American Beauty
AMERICAN BEAUTY: LIFE THROUGH A CHILDS EYE "The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm" (qtd. In Elibron). These are the words spoken by world-renowned author Aldous Huxley, whose words have made a lasting impression on Hollywood. Movie producers try to incorporate this child spirit into their movie characters. However, as movies are a parallel to real life, this childlike characteristic, would naturally mislead people into thinking they are dealing with a child. A situation which manifest itself in American Beauty, where the lead character Lester Burnham happens to be a typical middle-aged, free willed man, but one who is given treatment equivalent to that of a child by his family. Caroline, Lester's wife emphasizes her supremacy over her husband throughout the movie. Mirroring a relationship that an over powering mother would have with her child. Lester's mistreatment by Caroline is none so more apparent than at the banquet scene of the movie. Where Caroline gives specific instructions to Lester on how to act towards her business rivals, acting as if she were taking to a child. Caroline corrects Le
In addition to the lectures, Caroline verbally abuses Lester at the dinner table, when he tells her that he quit his job. Instead, his family decides to exploit this characteristic, only to have Lester truly become a child. Lester does not attempt to hide his feelings for Angela, making small flirtatious passes towards her. Lester may have different relationships with his wife and daughter, but both of them see him as a child, rather then a husband and a father. Furthermore, there are no conversations during dinner, so Caroline can enjoy her music; Lester knows he can only speak when spoken to by Caroline. Lester being the submissive man that he is forced to show a lot of respect for Caroline, much like most children do for their mothers. The treatment Jane gives Lester is similar to how Caroline treats Lester. They become isolated from each other to the point where Jane does not tell Lester about any important events in her life, such as her cheerleading during the high school basketball game. Instead she tells her mother, who drags an uninterested Lester, much like a younger brother forced to attend by his parent to watch his older sister perform. Jane's care for Lester deteriorates as the movie proceeds, to the point of sibling rivalry, for the attention of the common friend between the two, Ricky (last name). This is where Caroline shows no affection towards her husband. Jane makes her feelings to Lester obvious, were as most daughters would shy away from taking about such controversial topics with their parent, but Jane has no problem, because she sees Lester as a younger brother not a father and therefore he should be treated like one. Lester points out early in the movie the type of bond he shared with his daughter "Jane what happened, we used to pals," but as siblings drift apart as they get older so do Jane and Lester. Shown through her instantaneous decision to leave with the neighbor without even thinking of how it would affect her father, treating him as a child, who does not have any authority over her decision. However, it is not only Caroline who mistreats Lester, his daughter Jane, has a relationship with her father that is similar to one that a sister would have with her younger brother.
Common topics in this essay:
Caroline Lester's,
Caroline Lester,
Angela Jane's,
Ironically Caroline,
Listening Ricky's,
Lester Shown,
Jane Lester,
Hollywood Movie,
Caroline Caroline,
CHILDS EYE,
jane lester,
little respect lester,
lester father,
quit job,
little respect,
respect lester,
dinner table,
role model,
jane's friend,
american beauty,
daughter jane,
|
Acceptance Essays
