Pleasantville

Note: Your hard copy should read "Skip" instead of "Bud" in Question 20.
 * PLEASANTVILLE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS ** [[file:Pleasantville Assessment Task.docx]]


 * Beginning **
 * 1) What is your impression of the show “Pleasantville” from the Ad for the Pleasantville Marathon?
 * 2) What is the purpose of the following scenes:
 * 3) The initial TV montage
 * 4) The words: “Once Upon a Time”
 * 5) The scene where David asks a girl out
 * 6) The school montage
 * 7) What does the audience learn from the conversation between David’s mother and father?
 * 8) How does David respond?
 * 9) Why do you think David likes Pleasantville so much?
 * 10) Compare the characters of David and Jennifer, either in full sentences or in a table with two columns headed “David” and “Jennifer”.
 * 11) What clues are there that the repairman is not an ordinary repairman?


 * Entry into Pleasantville **
 * 1) How are they transported into the sitcom world?
 * 2) How have their clothes and hair changed?
 * 3) What makes Jennifer stop complaining about being stuck in 'Nerdville'?
 * 4) Make a list of the features of the Pleasantville world that are the different from today. Note significant features of the Parker home, the street, the school generally and the classroom.
 * 5) Start a table with two columns, headed “Positive Features” and “Negative Features”. As you watch the film, use the table to record the positive or good things about Pleasantville and the negative features of Pleasantville.


 * Messing with their Universe **
 * 1) What do the basketball shots symbolize?
 * 2) Why does Skip miss his shot?
 * 3) Why does David/Bud want Jennifer to go out with Skip?
 * 4) Why do you think Mr Johnson is unable to stop wiping the counter when Bud/David is late for work, and why is he unable to finish the burgers without David/Bud?
 * 5) Although David/Bud is determined to protect Pleasantville from change, he is in fact the one who inadvertently initiates a chain of events. What does he do that has far reaching consequences?
 * 6) Can you find any clues or reminders are there that they are in a re-run of a sitcom?
 * 7) What signs are there that the world is changing? What has caused these changes?
 * 8) What do you think is symbolized by Skip’s ability to see color after the date?
 * 9) Why does nothing burn in Pleasantville in the beginning? What causes this to change? What is symbolized by this?
 * 10) Why do you think the books are blank?
 * 11) Why does this change? What is symbolized by this?


 * Change**
 * 1) A weather forecast of 'high 72, low 72' (about 22 degrees Celsius) illustrates an important fact about this place. What is it?
 * 2) Why is Mr Johnson upset?
 * 3) What does David advise him to do?
 * 4) What do you think about this advice?
 * 5) At the barbershop, Big Bob, the mayor, displays his power in a telling way. Explain what he does, and what this tells us about the man.
 * 6) Betty obviously knows Bill Johnson well. Why do they see each other differently now?
 * 7) Why are Betty's cards red and all hearts?
 * 8) When Betty asks Mary Sue/Jennifer about sex, what does this tell us about her?
 * 9) Why is the fireman so pleased at the fire?
 * 10) When Margot offers her cookies to David, he tries to refuse them but then accepts them. Explain why he refuses at first, and why he accepts. What is the significance of this?
 * 11) What do the older men say is upsetting them?
 * 12) What is really upsetting them?
 * 13) How do you know?


 * Color **
 * 1) David helps his mother to disguise her new colour. How does he feel about it?
 * 2) The first painting in the art book David brings Mr Johnson is Masaccio's 'Expulsion from Paradise'(1425), about Adam and Eve being thrown out of the Garden of Eden after they have eaten of the Tree of Knowledge. Why is it an appropriate painting to show here?
 * 3) David has spent a great deal of time trying to find a way home. Now he refuses to go. Why?
 * 4) Why is Jennifer still in black and white? Why is Skip still in B&W? If it's 'not just the sex', what is it?
 * 5) When Bill Johnson shows Picasso's 'Sleeping Woman' to Betty, her reaction is different from his. What is the difference? Why is her response different?
 * 6) Why is the scene where Bill persuades Betty to take off her grey make up a pivotal scene? What is symbolized by this?
 * 7) What is the significance of Margaret's picking an apple and offering it to David? What techniques does the director use to underline this significance?
 * 8) Why does George repeat, 'Honey, I'm home,' when the house is obviously empty?
 * 9) What clues are there that Jennifer is changing?
 * 10) When Margaret asks David what it's like 'out there', what three adjectives does he use? Why does Margaret think this 'sounds fantastic'?
 * 11) Why are the kids frightened of the rain? How does David demonstrate that it is benign? How do they respond?
 * 12) Why does Jennifer become colored? What is symbolized by this?
 * 13) Why does David remain in black and white?


 * Conflict **
 * 1) Why does Betty leave George?
 * 2) Why do they burn the books?
 * 3) Why is Jennifer’s reaction significant?
 * 4) Does David punches Whitey, does he introduce violence to Pleasantville?
 * 5) When does David turn colored? What is symbolized by this?
 * 6) Why does David insist that they can still listen to Buddy Holly even though the Code of Conduct forbids it?
 * 7) Why do Bill and David still paint the mural when they know it will get them into trouble?
 * 8) What is the significance of George’s visit to Bud/David in jail?
 * 9) What is significant about the way people are seated in the town hall?
 * 10) How does David defend himself? What does he show?
 * 11) What makes the whole town turn into color?


 * Conclusion **
 * 1) Why does Jennifer decide to stay and not return to the 1990s?
 * 2) How has the relationship between David and Jennifer changed?
 * 3) The TV repairman in the van is smiling. What does this suggest?
 * 4) What is the significance of the fact that David turns off the TV when he arrives home?
 * 5) David is a different person in his interaction with his mother than he was at the beginning of the film. Explain how and why.
 * 6) The last views of Pleasantville show a very different place from the one at the beginning. What are the two most significant aspects that are emphasized in this sequence?
 * 7) Why do Betty and George laugh at the idea that they do not know what the future holds?


 * The Film as a Whole **
 * 1) What generally causes the characters to change from black and white to colored?
 * 2) List the actions that David and Jennifer take that change the world of Pleasantville.
 * 3) List the advantages and disadvantages of the changes wrought.
 * 4) What do you think is the message of the film?
 * 5) Do you agree? Why?