality ''literally'' were non-existent.

* TheUnfairSex: Set up as if it's going to be played straight, but [[TakeAThirdOption takes a different path]]. The wife who finds another love interest is portrayed sympathetically... but so is her husband, who simply doesn't understand how she feels, and his defining moment is realizing how much he loves her.

* WhenDimensionsCollide

** The scene where Bud and his girlfriend are in Lover's Lane. She tempts him into eating a red apple. Now what [[TheBible biblical story]] involves eating a certain Forbidden Fruit.

* RapeIsOkayWhenItsFemaleOnMale: Jennifer goes on a date with the town jock, who she quickly manipulates into having sex with her. This is PlayedForLaughs, though at the time, the boy had no idea what sex was (or for that matter, STD's or even pregnancy), was visibly freaked out, and even mistook his erection for an "illness." Had the sexes been reversed, the boy would have been villified.

* OneSteveLimit: Averted. In the TV series, both the the mother and one of Mary Sue's friends are named "Betty."

** Also, one of the racist antagonists is even named Whitey...[[ViewersAreMorons in case you still haven't made the connection.]]

* ShallowParody: Shows like ''LeaveItToBeaver'' and ''TheAndyGriffithShow'' were not nearly as gritty and dramatic as a more modern show, but they were hardly the surrealistically-perfect world ''Pleasantville'' is. The film more parodies the modern conception of older shows than the actual shows.

--> '''David:''' Fire! ''(Confused firemen stare at him.)'' FIRE!!!! ''(They still stare.)'' ... Cat? ''(They rush to the scene.)''\\

--> '''David:''' Fire! ''(Confused firemen stare at him.)'' FIRE!!!! ''(They still stare.)'' .....Cat? ''(They rush to the scene.)''\\

''Fireman watching the tree burn:'': Where's the cat?

A deliberately troperrific 1998 movie starring Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire, who play main characters Jennifer and David, a pair of siblings who -- during an argument over who gets to use the big TV in the living room -- wind up TrappedInTVLand due to a magical remote; specifically, they wind up in ''Pleasantville'', an old black-and-white show portraying the stereotypical 1950s American suburb (along the lines of ''LeaveItToBeaver'' or ''FatherKnowsBest'', but even more idealistic). David is thrilled because it's his favorite show; it is a happy world where nothing bad ever happens (as a contrast to David and Jennifer's unstable home life). Jennifer, being more of a party girl, finds Pleasantville incredibly dull. They both want to get home though, though David wants to do so without upsetting the community.

A deliberately troperrific 1998 movie starring Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire, who play main characters Jennifer and David, a pair of siblings who -- during an argument over who gets to use the big TV in the living room -- wind up TrappedInTVLand due to a magical remote; specifically, they wind up in ''Pleasantville'', an old black-and-white show portraying the stereotypical 1950s American suburb (along the lines of ''LeaveItToBeaver'' or ''FatherKnowsBest'', but even more idealistic). David is thrilled because it's his favorite show; it is a happy world where nothing bad ever happens (as a contrast to David and Jennifer's unstable home life). Jennifer, being more of a party girl, finds Pleasantville incredibly dull. They both want to get home, and David wants to do so without upsetting the community.

* CharacterDevelopment: David starts out the film as a depressed loner who thinks of the show as escapism. Halfway through the film, he begins to display more assertive leader traits and earns his color by punching out a thug who was attacking his TV mom. Likewise, Jennifer starts as a shallow, slutty fashionista whose original intent is to shake things up, but when given a fresh start, she realizes the value of education and earns her color by breaking a date to study.
** Technically, CharacterDevelopment happens to every character in Pleasantville as they turn to color. The happy housewife ends up having an affair with another man, the soda jerk is secretly a talented artist, and so on and so forth.
** And the husband earns his when he realizes how much he truly loves his wife.
** The town judge gets his color when he discovers true anger, instead of trying to put a happy and satisfied face on for everything. So Character Development goes both ways in this film.

* ADateWithRosiePalms

--> '''David:''' Fire! ''(Confused firemen stare at him.)'' FIRE!!!! ''(They still stare.)'' .....Cat? ''(They rush to the scene.)''

* DuelingMovies: Released in 1998, the same year as ''TheTrumanShow'', both films center on folks living happily and unknowingly in a television world who eventually learn of the wonderful challenges human nature and actual reality provide.