Futile American Beauty

The American Dream is futile. There is not much point chasing after something that is pointless and unsatisfying once it is thought to be obtained. People thought that the American Dream was a measure of how successful you were in life. If you had a wife, two children, a nice house, two cars and a stable job you were the definition of success. If you didn’t have a few of those things, or had none at all, then you hadn’t succeeded in your life. That is not the case. Procuring the American Dream does nothing for the happiness you feel in your life.
In American Beauty, directed by Sam Mendes in 1999, the pursuit of the theme, the American Dream, is shown as futile and unsatisfying through the costume and outward appearance of Carolyn Burnham, the voiceover and body language of Lester Burnham and Lester’s flashbacks at the end of the film.

In American Beauty Carolyn’s
Carolyn’s actions for the majority of the film show that she is striving for the perfect life. She wants everything that defines the American Dream. Towards the end of the film Carolyn realizes that her idea of having everything is not the way she wants to live. Her views change and she comes to regard her love and happiness over her temporary materialistic pleasures. Voice over, the bar motif and flashbacks are used to show the change in Lester’s way of living. At the beginning of the film voice over is used to show how unhappy Lester is with his life and the bar motif is used to show how trapped he is at work and at home. As the film progresses Lester’s attitude changes and he becomes happier as he rids himself of the futile American Dream. Right at the very end Lester’s flashbacks show that his life has become much more enjoyable once he eliminated the American Dream from his lifestyle. This shows that the American Dream is unsatisfactory and futile to