How American Beauty Changed My Life
For those of you who have not seen American Beauty, it is about a frustrated suburban man, Lester, going through a mid-life crisis after realizing he has a crush on his teenage daughter’s friend. Lester is unhappy with life; he dislikes his wife (Carolyn), both his wife and daughter (Jane) do not respect him. Lester and his family get new neighbors, Ricky Fitts, and his family. Ricky goes to school with Jane and he likes her; Ricky like to videotape things, Jane is one of them. Ricky is a bus boy at a party, where he and Lester meet. After meeting Ricky and talking to him, Lester decides to turn his life around completely. He begins to smoke marijuana, quits his job, starts working out, and demands he get the respect he deserves. In the end, Lester catches his wife cheating on him and she kills him. I have watched American Beauty twice and after watching it I found that it changed the way I viewed the world; it changed my perspective on happiness, made me appreciate life more, and find beauty in everything.
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It has taught me to appreciate life, embrace its beauty, and it also gave me a different outlook on happiness. Watching it a first time I did not really understand it too well, I just knew that I really enjoyed it. Watching it a second time I understood the concept and meaning behind it. I was really content with the ending as well, because although Lester dies, he dies happy. He did all the things he wanted to do with his life before he dies. He learned to live a care-free life, just the way he wanted. He also learned to put himself before others and that gained him respect he also wanted. Through this movie I have learned not to make a big deal out of something small that will not even matter tomorrow. I have learned to do things for myself and not for others. I am glad I decided to watch American Beauty, I recommend it to anyone, it is a great
It has taught me to never give up hope, even when times are hard. My favorite character is Vivian. I liked her a lot because in her life, she has been through some dark times. As a young girl, she was always loving. When she grew older, that same love never died, but flourished. After getting to know Molly, she gave her that same love that she always had. Even though Vivian is an older woman, she heart never grew
Not long ago, a woman’s success was measured by the success of her husband and her domestic prowess. Today, a woman is presumed successful if she can emulate the standards of beauty portrayed in the media. Unfortunately, this subliminally enforced standard is unattainable to some women, regardless of the quality of their character. Let’s examine how western women went from being pioneering superheroes, to people who measure their worth against airbrushed photographs of impossibly beautiful women.
The movie begins with John, Sarah, and their daughters Christy and Ariel cross over the border from Canada into the United States with the mission of finding a better life and jobs. There first trouble is finding an apartment, but they eventually find one in New York City in a poor neighborhood in Hell’s Kitchen. Next, John and Sarah struggle to find jobs. John is an actor and is constantly practicing, but has no success in finding an acting job. The family faces many problems due to their poverty and John feels like it is his job to provide for them and make them feel comfortable. For example, he does all he can to find an air conditioner for them because of the extreme heat in their apartment.
The movie teaches us to look beyond the cover and into who someone is as a person. We also learn that sometimes contact with people makes us reconsider our judgement towards them, to find out the real person underneath.
My Mise-en-scene analysis is on American Beauty on page 217: number 1(The dinner scene). The frame itself is a very closed, tight shot; there is no way for the characters to escape and they're left with only confronting each other in this very little space. The shot of the camera isn't necessarily far away or close either. It's neutral, and we can see the full action of the family's dinner conversation happening right in front of us. My eyes were immediately attracted to the bright, white table and then my eyes focused on the faces of the family. The scene's texture is slightly fuzzy, and is not very detailed. But the character's faces are still recognizable. The foreground of this scene is the table with the man and woman sitting at each end; the middle is the girl-who is
I thought that It showed a lot of courage when charlie's dad went over to help defend the Lu family from the drunk townsmen who were beating jefferies farther. This was mainly because it would of been an uncomfortable position for charlie's father because he is defending the vietnamese which for everyone else in the town is wrong because of the war going on in vietnam and since lots of husbands, sons and men have gone to war against them even though the Lu family hadn't done anything wrong it's just because of their race. This has showed me how important it is to stick up for others no matter what everyone else is saying or their race or anything because a lot of the time like in this situation Mr Lu was getting beaten and his wife get hit and his son was getting bullied just because of their race even though they were perfectly nice and friendly people. Another thing this novel taught me was that if you work hard and don't give up even when someone tells you too, don't because in the end if you work the hardest it will always pay off. This was demonstrated when Jefferies played cricket and would practice so much and when he finally made the team it turned out he was actually the best player on the team and got them a lot of runs and
For me I found that to this day, the Native Americans still lead a rough life due to what the white man has done to them in the past. However, instead of buckling under the pressure of centuries, much of their culture still struggles and lives on inside each successive generation. I would recommend this movie to anyone, and I'm sure that I will end up sending it to my family back home. Not only would I recommend watching the movie, but I would urge all to see beneath the surface story and find the hidden messages underneath.
