MYP LANGUAGE & LITERATURE YEAR 5 PLEASANTVILLE MYP LANGUAGE & LITERATURE YEAR 5

Introduction Pleasantville is a satire and critique of the black-and-white "Leave it to Beaver"-era sitcoms

Review Satire: the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. Critique: to evaluate something in a detailed and analytical way

Leave it to Beaver Many television series from the 1950s, like Leave It To Beaver gave the impression that U.S. family life was idyllic, with no serious problems.

TV in the 1950s In the 1950s, there was also tight censorship on TV: no one ever cursed, and married couples always slept in separate beds. Censorship: the practice of officially examining books, movies, TV shows, etc., and suppressing deemed unacceptable parts.

1950s Ideals Many Americans believe that the U.S. is in decline as a result of its social problems and immorality, especially when compared to the “good old days” of the 1950s when we (supposedly) were much more religious, respectful of authorities, unified in beliefs and values, etc.

Pleasantville Pleasantville challenges the belief in the supposed “good old days” in several ways.

Allegory Pleasantville is a powerful allegory of the Christian belief of original sin.

Allegory Allegory: Allegory is a figure of speech in which abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of characters, figures, and events. Original Sin: sin resulting from the fall of man, stemming from Adam and Eve's rebellion in Eden, namely the sin of disobedience in consuming from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Pleasantville Pleasantville reminds us that the 1950s weren’t really all that idyllic: racism, fear and violence were just as problematic as they are now.

Pleasantville The film also serves to show how fears can blind us to beauty and goodness, and lead otherwise good people to commit sins.