American Beauty Film Analysis

Steel Magnolias is a great movie of love, laughter, and tears. It features six strong-willed woman who "are the Steel Magnolias of the tittle…” as Roger Ebert says. The women dealt with many set backs in life, but no matter what they kept their southern grace and charm in tact at all times. In the film one of the main set backs is Shelby, one of the “Steel Magnolias” (Julia Roberts), fighting with diabetes. Shelby’s diabetes is so bad she’s not supposed to have children due to the strains it would put on her body. Although there is a risk and against her mother’s will Shelby is determined to go though with the pregnancy. In the movie Shelby must choose between having a baby, which is one of the greatest moments in a woman’s life, or

American Beauty, a film that was written by Allan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes in 1999 is a unique piece that demonstrates many sociological themes throughout the development of the plot. The characters strive to portray themselves as the All American Family. They live in a nice house, drive nice cars and seem perfectly normal to the general public, but the audience is allowed to view the deep set issues that plague the main characters; Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening), Jane Burnham (Thora Birch), and Jane's best friend Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari). As the plot develops there are many obvious parallels relating the lives of the characters to Merton's Strain

Although happiness is a more evident theme in American Beauty, the idea of liberty is substantial; specifically, because free will is difficult to find, not to mention, exceedingly rare. One of the uniting personality traits in the movie is that so many of the characters appear trapped: trapped by their fears, their existences, and their occupations. Several characters such as Colonel Fitts and his wife, Barbara Fitts conclude the film just as entombed as they were when the movie began. Additionally, character’s such as Carolyn Burnham, merely begin to free themselves from the events that bind them in the substantial moments just before the film

The movie Mean Girls is set in a high school setting. The movie starts with a new girl coming to the school as a first time public school student. Cady, the new student, is immediately accepted into a group of friends, but later invited to another. The first clique she joins pushes her to become friends with the second group. This subsequently led to a typical high school drama scene. The ways these high school students go about their normal life seem very alike to the “typical” high school. Even though the movie Mean Girls by Mark Waters, uses humor to portray some questionable realism, it effectively depicts characteristics of ordinary high school life and uses realistic characters.

The first thing I picked up in cinema class was that the size of the screen can play a huge role in the way the viewer experiences a film. American Honey by Andrea Arnold felt like one of those movies that was tailormade to be experienced to its full potential on the big screen. If I saw this movie at home on a smaller screen, there would be so many things that I would not be able to experience because of the limitation in screen size.

American Beauty is a movie that sets in suburban America. The story is about Lester, whom is a middle-aged writer working in a magazine company. He was having a midlife crisis where he felt lonely and numbed by continuous unchanging routine of his everyday life. In the movie, his wife portrayed as a successful real estate agent, but she was also going through her own midlife crisis in both her career and personal life. Lester’s daughter, Jane Bumham had alienated her parents and was going through puberty. They have a new neighbor who is a U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Frank Fitts, and he has a son, Ricky Fitts, who is a drug dealer. Lester was going to get fired from his company that he had worked for fourteen

“Life is all about moments of impact, and how they change our lives forever, but what if one day you could no longer remember any of them?”-Leo. The Vow is a romantic drama movie that takes place in Toronto and Chicago where the couple and their friends and family live. It is a movie that is based on the real life story of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter; “Kim never regain her lost memories but they are still together today, with two children”- Ebert. It was directed by Michael Sucsy, written by Abby John, Marc S, and Jason K.

American Beauty is an American satirical drama directed by Sam Mendes. It was first released in late 1999 and won many awards, among them five Academy Awards in 2000. The movie depicts the life of Lester and Carolyn Burnham played by Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening. Lester, a 42-year-old magazine writer and advertising executive, and Carolyn, an ambitious real estate agent, reside in an unidentified, well-to-do American suburb together with their teenage daughter Jane. This essay seeks to examine how suburbia affects these two main characters.

