Saturday, May 16, 2015

Pleasantville

A few days ago, I watched Pleasantville.  It's one of my favorite movies because there's so much within a relatively simple plot.  Watching it this time, I noticed the framing of this particular scene:


George has entered the bowling alley and explained that there's now real rain and that when he got home, there was no one there - and no dinner! - waiting for him.  One of the bowlers asks the mayor, "What are we gonna do, Bob?" before the camera turns to him.

The particular framing here accomplishes two things:

First, it presents Bob in a position of power because it literally looks up to him.  His speech itself shows that he has power too.  He says that "something is happening to our town" and that "it's a question of values.  It's a question of whether we want to hold on to those values that made this place great.  So a time has come to make a decision.  Are we in this thing alone, or are we in it together?"  From the framing and from his speech, it's evident that Bob wants to be - and is - the leader of those who are in it together.

Second, there are elements in this shot that illustrate the values that Pleasantville had previously adhered to - the same values that Bob refers to.  There are the bowling scores that - if I'm interpreting them correctly - have every frame as either a strike or a spare.  Every pin was knocked down.  There are also the names.  The first group has names that all start with J - Jack, Jay, John, Jim, and Jeff.  The second group seems to all start with B - Big Bob, Bill, Ben.  And in his dialogue, Bob includes two more:  "But if George here doesn't get his dinner, any one of us could be next. It could be you, Gus.  Or you, Roy.  Or even you, Ralph."  There's George & Gus and Roy & Ralph.  Between the bowling prowess and the nominal alliteration, the perfection (or maybe even the conformity) of Pleasantville is illustrated.