Interpreting Themes In The Film 'American Beauty'

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

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

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

“Hey Brianna, meet me at 12:00 a.m. in the cafeteria so we can discuss what happened in class today.

Research conducted by Sandra L. Hanson and John Zogby concerning shifting attitudes toward the American Dream states, “lack of thrift, effort, ability, motivation, and self-control are the most popular explanations for poverty among Americans” (Hanson 571). Such explanations demonstrate the growing issues that help to create the darkness of the American Dream. In placing such an emphasis on achieving success, the American Dream belittles those unable to achieve it and allows no room for failure. Though some individuals may work hard their entire lives, they may never find the material success that others such as Ben or Charley do. Even in the case of characters who have worked their entire life, such as Willy, the lack of tangible, material success creates a false idea that they did not do enough or did not work hard enough. Concerning Willy’s career and life, Ben states, “What are you building? Lay your hand on it. Where is it?” (Miller 1271). This statement pushes the misconstrued idea that whatever success one has achieved needs to be tangible and seen, which is not always the case. It can be argued that by the end of his life, Willy had found success. Linda’s proclamation that they were “free and clear” after having finally paid off the mortgage furthers this argument (Miller 1298). Out of debt, and with the comfort of a devoted wife and loving sons, Willy had achieved a life that many can only dream. However, because he and others do not recognize love and happiness as

Of Mice and Men, a 1937 novella by John Steinbeck and American Beauty, a 1999 film directed by Sam Mendes, offer various insights into the American Dream and are both contextually driven. Both texts present the possibility of different pursuits of the American Dream and portray a multiplicity of challenges imposed by the societies of their contexts. In Of Mice and Men (OMM), through literary techniques, Steinbeck conveys the importance of the Dream of land ownership and companionship during the difficult times of

One way the author conveys the theme is through the main character’s actions. She strives to be like an American girl and is stubbornly blind

As time has went on the meaning of the American Dream has altered. When Adams trademarked the term the American Dream, the idea of it was for people to become “better and richer and fuller,” (Adams 412), but now as 20th century inventions have been introduced to society the dream has changed. People want what others have and what is portrayed as glamorous and prestigious. A prime example is Gary Soto’s recollection of his childhood obsession with wanting to be like the families he saw on the television saying, “I very much wanted to imitate [the families from Leave It to Beaver and Father

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

A blue house, red shutters, and a white picket fence with a border collie. Three kids are running around in the front lawn up on a hilltop. That is what the American dream is right? The American dream is truly in the eye of the beholder. One might think that the American dream is an apartment in downtown Los Angeles, but others might want the smell of fresh cut grass in a small suburb. It’s whatever the person who is working for it wants it to be. As we can see in the play, all of the main characters might be striving for an American dream, but none of them are striving for their same American dream.

Each character in the novel has their own interpretation of the ‘American Dream – the pursuit of happiness’ as they all lack happiness due to the

There are a few issues in the film. At last, the dead Lester clarifies how happy he was for his doltish little life and how everything was incredible (suggesting that everybody ought to be thankful for their lives.) However, numerous things in the film were not extraordinary conditions that the characters ought to have been appreciative for (American 3). I think the film would have profited in the event that he had clarified that he was thankful for having the opportunity to feel alive once more, and that he cherished his better half and little girl and wished he could have demonstrated to them the path, as he was attempting, and something along the lines of "keep the feeling of youth and energy alive in middle age" which is the thing that

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.

images as constructions that we created around ourselves as a means of hiding our true selves. Mendes is able to implicate us in the construction and make us active viewers by exploiting our voyeuristic nature. In American Beauty Mendes uses the voyeuristic tendencies of the spectator to acknowledge the permeating constructed images. Mendes, through the use of narration, the mise en scene and cinematic techniques implicates the spectator in to using their voyeuristic tendencies to deconstruct

Within the movie “Crash” each of the characters struggle to obtain and maintain the American dream, which according to Merriam-Webster’s definition is “an American social ideal that stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity; also: the prosperity or life that is the realization of this ideal”. Which coincides with the film critic Roger Ebert’s review of “Crash” stating, “’Crash’ is about different races, social status, as well as professions, which are defined by stereotyping and racism (Eberts).” Another example of the American dream is given by Mr. Soergel of the U.S. News, stating that it “includes a house, a car, plenty of food, enough disposable cash to occasionally go out on the town and a family with whom these luxuries can be shared (Soergel).”