Extra Credit - Pleasantville Movie - Fatima Paulina Lopez Diaz

Pleasantville Movie Activity


Pleasantville isn’t just a charming film about teens trapped in a 1950s sitcom, it’s a surprisingly deep exploration of identity, conformity, and transformation. And when you view it through the lens of sociologist Erving Goffman's dramaturgical theory, the movie becomes an even more entertaining experience.

Goffman famously compared everyday life to a stage. In his theory, we’re all performers, constantly managing the impressions we give to others. We have a front stage, where we follow social scripts and play expected roles (think: polite customer, professional coworker), and back stage, where we can drop the act and just be ourselves.

Now enter the movie, a black-and-white TV town where everything is perfect on the surface, but rigidly controlled beneath. Everyone sticks to their script: the mothers cook, the fathers read the paper, and high schoolers go steady without much real emotion. Life is all "front stage," with no room for improvisation.

But when David and Jennifer (our modern-day teens) land in Pleasantville, they unintentionally disrupt the script. Jennifer brings spontaneity and rebellion, while David introduces new ideas and empathy. As characters begin to express their true feelings (desires, frustrations, love), they literally burst into color. It's not just a visual effect; it's a brilliant metaphor for Goffman’s theory in action.

The more the townspeople explore their "back stage" selves, abandoning rigid performances and embracing authentic emotions, the more vivid and human they become. Color represents breaking free from social roles and discovering personal identity. Goffman would have loved it.

Even the resistance to change fits his theory. Those who want to “keep Pleasantville pleasant” are trying to preserve the existing performance, terrified of the chaos that real, unscripted emotion might bring. They want the masks to stay on and the show to go on, black-and-white, safe, and familiar.

By interpreting Pleasantville through Goffman's framework, the story becomes more than a fun fantasy. It’s a lively exploration of how we perform in our everyday lives, and what happens when we dare to step off stage and just be real.

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