Pleasantville

Pleasantville is a comedy-drama that uses basic functions of time displacement in order to say a lot. In 1998, David and Jennifer, played by Toby Maguire and Reese Witherspoon, are a brother and sister who belong to different social groups. David is an introvert who watches TV all day and Jennifer is a superficial socialite. After a mysterious TV repairman gives the constantly warring siblings a replacement remote control for their TV, David and Jennifer get transported into the TV show Pleasantville—a 1950s black and white sitcom about an idealized suburban family. David and Jennifer’s influence on this quaint community is profound and as color literally begins to bleed through Pleasantville’s monochromed world, the film becomes an intriguing commentary and comparison of societal values of the past and present.