Final Utopia and Pleasantville Essay 1 PDF

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Utopia and Pleasantville Essay Utopias, perfect yet imagined ideal societies, have continuously been used to illustrate the way people in society should live. Often envisioned mirrors of the present, Utopias incorporate contextual influences through the composer’s values as they are often satires, allowing the composer to effectively critique society. However, even within this perfect Utopian world, complications do arouse through repression of the individual for the greater good of society resulting into a sense of dystopia and the detachment of certain groups producing inequality within a perfectly equal world. Thomas More’s satirical novel, Utopia (1516) presents the flaws in the structure and society of Feudal England to late Feudal society, depicting an ideal and superior society based on education and monastic values. Gary Ross’ American post-modern film, Pleasantville (1998), uses anti-realism to juxtapose the societies of the 1950’s and the 1990’s to scrutinise their values, lack of individuality and flaws, depicting the positives of change to a late 20th century audience. Ultimately, Utopia and Pleasantville present prominent ideas to the concept of Utopia to contemporary society, positioning the reader to question the ideals and ramifications of such Utopias, valuing freedom and self-determination over rigid and supposedly “perfect” societies.

Utopias often present a criticism of contextual society based on the composer’s values and developments of the time, to a modern-day audience. Inspired by Plato’s Republic, Renaissance Humanist ideas of the 16th century as well as New World voyages of discovery, More believed that the source of all human misery was in the social structures built by man and could be resolved through education and social reform. Steeped in allegory, More advocated for England to become a huge monastery based on his spiritual outlook, leading him to indirectly criticise the nobility and the King, through the use of satire and the humorous techniques of absurdity and analogy. Seen within Book 1, More critiques the political corruption in King Henry VIII’s government, criticising the greed, pride, corruption and pretension in the human nature of Europe’s ruling class, using Raphael Hythloday and his Utopian world to highlight the values he believes would be suitable for an ideal society. Illustrated through, “Those who marked out for public shame on account of some crime have gold rings dangling from their ears…and even their heads are crowned with gold”, More criticises the greed and pride of the nobility and their materialism for gold, depicting it as shameful.

Likewise, Garry Ross satirises the 1990s nostalgia for the 1950’s and its supposed values by challenging the myths undesirability and lack of a real vision. As an advocate for change who values individuality and creativity, and an opposition to the nostalgia of the 1950’s, Gary Ross uses Pleasantville with its use of anti-realism as a platform to project his views, while effectively criticising present day context through techniques such as intertextuality, irony and exaggeration to an audience fully aware of the artificial process. By framing the film within a television programme, it exemplifies the unreality of the concept, encouraging the viewer to evaluate the predictability of life in Pleasantville and laugh at its pursued fantasy.

This idea is depicted within Gary Ross’ critique of the American Dream through the breakfast scene which is over exaggerated with the enormous amounts of food present, criticising the context as being too grand, gluttonous and too self-centred. By making the scene seem surreal and artificial it depicts that it has no potential of existing. By showing the negative aspects of the 1950’s, Ross attempts to show the changes in a positive light to persuade that the developments within the last forty years have been favourable, using a change in colour from greyscale to bright to exemplify these aspects. In an effort to sustain a perfect society through forced conformity, the individual often feels entrapped and repressed, and this is subsequently leads to a sense of dystopia. In an expectation to conform, a loss of individuality, freedom and creativity is experienced. Within Thomas More’s Utopia, there was a belief that the evil within the human heart was the cause of the corruption within society. Therefore the individual had to be repressed for the greater good and be educated with reform in areas of religion, education and government. Education is administered by the priests, “for they make the greatest care from the outset to instil in the pupil's minds, principles that benefit the life of the community". By openly controlling their education, the individual is oppressed and pressured to conform in order to protect their perfect utopian world, deafening the characteristics of curiosity and creativity which challenge the utopia. In terms of travel, Utopians must obtain a "Letter from the governor that both grants them liberty to travel and specifies a date for their return". This illustrates that the Utopians are constantly monitored in their day-to-day lives in a pressure to conform and stay within, portraying a lack of freedom. Since “everyone’s every action is observed in public”, there is a sacrifice of freedom with little opportunity to be themselves, ultimately leading to a sense of dystopia for the individual. Specifically, with the presence of slaves, it is evident that Utopia is not perfect, due to the presence of those who rebel as a result of the oppressiveness of society.

