Nosy Neighbors
The Nosy Neighbors are prisoners who became their own jailers. Each one is a Pleasantville resident who has been told the truth about the town: that the idyllic community is a slave farm, that the Board controls everything, and that the people living their quiet lives around them are livestock being fattened for sale. Each Neighbor was offered the same deal: maintain the deception, keep residents from getting curious or wandering too far, and their families will be spared from slavery. Not one person offered this bargain has refused. Not one has gone rogue.
They work with fanatical devotion. Mr. Summers, the kindly old postmaster, leads the group and freely abuses his position to keep tabs on every resident in town. Letters are read. Conversations are monitored. Newcomers are evaluated for risk. Two groups of would-be liberators have already walked into Pleasantville with good intentions. The Nosy Neighbors lured them to their deaths. The threat of losing their families is enough to make otherwise decent people commit almost any act to preserve the illusion of a peaceful life.
They work with fanatical devotion. Mr. Summers, the kindly old postmaster, leads the group and freely abuses his position to keep tabs on every resident in town. Letters are read. Conversations are monitored. Newcomers are evaluated for risk. Two groups of would-be liberators have already walked into Pleasantville with good intentions. The Nosy Neighbors lured them to their deaths. The threat of losing their families is enough to make otherwise decent people commit almost any act to preserve the illusion of a peaceful life.
