To begin with, you never prove, or even attempt to prove your assertion that Pleasantville is, “a strong rival” to “Avatar… in terms of asinine but aggressive cultural politics.” Avatar presents not only an anti-American but an anti-human view of reality, in which we are doomed to be mindless brutes who will destroy our environment and any other environments we come into contact with. Our only hope is to abandon being human and allow a higher form of life, a noble savage, to replace us. Pleasantville, on the other hand, is primarily a struggle between conformity and personal freedom. Putting aside what is does or does not say about 1950s America, it is at heart a story that affirms the right and the ability of people to handle their own lives. It does not end, as you claim, with, “the citizenry… fighting in the streets, and the town… reduced to rubble.” It ends with everyone and everything in living color and looking beautiful. The female lead no longer wants to be a slut and heads off for college, while the male lead realizes that the phony world of a classic TV sitcom, which he longed to live in, is not what he really wants at all. He must embrace life as it has been handed to him and make the most of it. As Greg Swann before me commented, this is, “an excellent libertarian film,” and I believe one that many conservative could also embrace.

As for the film’s view of the 50s, I think it is vitally important that we look at the world the main characters actually travel to – the world of a make believe class TV sitcom – and not confuse this with a film where characters time travel to the actual 1950s. The film does pass judgment on the present day belief that some self-described conservatives have, that we should be living in a Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, fairytale, which never actually existed. The reason why the books in Pleasantville have no text in them and the jukebox plays no “colored” music, is not because the actual 50s lacked for good art or interesting ideas, but because the mass media representations of the era, in particular the sitcoms, tended to represent a very sedate and simplified view of the time. It is not just the post-60s impression that has lead people to false assumptions and conclusions on this matter. You can show us all the Canadian public television you like, this really does nothing to counter the fact that most U.S. TV views during the Eisenhower years saw a sheltered, paired down, glimpse of the wider world. At least they had the benefit of seeing more of that world outside the idiot box, but a viewer today who watches a classic TV show is going to start from the assumption that those times were something very different from what they actually were, if taken in their totality.

I think that you have a pro-50s bias, which I completely understand. Nevertheless, I think you need to step back from your frustration with the general public’s general lack of historical knowledge and assess Pleasantville for what it is; a pretty good film.

The socialists have to attack the 50s. Taxes were extremely low, employment was low, the standard of living was higher than today and the government was far less intrusive and local. A refutation of everything the left stands for – so naturally it has to be “revised” in today’s media into a hell hole of capitalist exploitation and uptight cultural values.

I’m a bit surprised you didn’t mention Blast From the Past, which is the anti-Pleasantville, David.

Good luck with this site. I like the ideas motivating this place.