A person might long for something simpler. They become television characters Bud and Mary Sue Parker, the children of George and Betty Parker. They are stuck in Pleasantville. Jennifer and David prove disruptive elements. A thunderstorm lashes the normally sunny town.
Color comes to the flesh and clothes of the townspeople, one by one.
The old guard reacts, vigilante-style, against the changes. Store windows are smashed, books are burned. In an act of revolt David and an accomplice paint a colorful mural, for which they're placed on trial. David argues for emotion and the inner life. In the end, the entire town bursts into Technicolor.