Pleasantville setting essay - 1151 Words

Describe at least ONE important setting in the text(s). Explain how the setting helped to show the author / creator’s idea(s), supporting your points with visual and / or oral language features. The film Pleasantville written, directed and produced by Gary Ross shows a time period in American History where life was more comfortable, stable and ‘perfect’ if you would generalise it. However, as the film ironically shows, this was a time when people were more ignorant, racist and most certainly sexist. Ross demolishes this illusion of the great 1950s American society by showing how its defects are gradually changed from black and white to colour. Ross uses various settings to help show the viewer the imperfect aspects of Pleasantville’s†¦show more content†¦Betty is a clear example of costume change. In the beginning Betty wore the typical ladies dress wear,big poodle skirt etc but as betty starts gaining more knowledge and independence she starts dressing more elegantly and feminine .This shows the viewer that as the people of pleasantville gains more knowledge they start to demonstrate the idea of ‘The importance of change’ which is one of the ideas that gary ross shows us through setting. Music is an important signifier of setting and shows the idea of ‘The importance of change’ clearly throughout the film. When Jen and David first enter Pleasantville the recurring songs and motifs for example ‘Take 5’ by Dave Brubeck which is played at the beginning in the soda shop gives the town of pleasantville a very joyful and ‘pleasant’ atmosphere. This music perfectly matches the naivety of the teenagers as they engage in good,clean fun with their peers. As the idea of ‘The importance of change’ starts to appear in pleasantville,the music becomes more complex and darker to portray the new rebellious mood that has seized Pleasantville. An example of this is when the new code of conduct was issued and one of the rules were ‘In no event shall any music be tolerated that is not of temperate or ‘pleasant’ nature’.In a scene when the ‘coloureds’ were all gathered at the backShow MoreRelatedNat haniel Hawthornes Use of Words to Paint Images within the The Scarlet Letter and Hawthorne’s Political Career in the Salem Custom House761 Words   |  4 Pagesit were an autobiography. Within the introduction, He uses pathos to set the mood and setting for The Scarlet Letter. It is actually a little dismal the way he describes Salem as a dying seaport. â€Å"Life in Salem proved anything but pleasant. A dying seaport, Salem hosted a customhouse filled with appointees with little or nothing to do. They idled their time away, as Hawthorne humorously revealed in an essay on the customhouse published as an introduction to The Scarlet Letter.†(American StudiesRead MoreEssay on Andrew Jackson2054 Words   |  9 Pageshis presidency and long term. His actions may have been questioned at the time, as some still are today, but his strong-willed chauvinism in democracy is just what our country needed to hold itself together. Jackson did not have a typical family setting growing up. His father passed away before his birth, leaving his mother the single parent of three young boys. To help lighten the burden of raising young children on her own, his mother moved in with her Crawford relatives. There Jackson attended