American Beauty is a 1999 film directed by Sam Mendes to portray the life of Lester Burnham, a sexually frustrated father who falls in love with his daughter’s best friend, during his mid-life crisis. American Beauty introduces many different concepts of human sexuality, such as sexual fantasy, sexual orientation, and sexual arousal. The concept of sexual fantasy appears many times throughout the movie, especially when Lester Burnham encounters Angela Hayes and fantasizes about sexual behaviors involving her. American Beauty also introduces two of the main sexual orientations, which are homosexuality and heterosexuality. Jim Olmeyer and Jim Berkley, the neighbors of Burnham family, appear in the beginning of the film as homosexual lovers and Lester and Carolyn Burnham appear as heterosexual married couple. Furthermore, Carolyn Burnham engages in an affair with Buddy Kane because she is sexually aroused by his power and reputation. Lester Burnham is also sexually aroused by the fantasies that he has with Angela Hayes. Even though there are other concepts of human sexuality in American Beauty, sexual fantasy, sexual orientation, and sexual arousal are the most relevant concepts that appears in the film.

I chose the documentary Hot Girls Wanted. I chose this documentary over the other ones because I remembered the title without having to look at the list of options again. Hot Girls Wanted follows the lives of a few young women who have entered the amateur pornography and gives their point of view. This documentary also shows just how easy it is to get involved in the industry. The first thing that I thought was interesting about this documentary was the turnover rate of young females.

The opening scene of American Beauty shows a teenage girl lying in a bed, venting her feelings towards her father. In this, the audience sees her in dull clothing and colours, minimal make-up and has greasy-looking hair. As she sits up, her hair falls around her face and she stares directly into the camera, giving a sense of unease to the audience.

In American movies there are many times basic plots, hidden themes and subliminal messages. Most of the time the producer is trying to make a point that is not clear to the audience. American Beauty is one such movie. The movie contains affection in two homosexual neighbors, a homophobic father, and a mysterious relationship between an average man and his teen neighbor.

A minority of critics and movie analysts have attempted to pick at the sexual aspect of American Beauty in hopes of uncovering a hidden meaning instead they are simply over reaching. American Beauty is a satire that aims to shed some much needed light on the hidden world that lives in the American suburban setting. Successfully accomplished by Mendes through the exposure of certain topics and sexuality undoubtably being one of them. Ricky’s father Colonel Frank Fitts a military man who brings his military world of discipline and order to the management of his family is ironically a homophobe. The irony is displayed at the last scene of the movie where its revealed that the colonel himself is a homosexual man when he kisses Lester. Likewise Lester and Jane’s friend Angela’s relationship is created upon aesthetic desire from both parties; the sexual half part of the relationship never comes to life but the relationship stirs much controversy nonetheless. Both examples provide room for the minority argument although these examples only play a part in the mocking and exposure of the hidden scandals that occur within the suburban setting and neither make it to the final message that Mendes want his viewers to walk away with. Critics believe these sexual interactions and relationships should be mentioned and stamped with a negative connotation especially that of Lester and Angela since “Only 2 of the 492 critics used the word "pedophilia" in their assessments of American Beauty”

“American Beauty” is the 90’s film version of a satire about the ideal American dream of living in suburbia. It was preceded by “The Graduate” in the 60’s, the “Stepford Wives” in the 70’s and “Ordinary People” in the 80’s. “The best films about the suburbs are inherently going to be those that peel back the veneer made of clean lawns and nice cars to investigate the real emotions beneath the surface, whether tragic, comic, wistful, or some mercurial mix of all three.” (Web Design Schools, 2008) In American Beauty the characters may look like ordinary people living in idyllic suburbia but at the same time you see the pain, frustration and regret that they’re dealing with. The cinematographer uses several techniques to convey the theme of

‘American Beauty’ is a 1999 drama film that focuses on contemporary lives of individuals having diverse personalities and identities. The movie and the main character Lester Burnham are aiming to make us realise that life can be short therefore we should lead more meaningful lives. Through this, he takes us one year back which summarises his life and those around him. Outward appearances can be very deceiving as anyone can acquire superficial impressions. In this discussion, I will be examining closely on a number of identities that is found in ‘American Beauty’.