Pleasantville - Characters

Jennifer is first shown to the audience as a girl who tries to fit in by having sex with a lot of people to gain friends and popularity. When she enters Pleasantville, she becomes the initial catalyst by pinning down Skip Martin at Lovers Lane which changes the script in the story. From then onwards Lovers Lane becomes a place filled with people having sex, as time goes on colour is introduced where changes happen. Jennifer shows interest in the books, when she first recites the plot of a book but not remembering the rest, but Bud finishes the story and starts to write other books. Soon the library was filled with books that had knowledge inside, which created the people of Pleasantville to change and wonder about what was outside Pleasantville. Jennifer starts to enjoy reading, which shows that she has changed when she wore the glasses and changed colour. During the town riot, all books were burnt, but Jennifer could not let her ‘one and only book’ she read into the fire. At the end of the film, she decides to stay in Pleasantville because she knows if she returns back to her own world, she cannot gain more knowledge because of the state she is in and the people around her.
Betty Parker is the mother of the family, the traditional homemaker. She is always in the kitchen and always makes sure that food is ready on the table when it is mealtime. Mary-Sue teaches her mother about sex and encourages her to experiment with herself. This causes changes as she becomes coloured and in her heart as she feels other feelings and when she meets Bill Johnson, those feelings are expressed through sex. Whilst she was with Bill, George came home with no dinner and was frustrated and angry which was emphasised by the thunderstorm. George questions Betty’s disappearance of the last night and she told George that she doesn’t want to go the meeting and wishes to stay coloured forever and not cover herself up. This shows that she changed by refusing to do orders that the husband