The protagonists in both American Beauty and Chocolat challenge social constraint and the need to conform, in order to achieve individual freedom. Lester Burnham is a middle aged man who has encountered his mid-life crisis and has lost sight of beauty in the world, but after meeting his Daughter, Jane’s, ‘best-friend’ Angela, Lester falls for her, which challenges social constraint, but at first, Lester only fantasises about her. The director, Sam Mendes, shows that it is a fantasy through recurring techniques through the different fantasies, such as the background becoming black, a spot light on Lester and Angela, rose petals and close ups on both characters. After Lester met his new neighbour’s son Ricky Fitts, he began to see himself in Ricky and remembered a time when he lived without care and “had my[his] whole life ahead of me[him]”. Lester begins to relive his teenage years where he “flipped burgers … party and got laid”, but then defies social constraints to chase after the teenage girl, Angela to hopefully rekindle his youth. Lester’s actions through the movie demonstrates the social constraints on middle aged men showing that one that follows social expectation “sell[s] our[their] souls and work for Satan”. Vianne Rocher in Chocolat, is depicted as working for Satan in Father Reynaud’s eyes, but compared to American Beauty where “work[ing] for Satan” is following the status quo of society but in Chocolat is the opposite where it would be rebellious and one would be an outsider for doing so in the strictly Christian town of Lansquenet. Vianne, as soon as she moved into Lansquenet, was noticed as the outcast as her daughter, Anouk, was illegitimate and they were offering temptation to the town through chocolate during the ...
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...ion is noticeably apart him during his fantasy in which he removes a rose petal from his mouth revealing the lust has become stronger and he is now free, releasing it to the surface. Sam Mendes, in American Beauty, used roses to symbolise social constraint and emancipation, whilst rose petals would symbolise freedom. These symbols were most noticeable when Lester was being controlled by Carolyn, roses inside the vase would be displayed close by, but when he was fantasising and free, rose petals out of the vase were shown scattered around to reveal his freedom. This is much like the bland food symbolising the social constraint that has been forced upon him, and the chocolates symbolising his freedom. Lester as well as Father Reynaud were socially constrained but through temptation found an individual freedom whether it was sought for or led to a downfall of position.
Eventually Macaria marries a well-to-do American, Sam Polk, and leaves behind the poverty and prostitution that once ruled their lives, but is never fully accepted by her peers into her new moneyed existence. Meanwhile Marcela grows into a beautiful, white-skinned, pale beauty. She is a ready conquest for any male, particularly those of darker descents like Tony, and a thorn in her mother’s side. Unfortunately Marcela’s whiteness draws sexual advances from the local male population and her mother blames her daughter for these interactions.
Stereotypically, Americans are viewed as closed-minded, self-centered, and materialistic. On the other hand Americans can be independent, innovative, and driven and determined when completing the task at hand. Unfortunately, some of the negative characteristics of Americans outweigh the more positive characteristics.
In conclusion both works demonstrate the theme of the American dream and materialism. Sacrifice and the American Dream are closely linked in Death of a Salesman and American Beauty. Discuss. Sacrifice and the American Dream are inextricably linked in the play, Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, and the film, American Beauty, directed by Sam Mendes. The pursuit of achieving the American Dream ultimately leads to the sacrifice of individual values and morals to achieve the societal expectations of the 1940s urban context and the 1990s suburban context. The American Dream is a social dream that is underpinned by its materialism where the individual must decide whether to follow its societal values or personal ideals, and face the consequences of their decision.
Chocolat is a semi-autobiographical movie that drives as a political metaphor probing age, gender, and foreign interactions. Chocolat perceptively describes a young female’s return to her native home in Africa which invokes commemorations of French colonial life on a base in Cameroon in 1957. The movie is significant both because it’s depicted from the perspective of a female ex-colonizer and it is also Claire Denis’ first directorial.
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
Initially, Wharton uses the red pickle dish to represent what is left of the love and vitality in Ethan and Zeena’s marriage; but after the dish has been broken by the cat, it symbolizes the destruction of their marriage. The cat destroying the dish is also significant because the cat represents Zeena's constant, foreboding presence inside the house. The cat being the one to blame for the breaking of the dish also means Zeena being the blame for the failure of the marriage, but in reality Ethan is to blame for the dish falling as the cat likely would not have knocked over the dish if his hand had not lingered on top of Mattie’s. Ethan’s feelings also begin to grow stronger for Mattie after the dish breaks because not only did it represent the marriage’s failure, but diminished the morals that come along with marriage. Eventually, Zeena finds the broken pieces of the dish that Ethan had hidden and though “her lips were twitching with anger” there was also “a flush of excitement on her sallow face” (109). Zeena expresses excitement because now it is not only her contributing to the failure of the marriage. But her anger shines through in the end despite her dissatisfaction in the relationship, because society’s reaction to the end of her marriage would be far more devastating than the emotional pain. The red pickle dish in itself represents t...
