Pleasentville

Have you every seen the movie Pleasentville. It is one of my favorites. A boy with a horrible home life is obsessed with a show similar to Leave It To Beaver. When a creepy man comes along and gives him an odd remote, him and his sister are put into the show. Since these two teens are far from the "perfect" sense of reality that the show maintains, they begin to introduce flaws. When this happens things begin to turn from black-and-white to color.

This is much more than a wonderful movie. It has strong themes that are often not seen the first time watching it through. The idea of Pleasentville illustrates a simulacra. Sort of like Main St, USA, this idea of a perfect 1950's community reminds us of a better time. However, it is a time that really did not exist. There never existed a time of perfection. Even if we may think Leave It To Beaver illustrated the typical family, this is all just media's exaggeration of life.