Pleasantville Essay

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Essay Question: How is the concept of Belonging portrayed through your related text “Pleasantville” or “Othello”? The film “Pleasantville” by Gary Ross portrays many different aspects of Belonging. From the film “Pleasantville”, we learn that most individuals Belong and have a sense of Belonging. People usually Belong to more than one person, place or thing. In “Pleasantville”, most people must find a sense of Belonging from within themselves. People can also change their sense of Belonging. This is shown through the characters of Bud/David and Mary-Sue/Jennifer. The idea of Belonging in “Pleasantville” is that every single member of the town Belongs, even If they like it or not. In Pleasantville, most people find their sense of Belonging when they change colour. Belonging is portrayed in Pleasantville because everyone is a part of it. There are people who do not change colour yet still have a sense of Belonging. They all work together to form one community in which they all Belong to one another. Gary Ross uses many different film techniques to portray the idea of Belonging. Gary Ross shows In his film “Pleasantville”, that colour can help to portray Belonging. Belonging is affected by our experiences, context, attitudes, values et cetera. Colour is a visual technique that can be used in films to symbolise something, create an effect or create a mood. In Pleasantville, Gary Ross uses colour to portray the message of Belonging. An example from the film is when Bud and Mary Sue first arrive at Pleasantville: Jennifer: And I still don't see why we're doing this! David: Because we're supposed to be in school. Jennifer: We're supposed to be at home, David. We're supposed to be in colour! This visual technique of colour suggests that Mary-Sue and Bud do not Belong in Pleasantville. They are not yet in colour and they are arguing about the problem that they

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