...ror of Pecola’s first sexual experience: her father rapes her), and a difficult marriage situation (caused by his own drunkenness). The “bads” certainly outweigh the “goods” in his situation. Thus, the reader ought not to feel sympathy for Cholly. But, Morrison presents information about Cholly in such a way that mandates sympathy from her reader. This depiction of Cholly as a man of freedom and the victim of awful happenings is wrong because it evokes sympathy for a man who does not deserve it. He deserves the reader’s hate, but Morrison prevents Cholly covered with a blanket of undeserved, inescapable sympathy. Morrison creates undeserved sympathy from the reader using language and her depiction of Cholly acting within the bounds of his character. This ultimately generates a reader who becomes soft on crime and led by emotions manipulated by the authority of text.
Directed in 1999 the movie “America Beauty” by Sam Mendes takes the viewer to an average suburb community. Here, we meet the protagonist Lester Burnham. Lester is married to his wife Carolyn, and he has a fifteen-year-old daughter named Jane. Lester is portrayed as ordinary and unmemorable especially at his job. Thr...
To understand fully the implicit meaning and cultural challenges the film presents, a general knowledge of the film’s contents must be presented. The protagonist, Tita, suffers from typical Hispanic cultural oppression. The family rule, a common rule in this culture, was that the youngest daughter is to remain unwed for the duration of her mother’s life, and remain home to care for her. Mama Elena offers her daughter, Tita’s older sister Rosaura, to wed a man named Pedro, who is unknowingly in mutual love with Tita. Tita is forced to bake the cake for the wedding, which contains many tears that she cried during the process. Tita’s bitter tears cause all the wedding guests to become ill after consuming the cake, and Tita discovers she can influence others through her cooking. Throughout the film, Tita’s cooking plays an important role in all the events that transpire.
The concept of beauty and racism in modern western society is held to the highest of standards for all of it’s members; including celebrities. The perfect woman is described by Odette (2013), as solely for men’s pleasure and domination. If we look on the cover of any popular magazine, the women are usually: light skinned, slender, and tall. Men on the other hand must be tall and powerfully built. Our culture is valued on the basis of how men and women are perceived by their image, making it impossible for the average man or women to achieve the high beauty standard expected in society. Celebrities play an influential role in the way people view themselves, making the need to look like our favourite celebrities all the more desired. A person's
In the short story “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?”, by Joyce Carol Oates, the use of the symbolism of Connie’s clothes, her fascination with her beauty, Arnold Friend’s car and Arnold Friend himself help to understand the story’s theme of evil and manipulation. The story, peppered with underlying tones of evil, finds Oates writing about 15-year-old Connie, the protagonist of the story, a pretty girl who is a little too into her own attractiveness, which eventually gets her into trouble with a man named Arnold Friend. The story is liberally doused with symbolism, from the way Connie dresses to the shoes on Arnold Friend’s feet. In “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” the reader can pick up on some of the symbols very easily, while others need deeper thought. The subtle hints of symbolism throughout the story create a riveting tale that draws the reader in. Connie finally succumbs to Arnold Friend at the end of the story, it then becomes obvious that he represents the devil and the symbolism of her clothing and Arnold’s car all tie together to create a better understanding of the story.
The rose is initiated earlier as a symbol for Monica, when she plucks one and shows it to David, and at the end he picks one as a reminder of her. Teddy senses the importance of the roses for the mother and the child as he tries to bond with them. Monica’s husband, Henry, is the character that represents a clearer picture of the story.
American Beauty (1999) is an American drama film which stars Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham, a man who is seen to be having a midlife crisis and becomes sexually attracted/interested in his teenage daughter’s best friend. As the film progresses this attraction leads him to make major changes in his life in order to cope up with his urges, and thus these changes somehow helps him to manage and tackle his midlife crisis. This film written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes tries to show how the American middle class may view beauty and personal attraction. This film uses humor, irony and ridicule to show and criticize people's stereo types of American families. The film takes an approach to portray everything an American middle class family
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” a phrase that everyone has heard of at one point in his or her life. Walk by a cashier aisle in a supermarket and a there will be magazines shouting “How to lose 30 pounds in one month!” “Buff up with this weird new workout routine!”. “Fashion that’ll slim you down!” and the like. Is the concept of beauty and ugly really homogeneous, or does it vary? Is it just weight that’s considered? Exploring different ethnic groups prove that what one person thinks is beautiful may or may not be the same as the next person. (The article will mainly be focused on the women though, since their “worth” is judged more on their appearances than men. It will also be rather general on each ethnicity.)
There are over seven billion people on earth and every single one looks different. No matter how much people say that being different is unique, they are wrong. Society has set a beauty standard, with the help of the media and celebrities, that makes people question their looks. This standard is just a definition of what society considers being “beautiful.” This idea is one that mostly everyone knows about and can relate to. No one on this planet is exactly the same, but people still feel the need to meet this standard. Everyone has two sides to them; there is the one that says “you are perfect just the way you are”, while the other side puts you down and you tell yourself “I have to change, I have to fit in.” There is always going to be that side that cares and the one that doesn’t.