American Beauty portrays what many have described as a very realistic vision of the American Dream and life in a typical American suburb, ultimately showing that what are often viewed as the markers of success can hide true unhappiness, suffering, and even cruelty. Yet, the film also employs many devices that could be described as unrealistic, particularly in the use of color and the non-verisimilar dream sequences. Discuss how the film uses realism, antirealism, and verisimilitude (or a lack thereof) to both construct and dismantle the American Dream and critique suburban life.
This film about the dark side of an American family, and about the nature and price of beauty in a culture obsessed with outward appearances. Kevin Spacey plays Lester Burnham, a man in his mid-40s going through an intense midlife crisis; he's grown cynical and is convinced that he has no reason to go on. Lester's relationship with his wife Carolyn is not a warm one; while on the surface Carolyn strives to present the image that she's in full control of her life, inside she feels empty and desperate. Their teenage daughter Jane is constantly depressed, lacking in self-esteem, and convinced that she's unattractive. Her problems aren't helped by her best friend Angela, an aspiring model who is quite beautiful and believes that that alone makes her a worthwhile person. Jane isn't the only one who has noticed that Angela is attractive: Lester has fallen into uncontrollable lust for her, and she becomes part of his drastic plan to change his body and change his life. Meanwhile, next door, Colonel Fitts has spent a lifetime in the Marine Corps and can understand and tolerate no other way of life, which makes life difficult for his son Ricky, an aspiring filmmaker and part-time drug dealer who is obsessed with beauty, wherever and whatever it may be. This is all what happens in real life and it shows that no matter where you are there is going to be dysfunction. No body's life is perfect and this movie represents real like in an amazing way.
ReplyDeleteI would first say this movie portrays realism because it shows us the inner workings of a family that has lost its happiness and direction to what a real family looks like. I think these days society is very concerned about how things looks and 'not airing out your dirty laundry,' and like this movie we all try to make our lives look better than the next no matter how unhappy we are. But it also has the flipside of antirealism where I think the dream-like states are unrealistic, for example when Lester watches Angela dance at the school performance and she 'dances just for him.' This movie also has verisimilitude and it also does not. It does in the fact that we see their suburban town, the hard real estate work the mom has, a dad who hates his, a daughter that doesn't fit in, a lifestyle that shows off to other people and a family masking their true emotions, dysfunctions and pain. Where as I don't watch this movie and believe that something like this (the boyfriend who films, the gay military dad who kills Lester, etc. ) actually happens. To me it seems more Hollywood-ized.
ReplyDeleteAmerican Beauty uses realism to paint a picture of dullness. The Burnham household is like any other household in America. This portrayed through the aerial shots above the town and even above Lester Burnham's bed. Though this family portrays realism, it is Lester who provides the antirealism as well as the Verisimilitude. Lester's dream sequences help with the idea that he is so unhappy with his real life that he has to escape into another life where he is desired by a young girl.
ReplyDeleteThis is dismantling the American Dream because although this family may look like they have it all together on the outside (and even that is debatable) they are falling apart behind closed doors. Gaining the American Dream was a death sentence for this family in the end because none of the family members are happy with their life.
In the end, I believe that this movie is a great template for what gaining the American Dream does to people, almost like the Great Gatsby. Gaining the American Dream ultimately makes people hollow because the American Dream shouldn't be a one size fits all kind of ideal.
In Sam Mendes’s film, American Beauty, you can see that the director wanted to show the audience different views or realism, antirealism, and verisimilitude. You can see the realism throughout the entire movie when Lester Burnham is not a happy man and that you can see that he is going through a mid-life crisis. In every way possible something is not connecting in his life; like his job, his relationship with his wife, and his daughter. I think that realism also comes out when you see Lester and his wife, Carolyn, fake being a happy couple at Carolyn work party. Unfortunately there are many other realisms that American households go through that we would not think was normal; like Lester smoking pot, his daughter wanting a boob job due to her low self-esteem, Lester wife having an affair, Lester getting fired from his job, and the fact that no one is happy anymore, not even the neighbors who just moved in.
ReplyDeleteWhere you see the antirealism is most in Lester’s head about fantasizing over his daughters best friend, Angela. A good example of this is when he first sees Angela at the basketball game and he is fantasizing about how she is dancing just for him and he starts to earn an interest in her. He starts to fantasize about her when he sleeps, when he’s awake, and he even almost makes his fantasies come true, but reality hits him.
