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kirkomatic@hotmail.com writes:
So what do you do down there in Austin? Oh I wake up in my little room and I get my little breakfast in my little kitchen area and I go to my little job in my little town, and then come home to my little room and watch a little TV and work on my little computer. And on weekends I have a little fun going swimming in my little creek and seeing friends at their little houses with their little yards and wonder if it would all be better if it were bigger. And sometimes I venture out to the bigger cities and look at the bigger problems and go to their bigger bookstores and read bigger books about bigger people and wonder if things could be better if they were a bit bigger.

Oh to wonder if things could be different. If people could understand others as they see them on the outside without realizing the importance of what people feel on the inside. Or do we act on things while looking at only the surface, then make our judgment. Many people make decisions on things while only looking at the cover. And that is a sad fact, cause they only have a limited time, money, or energy to look at the appearance of things or people and then make a choice. Difference and change.

That is what I came out feeling, when I walked out of the new little movie titled Pleasantville. What a wonderful film. I can't express all the feelings that I had when seeing this film. But suffice it to say that you must try to go see this film only to see yourself or people you know who would foretell the troubles or even the good things that we see here in Austin.

I have to admit I grew up in a world of Pleasantville and now Austin is no more a pleasant place to grow up than little ole Houston was in fifties. I could go back to say all the wonderful things when I was growing up and stories that would fill many books. As kids, Highway 183 was a place known to us as "Hollow Rock."

But that is okay. We have to change. We, as a people in America, must progress to the next millennium. Or do we? Some of us have to change and progress? But some of us don't want to. The characters who were older or who did not want to change stayed in the shades of gray and black and white world. The tone and the mood of the film became more intense toward the end of the film because there was a point when everyone in the film wanted to change and change to the full rich colors, that seem to enrich there lives. At first glance the film seems to say that bad things like meanness, anger, sex, violence are all to foretell the change in us.

But you must remember that the main characters go from a colorful 90s world with all its bad attributes to an even stranger 50s world of black and white. Yes the film works on all levels and that is what makes it such a joy to watch. Because you are unsure what the characters or the story are going to do next. And the story is so well laid out. It is finally love that overcomes the townsfolk and makes a colorful change.

The one important thing that the film teaches us is that we may be different and we can change or we can stay the same as in our little world or we can go back to a place that is no more. An important point that hits home the most for the people who would call Sixth Street's mural a disgrace to Austin. Well, they must go see this film cause I would think that their idea of change might become enlightened. What a coincidence, that this film would come out when there is a controversy on a mural that the historical society of Sixth Street would go after the muralist and say bad things about the art. Like Jeff Daniels character says in the movie, "Would you want me to come and check with you first on what colors I use to paint the mural?" My goodness gracious, you people who say that you DON'T RESPECT ARTISTS!, go to another town. The one reason that many people come to Austin is the artist, be it music, film or art on a wall or sculpture.

There is a detachment, cause everyone in this town shouts in the newspapers and the TV, but we really never come to meet people and come to know each other. That is one of the faults that occur in our real life and the current times. Maybe as a society we have become more civil without moving on, this is surely pointed up to the facts of the riots in the streets and burning of books symbolized in the film. The one thing that the movie does teach us is that the associated violence doesn't get us anywhere, as it did not get the characters in the movie anywhere. They wanted to change, just as we do in the current times. How ironic that it is love that conquers the main obstacle.

But is the change a good thing? And I think that this is one of the many points the movie tries to make. It makes you look longer and harder at things before you react. We should be as lucky to see things and understand them before we react. The one thing that I enjoyed the most about the film was that it was not interested in preaching to the audience. It stands on its own. Go see it for itself and enjoy.
kirkomatic@hotmail.com
members.tripod.com/~KirkOMatic/index.htm

The Flick Filosopher responds:
You said, "At first glance the film seems to say that bad things like meanness, anger, sex, violence, are all to foretell the change in us." I didn't see it that way at all. Instead, the point I got was that acknowledging your feelings, even ones like anger, is important. We are all human, and it isn't normal to suppress your emotions. Acting out our so-called negative emotions is not something we should always do, but admitting to ourselves that we experience anger, lust, envy and so on is a must if we've to grow as people.

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