In society today‚ the ownership of materialistic possessions is attributed to ones happiness. People believe that success is defined as assets accumulated throughout life‚ rather than looking at achievements or accomplishments of people. In the movies Fight Club and American Beauty‚ the values of happiness are interpreted incorrectly. This interpretation is consumerism. Consumerism is the myth that consuming will gratify an individual. Consuming can be purchasing anything from a yacht to a book.
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We are under the pressure of other’s expectations since we are born. We are expected to be brilliant in school terms‚ have a successful job and make up a wonderful family. Society has established these features as the key to achieve happiness. Consequently‚ our lives are so restricted. Indeed‚ those standards could bring us stability‚ but at the same time it could make us feel sedated. What’s life without a little bit of risk? It is amazing to realize that we have still the capacity of surprising
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his personal identity gets destroyed. He also has insomnia‚ and in order to resolve it he goes to support groups for people with terrible conditions. He cries with them‚ which allows him to sleep peacefully. In Sam Mendes’ American Beauty‚ Lester Burnham is introduced as a man who seems to be living the American dream. However‚ it is far from the truth. Every day he goes to the job he hates‚ only to come home to have another dinner where he gets criticized by his wife and child who despise him. It
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http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/am.beauty.htm Journal of Religion and Film “Beautiful Necessities”: American Beauty and the Idea of Freedom by David L. Smith Vol. 6 No. 2 October 2002 “Beautiful Necessities”: American Beauty and the Idea of Freedom by David L. Smith Abstract [1] A central theme of American Beauty is the disjunction between the quests for liberation undertaken by its characters and the discoveries at which a few of them arrive. The world of the film is carefully structured
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through his camera lens perceives beauty everywhere he looks‚ so much beauty that he feels his "heart is going to cave in." Regardless‚ beauty is found everywhere in this film and is portrayed by various characters‚ symbols‚ and scenes." Lester and Carolyn are bonds that no longer hold them together. Indeed‚ all that binds them together is their own inertia about making a move to change their situation. Each is looking elsewhere for what the marriage once gave them. Lester at the beginning of the film
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sacrifice Charley’s job offer instead of his pride‚ despite his borrowing money from him. On the other hand‚ Lester has already achieved the American Dream in the film‚ American Beauty‚ which examines the detrimental effects of the suburban dream on the Burnham family. The irony is that his success does not create his happiness. Viewers are introduced to Lester’s success in the wide-angle shot of his picturesque suburban neighbourhood‚ indicating his success‚ but his voiceover reveals that looks can be deceiving
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his peculiar dress‚ thinking‚ beliefs and behavior‚ the way he expresses his emotions in a flat tone causing him to come off as indifferent‚ how he takes pleasure in solitary activities‚ and his detachment from the real world. Lester’s wife Carolyn Burnham is probably one of the most unstable of all the characters‚ whose unrealistic expectations of perfection led to her ultimate downfall. She is obsessed with the appearance of not only herself‚ but also everything associated with herself (her husband
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The camera pans out to show Carolyn Burnham snipping roses from her garden with pruning shears that match her gardening clogs. The American beauty rose is a major element of this film’s mis-en-scene. The American beauty is a breed of rose that‚ while being known for its beauty‚ tends to
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his life. After meeting Ricky and seeing how free-spirited he was Lester became inspired to turn his life around‚ all in the name of happiness. Not only does Lester struggle to be happy‚ but the people around him are all fighting the same fight. Carolyn is miserable with the life she lives and finds temporary happiness through a short-lived affair with Buddy Kane. The entire plot of American Beauty no matter which character one looks at leads to the same lesson. Happiness is not a measure of the
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Spacey’s remarkable acting performance to showing a typical American guy who hates his job and has no other interests outside of work‚ but turns into an awe-inspiring sociopath. However‚ the script was hard to believe at one time‚ and that was when Jane Burnham (Thora Birch) had complete acceptance to completely leave her old life behind and live in New York with Bently. But yet this is only a small flaw in an otherwise great
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