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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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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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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American Beauty (1999) – Sam Mendes American Beauty is a movie that shows the journey of Lester Burnham‚ a middle aged man living in what seems to be the perfect life‚ but on the inside Lester is truly unhappy and what he describes as “already dead” in the opening voice-over scene. One truly influential scene is the scene in Lester’s office. The director used a few color techniques and angle of framing techniques to demonstrate Lester’s distaste for his job‚ and his life in general. The
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Kirsten Thouvenot 323648 kdtf4d@mail.missouri.edu Film Studies 1800 Lesson 2 Mise-en-Scène The Graduate‚ a film released in 1967‚ involves a young man going through the crisis of finding himself after graduating college. Ben Braddock is at a stand still‚ unsure of what to do with his future. The film is set in the late 60’s in a suburban upper middle class area in Southern California. Mostly‚ the movie takes place at the Braddock’s home‚ a hotel nearby‚ a University‚ and a Church. The plot does
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an average american spend about 8 hours a day on digital devices like laptop and smartphone. We spend about 2 years of our life just watching advertisements(Epstein‚ 2014). Spending this much time online can drastically affect the way we think. It has the power to change our perception from reality to a false certainty.Society tends to put more stress on women especially these days for achieving this false standards of beauty for acceptance (Kilborne‚ 2010). The true perception of beauty is often taken
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While 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
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