Identity: Wild Cat Falling by Colin Johnson, Pleasantville (1998)

Who am I? The question sounds cliche, but lets be serious. Dont you opine there is something inside you that you cant describe, but seems to say, This isnt who I am, or who I planned to be. The texts I have read strain the picture that enculturation creates a mask, a false identity concealing the self and who we are to be. However, it is widely believed that identity is a product of socialization- that the self changes by means of our individual experiences. The persona of WCF is a victim of these processes.CJs use of shifting temporal frames wholeows us to review the personas past whilst retaining the present, demonstrating the impact of his puerility experiences on his identity. Jesse Duggan was an influential figure in protagonists formative years her fear of the western culture lead her to condition her son into gabardine society they belong to the white side of the fence. Youve got to prove you do and wear downt you forget it. She isolates him from his traditional culture and instils in him the stigmas of the lesser breed.The personas frequent self derogatory remarks about being a mongrel and born under the curse of Ham indicate how societys handling of Noongars has affected him. Socialization has isolated the protagonist, denying him his cultural identity and stifling his hopes. Throughout, the persona also remains anonymous, insinuating that his identity is amorphous. Yet we clearly see his mask I took a long look at him and sneered back in my best Hollywood crim voice. His tone is satirical, as if he knows, his crim act is not a square reflection of his identity.And in spite of this mask, his core identity can also be seen I stood on the bed, face pressed to the bars, gulping the salt-sea skag until I became part of its crashing surf and soundless depths. His mask hides his true nature, nonetheless it is revealed through his poetic sensibility. Eliots 1911 poem Prufrock is a dramatic monologue of a middle-class English-man. For him, socializat ion demands his conformity to social norms, making him feel imprisoned by its mediocrity for I have known them all already, known them all have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons.The repetition of known them all portrays life as routine without purpose. my morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin my necktie rich and modest the detail of his dress elaborately conceals his identity and his true feelings about society. Ironically, the repetition of my implies an illumination of identity, rather than its suppression. It seems the Prufrock is afraid reveal his identity may move the universe do I dare, and, do I dare? Avoiding this ultimate question, he seeks peace in oblivion I should have been a agree of ragged claws scuttling across the floors of silent seas. We are gregarious creatures, and Prufrocks desire for isolation is untenable to us. Socialization has trapped him in a rock and a hard place he may choose the peaceful oblivion of a void anyday, but he is too s cared to reject a mask that he despises in case it may change his world oh the irony The 1998 film Pleasantville explores the effects of stepping out of a uniform society. they just come to see something inside themselves thats different. This cranny is taken from below, establishing this as a functionful argument and putting David in a position of power over the crowd. He is persuading Pleasantville that embracing your core values defines you as unique special. He also colours George Parker, by revealing to him his intrinsic values dont you think she looks just as beautiful as the first day you met her? Now dont you wish you could tell her that? The proxemics in this shot exaggerates Davids emotions and influences his fathers reaction. A shot of David is taken from the courts POV, which allows for tension to rise before he moves to the side to reveal his drear father. The diagetic tone of shocked voices, coupled with the non-diagetic, soft music that swells at this new revelati on, is used to highlight the importance of this scene as unearthing your inner self. It seems to say this is the split second of epiphany, the moment when you discover this universe holds something wonderful and rare, just for you.In Davids own words if you just have the guts to look inside yourself, youll get word all that who am I to be crap alot easier to handle. WCFs persona began to confront that song or dream that had always been with him. Prufrock decided hed rather drown than face the vast emptiness of his identity. But by giving Pleasantville the choice of change, it instituted profound normative values in people love, passion, knowledge, peace, expression. both the colours of the rainbow.Though the belief that socialization morphs a person into who they are is predominant in society, it is hard to say that this is truly the case. These texts seem to emphasise the belief that socialization creates masks to conceal our core identities. Of course, socialization can shape u s. Would a beggar have the same choices as a rich man? From my perspective, socialization may have us prepare that face to meet the faces that you meet but it may never alter our core identity, which is inevitably revealed when we confront our true emotions.