You start to see verisimilitude with the military dad being so against gay people. He hates them and calls them awful names and he even gets his son to say awful things about him. The truth comes out at the end that the dad actually was interested in what is would be like to be with another male. He had been lying to himself through the entire movie until he thinks that his son his gay. It was like once it was out and about he could not hide that secret about himself anymore which he ends up doing something that he will regret for the rest of his life.
American Beauty shows the viewers a sense of the so-called American dream. This film portrays the American dream in a negative note. The characters are hiding the deepest secrets behind their superficial daily, outside lives. Both Lester’s and Frank’s family have nice houses and are well-off. But both of these families are experiencing the worst pain in marriage and relationships with people. In this film, realism is portrayed by showing us the two families doing their daily life routines with their kids, work and come home to a nice house, and have dinner as a family. The anti-realism part of the film is when Lester develops an infatuation towards Jane’s best friend. This infatuation is more fantasy-like.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Ricky’s obsession in filming Jane for her beauty and that she’s interesting doesn’t happen in everyday life. Verisimilitude in American Beauty is the idea of failed marriages and broken families. Despite all the unrealistic happiness, the truth is they are all sad. With that being said, these characters do things that they would not have done if they were happy families. It constructs the American dream when we look at the material aspects of their lives. It dismantles the American dream because they are living a false life and are trying to hide the pain from the outside world and be the perfect family they can be. Suburban life supposed to be nice and all happy which does show in the movie but the people living in it are not.
The opening scene of American Beauty immediately paints a realistic picture of both the American dream and suburban life. The Burnham family lives in a suburb that could be found anywhere in America. Everything from the front lawn with the rose bushes to the furniture in the formal living room is perfectly kept. The Burnham’s home is even surrounded by the typical “white picket fence” that is often mentioned in the description of the American dream. The neighbor’s homes and the neighbors themselves are much like the Burnham family, further perpetuating the stereotype that is associated with American suburbs. Carolyn Burnham strives for perfection in every area of her life, another element of realism that constructs the American Dream and critiques suburban life. For example Carolyn strives to have not only a perfectly kept home, but also a successful career. Her desire for perfection is shown throughout the movie from way she matches her gardening shoes and tools to the elaborate sit down dinners that she prepares on a nightly basis. Other characters in the movie also help to create a realistic view of the American Dream and suburban life. Carolyn and Lester’s daughter Jane is researching breast augmentation surgery in the beginning of the movie and mentions the idea throughout, these clips are very realistic because the desire for a perfect body is often brought up when the American Dream is discussed and it goes along with the perfection that is often associated with typical suburban women.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the movie uses realism to construct the American Dream it uses the same technique to dismantle the American Dream. The Burnham family looks perfect and happy from the outside, just like their neighbors do, but behind closed doors things are far from perfect. Lester is going through a mid-life crisis (quits job, smoking marijuana, falling for Jane’s friend), Carolyn is having an affair, Jane is lonely/unhappy, and Ricky’s father beats him. The extreme unhappiness that many of the characters express dismantles the American Dream of perfection and happiness, but it also makes the characters more human and relatable.
American Beauty uses verisimilitude and realism to create an accurate picture of the stereotypical suburban life style, but at times the film also strays from the convincing appearance of truth. Lester’s fantasies about his daughter’s friend, Angela, automatically create a lack of verisimilitude. The over sexualized dance at the basketball game and the images of Angela in a tub of rose petals are perfect examples of this lack of verisimilitude. These fantasies are purposely shot in a very different way than the rest of the movie to create a dramatic effect and help viewers get inside the character’s head.
Tessa,
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you compared American Beauty to the Great Gatsby. I just saw the movie and you are completely right! Both movies show that the American Dream is not all that it is cracked up to be, in fact it often leads to a lonely and unhappy life.
