MovieChat Forums > Pleasantville (1998) Discussion > reminds me of a great short story, 'It's...

reminds me of a great short story, 'It's a Good Life'

posted 11 years ago by tommix42
2 replies | jump to latest

Pleasantville has an evil twin, and its name is Peaksville. A writer named Jerome Bixby wrote a great short story in which a child was born with some kind of god-like psychic powers, and could basically do ANYTHING to anyone, without even touching the other person. Everyone was so scared, they decided the only way to live was by pretending that everything was fine, everything was pleasant, everything was perfect, all the time. It wasn't because they didn't know any better, like in Pleasantville. It was because they DID know what the alternative was to everything being "pleasant" all the time, and they were too terrified to choose it. It's really worth reading if you get a chance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_a_Good_Life

hey, here it is online:
http://ciscohouston.com/docs/docs/greats/its_a_good_life.html

Who's... laughing... NOW?!? BZZZZZZ (hack hack spurt spurt) HA HA HAAA BZZZZZ HA HA HAAA

[–] sflowers539 11 years ago

I am familiar with the short story due to the Twilight Zone, I always thought it would be awesome if they made a much more dark remake of this story. Maybe make a final physical battle between the colored kids and parents vs. the black and white traditionalists where many people are killed. Imagine all the cool events that could lead up to the final battle in terms of acts of rebellion by the kids, and acts of authority by the traditionalists. Of course this will never happen as there will not be a big enough market for it, it only exists in the minds of sadistic nut cases like me.

[–] tomtac 9 years ago

Really good point to bring up! The awful truth about Pleasantville the town, one that David didn't get until Jennifer rubbed his nose in it, is that everyone in the two HAD to act pleasant. The soda guy couldn't say "I don't like wiping the counter clean the same way all the time."

No matter how they felt, they had to act the part.

(Quick aside here: Remember that this show (and 'Donna Reed' and 'Father Knows Best' and 'Leave It to Beaver) were all just shows, not real.)

Um. No matter how they felt, they had to act the part.

So the "It's a GOOD Life!" story is the very same thing played out. They had to ACT like everything was "good". Even when they felt like screaming.

Good point, tommix42.