Lessons From Pleasantville

A Small Group Resource for Exploring Worldviews

"Every man has built a roof over his head to shield himself at the point of tension...The Christian lovingly, must remove the shelter and allow the truth of the external world and of what man is to beat upon him. When the roof is off, each man must stand naked and wounded before the truth of what is...He must come to know that his roof is a false protection from the storm of what is.” — Francis Schaeffer

The rapid change in Western civilization can be seen all around us. The movie Pleasantville is an excellent example of the growing influence of postmodernism. As Francis Schaeffer reminds us, understanding the root cause of this societal restructuring is the first step toward razing the roof of these false shelters so that we can develop more effective approaches to discipleship, evangelism, and apologetics. I have used this movie in the classroom and in several small group settings with great effectiveness. I wanted to pass along to my subscribers some of my observations in the hope they will offer you both a fresh perspective on a world that does not know Christ and a springboard for starting meaningful dialogue.

The Tool for Learning

One of the most important tools Christians can use to stay in touch with our rapidly changing culture is through the study of media. One of my favorite tools is the movie Pleasantville. The writing, acting, and cinematography work together to paint a brilliantly clear and consistent atheistic worldview. Most people will never read a philosophy book, but in Pleasantville they can see the dream of a godless reality take shape right before their eyes through the intentional secularization, pluralization, and privatization of the characters. What the astute Christian will observe is that this process leads to a Balkanized society.

Before we get into the symbolism of the movie itself, I want to define these four key terms.

Definitions

Pluralization

Pluralization weakens the foundation for a shared reality which keeps people from reaching consensus.

Privatization

Privatization leads people to hide their beliefs from the public square which results in an inauthentic life.

Secularization

Secularization strips symbols, institutions, and even people of their transcendent value, leading to the loss of meaning, beauty, wonder, and purpose.

Balkanization

Balkanization is the end of a pluralized, privatized, and secularized society, which is defined by tribalization and conflict.

Premise of the Movie

Pleasantville is a captivating parable about the search for meaning. As the story unfolds, we see two societies in conflict. Once the facade of intrinsic meaning is stripped from our minds, the movie attempts to show how only a pluralistic, secularized, and privatized society can lead to flourishing.

The central theme of Pleasantville is that meaning comes only from the reality you create for yourself.

Following is a lit of scenes from movie, including the time index (hh:mm:ss), followed by my observations. This is an excellent guide for use in a small group interested in studying the philosophy of the movie and how it can help us raze the roof on culture.

Selected Scenes

1. The Illusion of Ideals

2. The Modern Classroom

3. Bud’s Reality

4. A Colorized Reality

5. What is a hamburger?

6. The Burning Tree of Knowledge

7. Some Roads Aren’t Circles

8. The End of Shame

9. Turn on, Tune In, Drop God

10. Shame is Beauty

11. The Garden Reimagined

12. Where’s my dinner? [Clip Included]

13. They will see you!

14. Plot Twist: Absurdity is Absurd

15. No Coloreds Welcome

16. The Nietzschean god of Pleasantville

17. The Social Contract [Clip Included]

18. Pleasantville on Trial [Clip Included]

19. Jai guru deva om [Clip Included]

Scenes with Time Stamp and Commentary

1. The Illusion of Ideals

00:00:00 – 00:01:56 

The introduction establishes the ideal of the 1950s world by creating what is in reality a secularized view of the fictional town called Pleasantville. However, the movie as a whole is a success in portraying the failure of this “Pleasantville” image only because this town conveys the outward values of the era without any of the legitimate cultural, religious, or philosophical foundations.

2. The Modern Classroom

00:03:05 – 00:04:04 

This series of classroom vignettes shows the meaninglessness of modern life. This erosion of meaning is the consequence of a naturalistic worldview that embraces pluralism with nothing to tie moral value to a transcendent God.

3. Bud’s Reality

00:04:20 – 00:05:56 

The Pleasantville classroom is juxtaposed with the classroom scene from Bud’s reality (see comment on The Modern Classroom). The feeling of meaninglessness Bud feels in the modern world sits in contrast to Bud’s perception of the “perfect world” of Pleasantville. But soon the viewer will discover that both these worlds lack meaning.