The movie Pleasantville is very symbolic, which could be interpreted a number of different ways. Most can agree that the general thesis of the movie would be something about change. I believe that this movie is similar to The Allegory of the Cave. Pleasantville in black and white represents the cave, and enlightenment and the area outside the cave represent color.

Before David and Jennifer became Bud and Mary Sue, everything in Pleasantville was perfect. Everyone lived their day to day lives with no problems, in what seemed to be perfect bliss. Everyone in their little town was safe, ignorant and happy in their lives. Outside of Pleasantville, there was disorder, unhappy feelings, and problems. In the beginning of the movie, David is a loser at school, unhappy with his life, and his sister, Jennifer, is a little slut, all of which are in color. Inside of Pleasantville, before it was ruined, everything is in black and white, and all people are content with their lives. For example, nothing could possibly catch fire, and the firefighters only had to rescue cats out of trees. Also, the basketball team always wins and makes every single shot.

After David and Jennifer are introduced to peaceful, perfectly balanced Pleasantville, the flawless isolated ignorant community is turned upside down and ruined. When Bud tells Skip that his sister wouldn’t want to go out with him, Skip can’t make a shot, and is thus unhappy. When Betty Parker learns about sex, a tree lights on fire, the firemen do not know what to do, and only respond when they think that there is a cat stuck in a tree. Towards the end of the movie, people start to riot, smash and destroy the burger place, and burn piles of books. There is total chaos and disorder from the original peaceful community when it is introduced this contagious disease of enlightenment, shown by color in this movie.

One can make an argument that this movie portrays change and enlightenment as a good thing, but there is also substantial evidence that this movie is showing change as a bad thing. The laws of entropy apply in this movie. Pleasantville is in a delicate balance of perfect order, and when new things are introduced to throw off the entire balance, everything naturally turns to chaos and disorder.