American Beauty demonstrates how construction of spectacles can be used to obfuscate our true selves. Mendes reflects on society during the 90’s whereby technological advances had been made evident through the computer and success of the mobile and Internet. The mass production of goods‚ rapid industrialisation and urbanization enabled individuals to compare their prosperity‚ achievement and success to each other. Mendes thereby refers to “spectacle culture” developed by theorist Guy De Bord (1931
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The theme of beauty‚ and specifically American beauty‚ emerges through all of the main characters in the movie. The American Beauty could be the sultry teen Angela‚ the epitome of blonde American sex appeal. Carolyn’s obsessive tending her rose garden is a pervasive and double-sided symbol of beauty‚ as her flowers are a thin cover for the ugliness in her life. Perhaps the greatest messenger of beauty in the film is Ricky Fitts‚ the eccentric pot-smoking teenager who through his camera lens perceives
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Existentialism: American Beauty 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
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Leslie Raygoza Professor Chris Fill Appreciation American Beauty American Beauty has a lot of interesting scenes that catches the watchers attention. This film is a comedy drama that tells the story of Lester and Carolyn Burnham and their daughter Jane‚ a stereotypical American family who have a beautiful home like a typical rich family would have. This creates the illusion that they have the perfect American family. Lester is facing a mid-life crisis. His life is meaningless because of a job
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American Beauty Film Analysis The film American Beauty was a complex story of a “traditional American family” as seen by the media. The intriguing part of the film was that it showed what happens behind the doors of a “typical American family” or a family that put on a persona of a typical family. The Family Crucible written family psychiatrist Augustus Y. Napier‚ PhD‚ with Carl Whitaker‚ M.D. it tells a story of an American family who initially seeks counseling because of the abnormal and rebellious
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In Sam Mendes’ American Beauty‚ sound is an crucial tool in communicating narrative and constructing characters. Although many films use both diagetic and non-diagetic sound in their productions‚ American Beauty amalgamates both forms of sound throughout the film. In the film’s cheerleading sequence‚ the protagonist Lester‚ is watching his daughter cheer whilst the synchronous sound of cheering and clapping is accompanied by a diagetic song ‘Lights on Broadway’. The sound changes when Lester notices
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Asia is a big continent but their preference in beauty characteristics is very much alike. Pale skin‚ big eyes‚ small features are the main points of what used to be expected in an Asian woman because of high social status. Although social status is not as important now‚ Asia still holds onto their standards of an idealistic woman and uses them as a basis of what being beautiful should mean. Asian beauty‚ like any other standards of beauty can be achieved through cosmetics. Products that can be used
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it has been some time since I have seen the movie "American Beauty"‚ as I remember it‚ Kevin Spacey portrays Lester as the films main character‚ a middle aged man experiencing a mid-life crisis. After being fired from his job‚ Lester decides to return to his high school career as a burger flipper‚ smoke marijuana‚ lift weights in the garage‚ and try to impress his daughter’s high school friend. During this series of events‚ the other characters in the film go through crises of their own‚ until the
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couples who love each other even when getting to middle age‚ have a less likelihood to go through midlife crisis or at least not as much as Lester and Carolyn‚ rather than couples who fall out of love before getting to middle age. In conclusion‚ “American Beauty” teaches the audience that it is important to pursue our happiness no matter our age‚ status‚ sexual orientation nor societal
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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
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