Re: Pleasantville (was Re: Land this sucker)

["Peter T. Chattaway" <petert at interchange_ubc.ca>]

On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, Don Smith wrote:
> I still think that to criticize Pleasantville's portrayal of the 50's
> misses the point.  That film wasn't a criticism of the 50's as they
> really were: it's a criticism of someone in the 90's who wants to escape
> into a version of the 50's that never was in the first place.  It's that
> false nostalgia that is the focus of the film.

So it replaces the false nostalgia with something equally false.  The
blissful la-di-da of the black-and-white world is replaced by the blissful
la-di-da of the coloured world.  The film pretends to criticize the
pleasantness of _Pleasantville_, but it stays pretty pleasant.

> I think the director also said something to that effect in the DVD
> commentary, if memory serves.

Something like that, yeah.  FWIW, I watched the DVD and listened to the
commentary several months ago, and posted some thoughts here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/onfilm/message/4437
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/onfilm/message/4523

--- Peter T. Chattaway --------------------------- peter at chattaway_com ---
 "I detected one misprint, but to torture you I will not tell you where."
      Winston Churchill to T.E. Lawrence, re Seven Pillars of Wisdom

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References:

• Pleasantville (was Re: Land this sucker)
• From: Don Smith <dasmith at rotse2_physics.lsa.umich.edu>

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