Racism and Representation in Pleasantville

Racism andRepresentation in Pleasantville

            Rosa Linda Fregoso goes into great detail about the representation of Chicano and Chicana people, in contemporary film making. She touches on various aspects from gender to “the trinity” of analyzing film making by looking at “by, for, about” (Fregoso, Intro: pp 5). This mode of analyzation looks at who is making the film, who is the films target audience, and who or what does the film center around. She touches on other problematic aspects of Chicano and Chicana representation in film like “Gangxploitation” genres that have emerged in recent years that suggest that many if not all Chicano/a people are affiliate with some level of gang activity (Fregoso, 5-6). In addition to this, the genre also simplifies their culture to a stereotype and with a lot of negative tropes associated with it.

            Fregoso goes into further detail in another article where she analyzes and critiques a specific film, Mi Vida Loca. In the article, Fregoso points out problematic representation in the film relating again to negative stereotypes and brings to question who should or shouldn’t represent, replicate, or focus on Chicano/a peoples and culture in film. A particular film that first came to mind when thinking about representation and race or gender was the 1998 film, Pleasantville.

            The film follows two teenage siblings in the 1990’s that are thrust into a 1950’s television program that is in black and white. There are many aspects of the film’s rhetoric that are brought to light regarding gender, race, and conformity, however the most forward example is the commentary on racism in the film. The characters, having been thrust into a television show in black and white and are initially forced to confront the day-to-day activities of various characters in a nuclear family setting. Things begin to change however when the siblings break the cycle of their supposed routines begin thinking for themselves and they are then pictured in color while everything else around them remains in black and white. Other characters begin to follow in this pattern and oppose their routines and they too are then seen in color. Things are fine until the television community that they are in begins to notice this change and they become troubled and concerned, referring to them as “colored people.”

This is the most forward metaphor that the film presents while also commenting on gender roles as well. The film focuses on characters that have in some way opposed the norms off the community and they become the “colored” people. One slightly problematic aspect of the film is the fact that the entire cast is composed of white men and women when their commentary on racism is such a huge part of its rhetoric. The scene in particular that I provide demonstrates one of the character’s initial fears as she is othered for being colored. She is soon very unapologetic for her new-found color and freedom from her husband that begins driving the plot further towards the resolution.

Overall, the film’s representation, or commentary rather, of race is a main aspect of the plot that brings to question who should be portrayed in a film that revolves around race and racism and other such conflicts that can emerge from it in film and culture.

Film Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvpLgUs-hmw


Citations:

• ·      “Pleasantville (1998).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0120789/?ref_=ttawd_awd_tt.
• ·      “Pleasantville Clip.” YouTube, YouTube, 8 Dec. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvpLgUs-hmw.
• ·      Fregoso, Rosa Linda. “Hanging Out with the Homegirls? Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca.” Cine Estudiantil: Chicano/Latino & Native American Student Film & Video Festival Program, 1995.
• ·      Fregoso, Rosa Linda. The bronze screen: Chicana and Chicano film culture. Univ. of Minnesota Press, 2007.