Lester Burnham: In The Midst Of A Mid-Life Crisis

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

Have you ever thought about what it would be like not to be free? What would it be like not to be able to make choices? What would it be like not to be able to do what you want? It's scary to think about not being free, but even in the world today some people don't even have basic human freedoms. Lois Lowry shows us in her books The Giver and Gathering Blue what it would be like not to have freedom and how important it is that we have it.

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 only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion,” is a quote written by Albert Camus, which displays the complexity of defining the term freedom. Jean-Paul Sartre’s play “The Flies,” defines the concept of freedom as the accountability of one’s own guilt, which allows individuals to recognize their own freedom. Furthermore, an individual that accepts accountability for one’s own guilt and responsibility for the city, or complete isolation, is living in freedom. Likewise, Zora Neal Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God explores the notion of being or becoming absolutely free, finding her voice,

Ultimately, Miner exposes that american vanity is much more demanding than what it seems and that the standard of perfection through beauty is a burden put on all americans. Beauty is defined as qualities that pleases the aesthetic senses. There is no one solidified list of qualities in order to be beautiful. Beauty comes in many forms and we all find it in different experiences in our lives. Then sometimes beauty can be hidden right in plain

Finally, Myers uses a metaphor/personification to show how freedom doesn’t come by that easily. For instance, "If you born with freedom in your mouth, you got to satisfy it" (Myers #). The word freedom is a very power throughout the book, it shows how the generations of the Lewis's fought to be free but could never make it there. The author compares how freedom is related to food because when you eat food, you always satisfy

No family is perfect. Although from the outside looking in, some families may be depicted as perfect, they are far from it. The theme of unhappy families being portrayed as perfect is shown in the movies American Beauty directed by Sam Mendes and Pleasantville directed by Gary Ross. American Beauty depicts the Burnham’s as being the perfect 1990’s suburb family. Lester, the father, has an office job and Carolyn, the mother, works as a realtor. They have a teenaged daughter named Jane, who is in high school. They live in a single house surrounded by a white fence and perfect shrubbery. In the movie Pleasantville, the Parkers are illustrated as the perfect 1950’s family in the sitcom named Pleasantville. Betty Parker is a stay at home mom whereas

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

In The Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, Stephen King researches freedom using various frameworks. Freedom was symbolized in the book as pin-ups, rock figures, and Jake. Andy never lost hope that he will be free again. Andy as we know was different from everyone else in prison, that’s what made him stand out. His personality is what made his escape succeed. He didn’t rush for his freedom he was wise to be patient about it. Freedom is your decision, however you must strive to get it. You need to acknowledge what your principle point in life is, if it’s to find genuine freedom, you must give all that you got. In any case, first you have to understand that you are living in a jail. You have to get a look of what's conceivable. When you encounter what genuine freedom poses a flavor like, there is no doing a reversal, paradise is conceivable in this life

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

everyday life. His limitations remain present with his declining health and lack of quality insurance. The numerous health complications seem to inhibit Lester from his dream of traveling contributing to his feelings of helplessness.

“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.

The question that the textbook poses at the very beginning of chapter four is, “Are you Free” (Chaffee, 2013, p. 172)? Most people would look at this question as pretty cut and dry and would answer a resounding yes. Philosophically speaking, it is not that easy of an answer. You have to be willing to look at the question with an open mind, and ask yourself if the choices you make are truly free or if they are governed by forces outside of your control.

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.

I utilize two scenes from the movie American Beauty, the two office scenes including Lester (Kevin Spacey) and Brad (Barry Del Sherman).The cinematic techniques are identified with mise-en-scene, which is the term used to portray everything 'put into the scene'. I concentrate on decor, lighting and props, costumes, body language (e.g., posture, gestures and facial expressions) and composition. I additionally take a gander at how these components are confined as far as camera stature, camera point and camera separate, all of which fall under the class of cinematography. The scene seems right off the bat the movie. Toward the start of American Beauty, the hero, Lester Burnham is disappointed with his life. At home he and his materialistic, aspiring