As Lester from American Beauty once said‚ “This isn’t life‚ it’s just stuff. And it’s become more important to you than living. Well‚ honey‚ that’s just nuts.” This classic film is replete with themes‚ symbols and motifs‚ but the most noteworthy theme relates to everyday happiness. An individual’s happiness depends on a plethora of psychological factors such as interpersonal relationships as well as individuation and this film explores the psychological aspects that determine happiness (Hewison)
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 In American Beauty‚ 1999‚ directed by Sam Mendes‚ we are confronted with the permeating images that have consumed mainstream American life. Mendes exploits these images as constructions that we created around ourselves as a means of hiding our true selves. Mendes is able to implicate us in the construction and make us active viewers by exploiting our voyeuristic nature. In American Beauty Mendes uses the voyeuristic tendencies of the spectator to acknowledge the permeating constructed
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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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Reflection Paper American Beauty 4/14/2011 American beauty is a quirky film about a middle aged mans rebellion‚ and the live of the people surrounding him. The opening scene shoots over what appears to be the perfect suburbia. Perfect little white houses‚ friendly neighbors‚ the whole nine yards. The question is “Is suburbia perfect. is After watching this film‚ I felt the best way to go about a reflection paper was to do more of a character analysis. In the beginning of the film‚ we are
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American Beauty American Beauty‚ directed by Sam Mendes‚ exploits the overwhelming misconception of beauty‚ and of how to achieve happiness. The tag line‚ “look closer”‚ prompts viewers to look deeper into the characters and thus into themselves; something that society should also be prompted to do. The characters in American Beauty are not what they appear‚ and throughout the course of the movie‚ reality hits and many realize the life they have been living is somewhat unsatisfactory. Through
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Debra Nickles WGS 1000: Introduction to Women and Gender Studies December 9‚ 2013 American Notions of Beauty In the U.S. we are surrounded by the images of “beautiful” or what society and media considers “beautiful” to be. The media showcases a particular body type and expects everyone to strive to fulfill that body type but‚ the images of ultra-thin‚ young‚ large breasted‚ white women are far from true. These images we see are either airbrushed‚ computer enhanced or completely false (Shaw
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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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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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The results supported the aim‚ showing the existing difference in the number of number of faces recalled with direct and averted gazes. The mean of direct gaze was 5.867 and averted gaze was 5.533. The standard deviation for Direct Gaze and Averted Gaze were equal at 1.922. The level of measurement for the data set is interval. Each of the faces were ones that participants had never seen before‚ establishing equal intervals of recalling them. Although there were factors such as attractiveness‚ race
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