What happens when an idyllic town is "invaded" by the unpleasant? Terrible bloodshed has happened in the name of preserving the good old days; in the 50s and 60s, the Civil Rights Movement in America showed us what certain Americans were willing to do to maintain the status quo. And in the 30s and 40s in Germany, a man came to power to restore Germany to its former glory. The price was the lives of 12 million innocent civilians (in addition to the extraordinarily high number of soldiers). In Pleasantville, when sex and rock'n'roll (drugs were conspicuously absent) started making their influence on the town, certain people were willing to do almost anything to keep things pleasant.
More kids than adults gained color in the main part of the film (up to the courtroom scene) because kids are more willing to experiment. It was the adults who started panicking and trying to keep things pleasant, and beyond that, it was the men in positions of power who helped perpetuate the beliefs that the colorization was a fad that would "just go away". Doctors gave lame diagnoses to reassure parents that their children would soon return to normal, and the mayor makes sure to point out the downsides of the changing nature of the town (because things are no longer perfect, the high school basketball team is no longer undefeated). At first, when the changes appear to be temporary or harmless, the town elite only talk about the need for vigilance against the plague. But as time goes on, talk evolves into action.
Soon, fire and rain become threats to Pleasantville, kids start reading (HORRORS!), and the soda shop becomes a forum for controversial art. In response, the town leaders begin to perpetuate the idea that "coloreds" are different and inferior to the "true citizens of Pleasantville". There are plenty of resulting parallels to both Nazism and American racism; when David begins dating a girl who gains color before him, the guy she was plotted to get with begins treating her like she was less than human (she becomes nothing but a thing to him, and he makes a crack about her being David's "colored girlfriend"), and eventually, the Mayor creates a Code of Conduct that requires the coloreds to suppress who they have become. Book burnings and acts of vandalism against businesses of coloreds are two very powerful visual references to acts of the Nazis.
The scariest thing is that most of the people at the top, the ones pulling the strings, carried out their horrific plans with a smile on their faces. The Mayor remained extremely pleasant throughout the film; he disapproved of the vandalism against the coloreds, but he wanted the problem gone more than anyone. Here was a man who would rather enforce kindness and contentedness on people who are trying to discover the full range of emotions and mental states than accept the fact that not everyone wants to be kind and content. As the film shows, he is a very angry person deep down, and everything was easier when things were black and white.
Of course, the movie shows that even the "bad" things in life have their benefits. The first rainstorm is a treat to the citizens who choose to embrace the change, and suddenly, a colorful umbrella becomes a treasured possession. The happy times in life become appreciated because they are not a monotonous constant presence, and they can be compared to the bad aspects. If WALL-E showed us that utopia can be dangerous, Pleasantville teaches us that utopia can be boring.
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