Notes

Essay Ideas:
-Both are about imaginary worlds where people are mindless and naive.
-The main characters rebel against this mindlessness in both.
-Director Gary Ross states, "This movie is about the fact that personal repression gives rise to larger political oppression...That when we're afraid of certain things in ourselves or we're afraid of change, we project those fears onto other things, and a lot of very ugly social situations can develop".
-Robert Beuka says in his book SuburbiaNation, “Pleasantville is a morality tale concerning the values of contemporary suburban America by holding that social landscape up against both the Utopian and the dystopian visions of suburbia that emerged in the 1950’s”
-Robert McDaniel of Film and History described the town as the perfect place, "Pleasantville is a false hope. David's journey tells him only that there is no "right" life, no model for how things are "supposed to be'".
-that rebels are viewed as troublemakers, in the long run, they help a society grow for the better
- These rebels were what made these books and movie interesting because in a society, change is sometimes good. In all of these cases, change was feared and thought impossible, but eventually these changes happened, and there was a better civilization because of it.
-Pleasantville, two different worlds had different values and perceptions of a perfect and pleasant life. When David and Jennifer entered the town of Pleasantville and became Bud and Mary Sue, they were looked at differently because they knew something that the others in Pleasantville didn't know. They knew of change, color, and true beauty and because they were spreading this knowledge, they were considered rebels. After color started to spread, the town of Pleasantville was never the same and they now knew what they were missing. A rebel is defined as a minority, going against the majority. As time passed, and more color appeared, the more "rebels" there were. When these "rebels" become the majority, they are not considered different or threatening anymore.
-Once everybody changed In Fahrenheit 451, there were also rebels that existed and viewed what everyone was used to, as a living hell. The rebels that I speak of are people like Clarisse McClellan, Guy Montag, Professor Faber, and Granger. These rebels are people that are sick of the way things are and want change to occur. These characters are all bright, intelligent, and bring forth fresh and sensible ideas that nobody even thought of or considered because it was out of the norm and it was risky. To put it all in a nutshell, to be creative and original, challenges the status quo just like these rebels in Fahrenheit 451. Despite the risks and dangers involved, Guy Montag and Professor Faber tried to copy and read books. This "odd" behavior is what labeled them as radicals. When really, this "odd" behavior is what we practice everyday at English class. When we debate and challenge other people's views, we would all be considered rebels. In Fahrenheit 451, to be an American, is to be a rebel, to have freedom of speech. Guy Montag and Professor Faber were trying to spread their knowledge of books and mind-set of a high-quality society. Guy and Faber pictured a world of authors free to speak their minds and people reading without being punished, a world without firemen who burn books. When the bombs were dropped and everything was burnt to ashes, I made a realization. The society, how it was, was not normal and had to change, and it did. Because of the rebels, a new world will be built from the ashes, a world where it is acceptable to read a book and be an individual. They believe that the collective memory represented by books is the key to mankind's survival, and that this shared culture is more important than any individual. This new world will remember the rough times and learn from it. All of this change and rebirth of a new and improved world was because of these "rebels." If it hadn't been for rebels, the world would've been destroyed and would never be reborn.from black and white to color, Pleasantville was now happy again. But this happiness was not because of a boring routine, but because of beautiful change and multicolored experiences. Times change and these rebels that see differently than everyone else influence these changes. Change is what makes the world go round.
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