Biblical Allusion in Pleasantville Anonymous 12th Grade

The film ‘Pleasantville,’ the director, Gary Ross, utilizes biblical allusion to portray his ideas that it is good to bring knowledge into a Utopia, and to have free will. Ross refers to ideas in the Bible such as The Burning Bush, The Great Flood and Jesus, during scenes in the film. He also uses film techniques such as close-up shots, dialogue and music which all facilitate this portrayal.

Ross uses biblical allusion to portray David, the protagonist in the film, as a Jesus like figure. David symbolizes a messiah type figure, as he brings knowledge and free will to the people of Pleasantville who are innocent and live in a Utopia which restrains them from living to their full potential. This is depicted in the scene where David retells Huckleberry Finn as the teenagers don’t know the rest of the story. As he speaks, the pages are filled with words and illustrations, while the other teenagers surround him, listening intently. Ross includes close-up shots of the teenagers’ faces to capture their bewildered expressions which portray their utter fascination of this new information. In this scene, we can see that David symbolizes Jesus, as his actions are similar to those in the Bible, when Jesus tells parables to thousands of...