Movie: Pleasantville

The people of Pleasantville do not know what fire is and how it works. So how could they have a book burning? And how would they know that the books burn?

(Names of characters don't stay with me, so forgive me). How is the brother going to explain to his real mother his sister's absence?

Skip (I believe that's his name) calls for "Sue Ann" (Mary Ann?) at 6:30 which is the time. Some time later (say half an hour) the father comes home and says "Hoeny, I'm Home". A day later, he asks his wife to be there at 6 with dinner ready. Uh, wasn't the father an hour late that day (and he showed no signs of being effected, yet)

At the court scene everyone eventually is in color. . . I'm sorry, but I'd expect a few in that meeting to have used "the makeup trick" and "be in shame," even then.

Pleasantville

I just watched this one, and it's pretty good. The special effects are spectacular!
Just a few things, some nits and some not. I'll just give them in order.
Not a Nit: When Dad comes home and Mom isn't there, I love how he goes thru the house without ever turning on the lights. It's like he doesn't know how. Which, given how the soda shop owner acted, is entirely possible. It was a nice touch.
Of course, it causes a nit. He goes out on the front porch, and the porch light is on. I don't think the other characters would have turned it on (because of the timing), so how did it get on?
A Nit: The soda guy paints a nude picture in his window. Apparently, according to other discussions in the movie, people don't really know what's under their clothes. (This makes sense if you've seen the movie.) Anyhow, the crowd tries to destroy the picture. Oddly enough, the two rocks thrown don't come anywhere near the nude body. One goes thru the face, one misses the body completely. Considering how shocked they are by the picture, I find this interesting.
Nit: Everyone starts necking, and that apparently causes them to gain color. However, the very first guy from Pleasantville who necked with Muffin never changed. Why not?
Norman asked how Bud explained his sister's disappearance. Given how much attention his mom seems to pay her kids, I'm not sure how hard it will be. But there is another question about her staying: How much good will her degree do her? A degree from a fictional school? I don't think so.
Not a Nit: But I sure freaked out when Muffin picked up her suitcase to get on the bus. I have a suitcase just like it! Had it all my life, which I guess explains it. But it sure was a shock.

That's all for now. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out.

Re: "However, the very first guy from Pleasantville who necked with Muffin never changed. Why not?"

Didn't it take ages for Muffin to change? It wasn't about sex, it was about self discovery. She didn't change until she knew what she wanted from life, not after sex.

So maybe the guy that necked with her hasn't discovered what he really wants from life yet.

If there is nothing outside Pleasantville, then from where did the visitors come when Pleasantville lost their first basketball game? The team consisting of visitors usually comes from another town or state.

The director explains this in the commentary tarck on the DVD. He says that the visiting team basically lives in Pleasantvile because they play them every day.

The rules of this universe seems odd in some ways:

1. Somehow townspeople burned books in a town where they couldn't understand the concept of fire and how it works. They should not have changed by then (otherwise the flames or their faces of hatred would change into color). Well, sex didn't change everyone either, but how could they understand a concept they haven't really heard of and only observed from one tree?

2. The father was late coming home the night "honey" was not home (Muffin's boyfriend commented it was 6:30 when he came to call for her and that was probably a half hour before father came home. The next day, he comments to his wife that she should have dinner at the table for him when he comes home at 6 p.m.)

3. When the entire town becomes technicolor, I suspect a few would be in black and white-- because they also used the "make up trick" to hide their "shame."

4. How would "Don Knotts" right what's been happening in the town?

Apparently, the film ends with Reese Witherspoon's character deciding to stay in Pleasantville.
One wonders what Tobey McGuire's character is going to tell their mom when she asks where her daughter is.

If there is nothing outside Pleasantville, then from where did the visitors come when Pleasantville lost their first basketball game? The team consisting of visitors usually comes from another town or state. >>>>>>>>>>>>>

Subway series?

Norman, about the make-up thing, wouldn't at the end, the make-up turn into color too?

I agree with Anonymous. What is Tobey going to tell his mom when she asks where Reese is?
Somehow, I don't think, "This TV repair guy, who looked an awful lot like Mr. Furley, gave us this bogus TV remote that zapped us both into the show Pleasantville. One thing led to another, and Jennifer decided to stay there." is going to cut it.

At the end, during the trial, when Bud is talking to George, the greenscreen (bluescreen?) is rather obvious. The size of George's head in relation to Bud's is very different.

My home town has two major high schools. Why can't Pleasantville?

Most 1950s TV shows were not places where the concept of fire and outsiders didn't exist.