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Worksheet for

PLEASANTVILLE

 

MOVIE LABS          comtrag.gif (3095 bytes)


Created by Sue August and TR Young: Apr., 1999

at the Red Feather Institute:
for
Advanced Studies in Sociology

David - main male character from present day ; Bud - David becomes Bud in Pleasantville
Jennifer- main female character from present day; Mary Sue- Jennifer becomes Mary Sue in Pleasantville
George Jenkins - Bud and Mary’s father in Pleasantville; Betty Jenkins, Bud and Mary’s mother in Pleasantville
Bill Johnson - Owner of the soda shop, Skip Martin - Mary Sue’s boyfriend in Pleasantville
Margaret Henderson - Bud’s girlfriend in Pleasantville ,
The Mayor of Pleasantville

Directions: Fill in the correct answer on the Scantron: 1 point each.  [Note to instructors:  I usually put in 5 extra items for movie labs the first time I give them...since there may still be bugs in the teaching or the construction of it.]

1.  In Pleasantville, Mary Sue/Jennifer became:
    *a. a good student        b. a good slut         c. a good daughter

2. In Pleasantville, David/Bud becomes:
    a. a good son    *b. a wise young man         c. a television buff

3. In real life, there has been, in the last four years:
    a. a 20% increase in good jobs    *b. a 31% decrease in jobs

4.  The major concern of the men in Pleasantville was:
    *a. family values             b. patriotism         c. rebellious youth

5. For which character was sexuality and sensuality emancipated:
    a. Mary Sue        b. Bud         c. Bill         * d. Betty

6. For which character were the endpoints of color and form extended:
   a. Mary Sue        b. Bud         *c. Bill          d. Betty

    [Note to instructors: be sure to mention Picasso's Sleeping/Weeping woman as case in point;
  
     and some students select (b) Bud...you can give 1/2 credit for that since he did help Bill a lot]]

7. When did George become colorized:
    a. When he was firm with his wife about her duties         b. when he joined the Chamber of Commerce
                               * c. When he realized that he missed his wife

8. How did Betty Jenkin’s view her colorization at first:
a. as joyful emancipation        *b. as stigma             c. as a illness         d. all of these

9. What were the class discussions in Pleasantville school about:
a. homeless people        b. sexually transmitted disease       * c.  the geography  of Main Street

10.  What kind of emancipation ruined the basketball team:
a. political        b. religious         *c. sexual         d. economic

11. What was the character of the division of labor in Bill's Soda Shop:
    a. social division    b. gender division     *c. technical division

12. What was Bill's first effort at emancipation on the job:
   * a. putting lettuce on hamburgers    b. painting nudes on the window    c.  kissing Betty

13.  Which music would be forbidden by the Code of Conduct:
    a. Perry Como singing White Christmas           c.   Johnny Mathis singing about love
    b. Jack Jones singing about Marriage            *d.  Sarah Vaughn singing 'At Last My Love Has Come Along'

14.  Where did Betty first discover her own sexuality:
    a. in conversation with Mary Sue             *b. in the bathtub         c. in the Soda Shop with Bill

15.  The men were all in agreement that they had to support the Code of Conduct.  Which theoretical perspective in our text would best be supported by that agreement about shared values:
    *a. Structural-Functionalism         b. Marxist Theory         c. Socialist-Feminist theory

16.  Why did the tree burn:
    a. the firemen couldn't put it out     *b. Betty's sexual energy ignited it    c. it was hit by lightning during the storm.

17.  what triggered Mary Sue's coloration:
    a*. reading        b. making love         c. helping Bud    d. all of these

18.  When did Bud become colorized:
    a. when he was tempted by the apple         b. when he got a girl friend     *c. when he defended Betty

19.   How did the town fathers fight the collapse of their town:
    a. segregating coloreds     b. burning books    c. trashing the Soda Shop     *d. all of these

20.  Colorization meant:
    a.  increase in status honor for women    b. decrease in power for men
               *c. expansion of the endpoints of happiness and despair

21.  Which form of emancipation was the focus of concern in the movie as a whole:
    a. political     b. economic         c. status            *d. sense and sensibility

22. Many of the women supported the men in their defense of patriarchy. Marx would refer to this support as:
    *a. false consciousness         b. ideological hegemony         c. alienation

23.  What did the Code of Conduct try to do:
    a. bring peace        *b. restore order        c. emancipate people

24. Where did emancipation take place:
    a. in the streets        *b. in the town hall        c.  in the bowling alley
           [note: you can give 1/2 credit for (a)...or not use it]

25.  What group lead the social movement toward emancipation:
   *a. young people        b. men         c. women         d. town elders