Nostalgia vs. History in "Pleasantville"

Paper Summary:

The paper describes how the film "Pleasantville" capitalizes on the images that were made to represent the values of containment culture; stability, family, strict gender roles and capitalism as happy and fulfilling, although they were often experienced as oppressive and confining. The paper discusses how "Pleasantville" simplifies the history of social change since the 50s into a tale of paradise that was corrupted and ultimately led to a better place. The paper explains that this serves only to pat the modern audience on the back for being so open-minded and enlightened while not actually challenging them at all.

From the Paper:

"The 1950s are remembered in the popular imagination as a time of ice cream parlors and roller-skates, of little red wagons and poodle skirts. Pleasantville relies heavily on this version of the decade, when life was simpler, people were friendly, trustworthy and neighborly, families were paramount, and a youthful optimism permeated the country (Hine, 1999, 178). This version comes largely from the images that people in the 50s made of themselves, in advertising, television, and the material culture, not from the actual experience of people living during that decade."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Biel, Steven. review of Titanic, in The Journal of American History, vol. 85 no. 3 (December 1998).
• Corrigan, Timothy. "Preparing to Watch and Preparing to Write," in A Short Guide to Writing about Film, 3rd ed. (New York: Longman, 1998).
• Hine, Thomas. Populuxe. (New York: MJF Books, 1999).
• Melody, Michael Edward and Linda M. Peterson. Teaching America about sex : marriage guides and sex manuals from the late Victorians to Dr. Ruth. (New York: New York University Press, 1999).
• Sealander, Judith. "Families, World War II, and the Baby Boom (1940-1955)", in American Families: A Research Guide and Historical Handbook. (New York: Greenwood Press, 1991).

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