In Sam Mendes’s American Beauty we are immediately thrown into the typical American Dream lifestyle, a married husband and wife both with jobs living in a suburban home with a teenage daughter Jane. Little do we know that if we peel back the layers of their family, we discover a much more complicated and conflicted story.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the film the perfect lifestyle is shown in a somewhat realistic view for the audience, but the American dream that the family has is almost too good to be true, which is where we find the cracks and flaws within this family. Our main character Lester Burnham is not very happy to begin with because he is tired of his job and the love he and his wife once had for each other has now died. Lester’s wife Carolyn is a real estate agent who seems to be living the life every woman would dream of, a nice house and a husband and daughter, but beneath it all she is crumbling apart inside. Lester and Carolyn’s daughter Jane is a lost and confused teenager going through the rough high school years and shows signs of contempt towards her parents.
The design and detail within the shots of this movie have bright colors and clear light which make the world seem realistic. In realistic movies, the characters often conform to the usual human ways and expectations of people, such as Lester and Carolyn going to their jobs with their briefcase or purse in hand, and Jane going to school with the typical popular girl that likes to focus on herself. Realism is somewhat of an illusion and the further we get into the film we see the breakdown of the characters and the antirealism within the movie begins to appear. Characters begin to do things we wouldn’t expect and somewhat out of the ordinary or certain things happen that surprise us such as Lester quitting his job, Carolyn cheating on Lester, or Jane getting together with one of the unpopular kids that is looked at as “creepy”.
Many of Lester’s fantasies in the movie about Jane’s popular and good looking friend Angela are what make us question the antirealism and verisimilitude of this film. From the outside American Beauty seems like your normal verisimilar and realistic movie, but when we see the dreams that Lester has about Angela with many rose petals falling around her or coming out of her chest during multiple parts of the film, we see the lack of verisimilitude in the film and the unhappiness that Lester has in living the normal suburban life. Although the movie does a pretty good job at convincing us that things are verisimilar and that the people, places, and things really do exist, there are some parts which make the verisimilitude and realism less believable, and Lester’s fantasies is one of them.
While it is considered to be a satire of the “American Dream”, the movie, in appearance is a picture of it. Right down to the suburb that the characters live in, it is a picture of what the American Dream is perceived to be. Everything we see happening outside of the house leads the audience to believe that everything is perfect, everyone he happy. But the satirical portion comes to play behind “closed doors” so to speak. These “seemingly perfect” families have the same problems society is faced with, like adultery, violence, body image issues, and overall unhappiness.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part the film is a very realistic portrayal of life, at least one that the audience can relate to. The setting very realistic and characters are relatable. The dream sequences in which Lester is fantasizing about Angela is an example of the film’s use of verisimilitude. These scenes definitely dismantle the “American Dream” façade of the film, as lusting over a minor is not typically part of the deal.
American Beauty is a great film but reflects very ugly sides of American civilization. Lester and his family live in a beautiful house with a notable red door with a variety of neighbors that are realistic with believable personalities. It is when we delve deeper into the characters that we see that their uniqueness, which may or may not be believable, in full view for the audience. The family utilizes a realistic foreground where we see them prepare for the day, go to work and interact with neighbors. Other aspects such as the daughter’s desire for larger breasts or the wife’s desire and longing for her rival in her work are believable yet unrealistic displaying verisimilar qualities. Whereas the husband’s behavior with work and with his family are so outrageous that they aren’t believable but entertain the audience to a great degree
ReplyDeleteAmerican Beauty does a great job portraying realism. The viewer could almost place themselves in the film. The relationships between the arguing parents and children is a very real event in our day to day lives in this modern world. We also have unmasked the fact that not everyone is a part of this “perfect” family an American Beauty shows this to the extreme.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, in some cases, the film is almost taken to a point where it becomes “unreal” or antirealism because of the fact that so many characters on the screen, live such extreme lives within such a small area. Antirealism also comes into play with Angela. I found it extremely odd that Lester had fallen for Angela. However, even more odd, that Angela had fallen for Lester. Many older men fantasize about being with attractive younger women. However, it is much less often that teenage girls fall for more ordinary adult men.
Verisimilitude was displayed all throughout the film because even though the characters themselves are completely outrageous when I think about them now, on screen everything seemed to make sense. The fact that there was a strange family that moved next door to a family that was entirely dysfunctional was completely normal. However, we ad in the fact that Ricky films plastic bags in the wind and dead birds and is also a drug dealer, in with the fact that his father ends up being gay and his mother has some sort of trauma and things start to get a little strange. Add this in with a murder plot and two cheating spouses and a troubled teenage daughter and it seems crazy. However, when watching the film, it seems completely normal in the context on screen.