Lester is bullied throughout school by Sam Hes, who picks on him, later returning into his adult life to continue mocking him and calling him a “nigga” (Fargo, 2014). His job isn't going well, while he has a highly successful brother who constantly puts him down and his wife belittles him saying he is “not a man”, but rather a “loser” (Fargo, 2014). These factors all contribute to Lester's self worth hitting rock bottom. One day, his wife's mockery becomes too much for him to handle and, in a fit of rage, Lester hacks her to death. Due to Lester's traumatic bullying experience as a child and the continual bullying all through his adulthood, he becomes a sociopath.
This movie was inspiring and encouraging to anyone who is struggling with something. Overcoming his controversies in life became the main point of the movie. Knowing that this movie was based upon a true story inspires the people even more.
The movie shows the Hoover family a typical American dysfunctional family who are all at different stages of their lives. Each member of the family has their own odd quirk. The family includes Richard, the father, who gives motivational speeches on “The Steps to Being Successful” which is completely ironic because his motivational book is failing, the grandpa who is addicted to heroin, Dwayne, the son, who is slightly depressed and refuses to speak, Sheryl, the mother/wife, who is just trying to keep it all together for everyone and Frank, the uncle, had a failed suicide attempt. Abby, the daughter just landed a spot at the Little Miss Sunshine beauty contest. The whole family decides to pack up their van and take a road trip
As for the positive effects, I find it appropriate how the movie illustrates the struggles some people have to go through on a daily basis with the feelings, emotions, and their surroundings they endure. I mostly enjoy how they exhibit the recovery of it all. How even undergoing the hardest of struggles mentally, you can receive treatment for it, there are always people available, facilities willing to help that being as long as they are willing to try their very in return.
The dysfunctional American family of Carolyn, Lester and Jane Burnham a the key characters within American Beauty, and allows viewers to distinguish the idea of how not everything within is how it appears to be without. The Burnham’s appear to have the ‘ideal’ American lifestyle
Throughout the entire film, there are lessons that are being taught. Whether is the central theme of not judging someone by their skin color but by their character or showing the essence of what the meaning of family really is. Through the setting, acting, and relationships shown it all comes together to make the perfect film. I recommend this film be seen by everyone at least once in their lifespan, because the lessons that are depicted in there are valuable. It is the perfect movie to go see with your family and makes you grateful and thankful for everyone that you have in your life. The film brings joy, happiness, tears, laughter and much more. I can truly say that the movie is worth purchasing and viewing.
The movie is a very moving, sensitive and emotional story of redemption. The tale of how a young heartless thug can change into a softhearted guardian. This demonstrates that despite the poor living conditions, awful events and how heartless someone may seem. You can adapt to your surroundings and situations, you can also transform your life. Everyone has good in them you just choose whether to value it and utilize it or not appreciate it and discard it.
Not only does this movie deal with the issues of society, but it points to biblical scriptures that help lead us in the right direction. The biggest lesson that this film taught me was that if I put my complete faith in God, then no matter what happens, he will provide, watch over, and take care of me. I learned that expressing belief in God is not enough. I have to live everyday believing and trusting him and I have to show my trust and faith through my actions and my words.