Likewise, Pleasantville shows the repression of the individual in an effort to keep the town “pleasant” through its forced conformity and sense of ignorance. The main rulers of the town– the Mayor and the Chamber of Commerce – are used as instruments to oppress human nature, leading to a form of totalitarian rule where citizens are denied their rights, leading to a sense of dystopia. However, the film outlines that change of the individual cannot be repressed. This idea is depicted through the motif of Betty’s makeup which outlines the pressure to conform in the monochrome utopia as she is forced to conceal her true self. This forced conformity brings a suppression of emotions, ultimately leading to emotional entrapment for the individual. However, the café scene which depicts a close up of a tear running down Betty’s face revealing her true coloured self, illustrates the internal battle of the individual within an oppressive society. The Burning Bush which symbolises Betty’s passionate awakening, is viewed as dangerous to the changing Pleasantville, changing from black and white to colour to value the change and individuality which is expressed. Betty’s rebellion illustrates that the individual outweighs social conformity and that “you can’t stop something that’s inside of you”, a message to present day society that a

perfect Utopia world is undesirable in the way it represses the individual, ultimately leading to their own sense of dystopia.

Even within a perfectly equal Utopian world, inequality still emerges amongst various groups within society. Whilst Thomas More sought for equality within his theoretical world, it still led to the marginalisation of certain groups due to the idea of hierarchy in leadership positions of the government and church officials. Most specifically, women were seen to be the inferior gender due to a patriarchal society, reflective of More’s context. This is specifically illustrated by “the oldest male rules each household; wives serve their husbands” and “husbands discipline their wives”, portraying the rigid patriarchal attitude of the male dominant households. Women, considered the weaker sex, were not encouraged to be priests and could not hold positions of power, illustrating their misuse and undervalue within society, even though equality was sought for. Especially since, “Women must receive permission from their husbands before travelling", it illustrates women’s submissiveness and mistrust within society. By projecting this idea towards today’s context, the audience feels a sense of detachment towards this Utopian world, ultimately feeling a sense of gratitude to today’s feminist revolution.

Similarly, Pleasantville also presents clear sex roles in the role and discrimination of the “coloureds”, mirroring the context of the 1950’s. Situated against the nostalgia of the 1950’s, Gary Ross criticises the context by illustrating its discrimination amongst various groups. Through the use of clear sex roles, women are depicted to be inferior to men, portrayed solely for use within the household. This idea is seen where George comes home to find his wife missing with an empty kitchen asking himself “Where’s my dinner?”, illustrating that women were only valued within the kitchen and nothing more. Gary Ross also addresses the racial tension present within the 1950’s in the discrimination of the “coloureds”. This idea is depicted in the court room where the coloured are not given a chance to defend themselves and are segregated from the black and white people, addressing the racial discrimination within the society of the time. This element is exemplified in the “no coloureds” sign in the shop window, which explicitly shows the segregation within a perceived equal society. By referring to the inequality within the context of the 1950’s, today’s context which has embraced feminism and anti-racism ideas, feels a sense of resentment towards this Utopian world, ultimately embracing the change and individuality in present society.

Overall, Utopias present ideas based upon the contextual influences of the composer to a modern-day audience. Therefore, they often address its implications in the repressiveness of the individual and the marginalisation of certain groups in society, persuading the audience to feel a sense of resentment to this perceived perfect Utopian world, ultimately admiring the values within today’s context....