(Kevin Spacey) and Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening) prove that there is a big difference in appearance versus reality. With the help of Colonel Frank Fitts‚ (Wes Bentley) we learn that people cannot just be judged by their outer appearance‚ but rather by what’s inside‚ because people are not always what they seem. Lester Burnham serves as the films narrator. He is an almost middle-aged father‚ husband and advertising executive. Obviously‚ his marriage with his uptight wife Carolyn is barely hanging
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responsibility of an individuals relationship with his or her society for the sacrifices the individual makes; from the disillusionment of the American Dream to how the characters are affected or destroyed by it. In the world of Jay Gatsby and Lester Burnham‚ ideals and values are defined by their society. More specifically‚ theirs is a consumer-driven society‚ resulting in false values which place importance on materialism and hedonism‚ disregarding morality and spirituality. In The Great Gatsby‚ these
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in their lives and also focusing on trying to find their way of defining beauty. With the use of characters and facing social problems the movie written by Alan Ball is called American Beauty. Lester Burnham‚ the main character of the movie had a miserable life living with his wife Carolyn Burnham. Lester is unhappy and believes he is living the “loser” life. While having a low self-esteem daughter and a wife that is focusing on being a successful real estate agent it is hard to fix becoming a
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museum to those who live in it. In American Beauty‚ Carolyn is overwhelmed with the image her family portrays. She does not want others to see them for who they really are. She goes out of her way to make the yard‚ filled with roses‚ look beautiful. The décor of her house is fancy and it is as if she is just trying to fit in to the standards of the rest of her neighborhood or “keeping up with the jones”. In one scene‚ Lester tries to get Carolyn to loosen up and rekindle their love‚ but she panics
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the movie‚ notably as the title‚ in Carolyn ’s garden and predominantly in and around the Lester ’s affair with Angela. By placing the rose here‚ Mendes shows that although Lester thinks that having Angela may appear to be good for him‚ it is actually destructive for both of them and everyone around them. More importantly he draws parallels to the households of American suburbia‚ who appear to have realized the American Dream‚ yet like the Fitts ’ and the Burnham ’s are riddled with broken
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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 he has had for more than ten years and his family seem to hate him. Lester feels Carolyn controls him and forces him to act happy. Carolyn is frustrated as she feels she has lost
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Parental roles in American Beauty are shown through differing camera styles as the film progresses‚ to show the growth of characters and their status within the family. At the start of the film Lester Burnham is seen dropping his briefcase on the ground as Caroline Burnham‚ his wife‚ is yelling at him to hurry up. As she is yelling‚ the low camera angle shows her having a dominant position over Lester; when the scene changes to show Lester’s reaction to her nagging it is from a high
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A successful piece of social commentary selects an issue (or feature) of a society and identifies a series of aspects that contribute to that society. By doing this‚ the author raises the awareness amongst readers and makes them reconsider the accepted state of affairs and challenges a position held on those certain issues. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a severe indictment on American society in the 1920s‚ with particular emphasis on the disintegration of the American dream corrupted
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American Beauty PREEEEEEEP Themes Happiness Exists as an myth‚ goal (illusion) All the characters want to achieve it They all have different thoughts and beliefs of what happiness is and how to achieve it Lester Burnham Pursues happiness by reaching out to his true desires and ignoring what the society (mostly his wife) has to say In the end he realizes that he found true happiness‚ however he took it to a significant extent‚ by doing drugs‚ smoking pot‚ getting a cheap job‚ seeking a sexual
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In the first scene‚ medium close-up shot of a teenage girl as she talks about her disappointment in her father and that she pitys him; suggesting almost sarcastically that someone should ’put him out of his misery’ ‚another male out of shot suggests that maybe he could kill her father himself. This first establishing scene sets up the film and brings up the question why does she want her father dead‚ and does this male out of shot end up actually killing her father. The way the first scene is shot
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