Analysis of the Film American Beauty

“Steel Magnolias” is a story about the close-knit relationships between six eccentric Southern women living in a small town in Louisiana. The film has a home spun, unpretentious feel to it. The plot alternates between humorous, everyday events with good-natured quips and the seriousness and heartaches to life’s unexpected crises. Through the laughs and tears, the six women learn to endure hard times and emerge from the struggles with grace and dignity. The film is set in the 1980’s with a tight knit homespun atmosphere. The Southern belles who are goofy on the outside but strong enough inside to survive any challenge that life deals them. Friendships help with a

In chapter two of The Cultures of American Film, the main focus is the establishment of studios. As demand for films rose in the early 1900’s, production companies needed to expand; this lead to the creation of large scale studios.

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

Josefina Lopez writer of the play and co-screenwriter of the movie “Real Women Have Curves” created two important characters, Ana and Carmen, to demonstrate real life issues in the Mexican-American culture. In the movie Carmen becomes the antagonist that constantly torments Ana. Several identities were pushed onto Ana, forcing her have to break through her family’s old-fashioned cultural beliefs as well as her community’s stereotypes. Ana remained resilient regardless of what her mother put her through which led to her own self-love and comfort.

When I was told to choose a movie to perform a psychoanalysis on a character. I did not know what movie to choose. After watching the two hour long film on the multiple characters that seemed to be struggling to find their inner happiness: American Beauty. I knew that I should not look any further. One character that especially stood out was, Lester Burnham. A forty-two year old father with a mid-life crisis. In the film, American Beauty Lester Burnham is portrayed as an ordinary man, with a perfect life, but of course that is far from the truth. From the outside, Lester seems to have a perfect salary, and a perfect family who lives in a perfect neighborhood. In reality, things are not

The Movie steel of Magnolias is about six women that come together in this hilarious and heartwarming story of life, love and loss in a small Louisiana parish. At the center of the group is Shelby Eatenton, newly married and joyfully pregnant, despite the fact that her diabetes could make childbirth life-threatening. Terrified and angry at the possibility of losing her only daughter, M'Lynn Eatenton looks to her four closest friends for strength and laughter as she battles her deepest fear of death in order to join Shelby in celebrating the miracle of new life.

Movies that are based on a book are not always the same. In social studies class, we read a book called Our America. The book is about two boys named LeAlan jones and Lloyd Newman becoming reporters and interviewing people in their neighborhood to show people what it’s like in the ghetto life. The movie that went with the book was very different. In the movie and the book Our America, there were many differences such as Principal Williams momentarily becoming an antagonist, Davis Isay was more important, and Lloyd’s life was focused on more in the movie.

The Hollywood movie Pretty Woman (1990) is about a prostitute in Hollywood, marrying an extremely rich businessman, in spite of her mutual distrust and prejudice. The movie contains the basic narrative of the Cinderella tale: through the love and help of a man of a higher social position, a girl of a lower social status moves up to join the man at his level.

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 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

“American Beauty”, the 1999 film, is a motion picture that more or less shows a different side of the average suburban family. Although all of the characters have significant issues, I have chosen to take a closer look at Lester Burnham. Lester Burnham is a 42-year-old businessman who is married to the career-obsessed Carolyn and they have one daughter, a teenager named Jane. One of the first scenes of the movie explains how the family works: Carolyn is driving, just like she “drives” the family, Jane is sitting right next to her in the front seat, and Lester is slouched in the backseat, visually becoming more miserable by the second.

A film that raises so many questions regarding prostitution, and drugs, Pretty Woman is a romantic comedy that was released March 23rd, 1990. Although this film was and is loved by so many, it also sparked discussions of issues in society at the time the movie came out. Pretty Woman came out as the problem of drugs, especially cocaine, was on the rise. This film also highlighted the issue of prostitution around the United States, along with the growing drug addiction, that often accompanies it. The movie Pretty Woman highlights the issues of drug addiction and prostitution causing waves in the public.

Movies and other forms of popular entertainment sources have often presented varied information and as well as misinformation about schizophrenia, most specifically in regard to its negative portrayals, which can lead to confused public opinion. In summary, majority of movies and popular entrainment media sources portrays people with schizophrenia as violent and with homicidal and suicide thoughts. In addition, most characters in these media sources are portrayed as Caucasians, males, and with supernatural abilities (Gaebel, 2011).

Ever since the Holocaust happened there has been a variety of movies and books portraying this massive genocide that changed individuals’ lives. One of these movies that portrays the Holocaust is Life is Beautiful that was directed and acted by Roberto Benigni in 1997. This particular film won Oscar awards and it’s unlike any other Holocaust movies because of its drama, romance, and comedic genre. It tells the story of a man named Guido that comes to Arezzo, Italy and works as a waiter for his uncle Eliseo. Guido falls in love with Dora, a school teacher who he calls “Princess” each time he sees her. Eventually, Guido is able to charm Dora despite her being engaged. Five years later they have a son named Giosuè, but at this point in time