American Beauty: Of Adulthood and Life Transitions

Ameri back end truelove is unmatchable of the around well-received movies of our time. As the screen debut of screenwriter Alan Ball and director Sam Mendes, the movie has win numerous Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It was a good demonstration of different psychological and social themes much(prenominal) as deviancy, romantic and paternal love, sexuality, and beauty.The movies focus is Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey). In fact, as the narrator, Lester is the revolving point of nigh of the movie. American Beauty paints how he was a year before he died and how hes changed by the year that eventually direct to his last.But the movie also focused on other interesting characters most notable of which are his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening), daughter Jane (Thora Birch), Janes friend Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari), and the neighbor Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley). Almost all of these characters bear a specific deviant nature and are almost on either poles of the social sphere.Watching Lester, Carolyn, Jane, Angela, and Ricky, atomic number 53 realizes that people really do change behavior based on previous experiences. Although Berk (2004), in her guard Development Through the Life Span, talked mainly about the change of relationship between parent and electric shaver with operant conditioning, this discussion is useful in explaining the hostile relationship between Jane and her parents.As Jane has come to record from previous experiences, any attempt at trying to bond the family falls into deaf ears hence, shes taken to keeping her mouth shut and maintaining a distant stance from her father and mother.Perhaps, this type of learning can also aid in understanding Angela. She is naturally insecure and afraid of being thought banausic. But shes learned that putting up a front and projecting a impudent image elicits a positive response from men since this eliminates her fears of being just a common person, she has maintain the said image.Lester and Carolyn a lso demonstrate how adults react differently when on the brink of transitioning from their prime to old age. Lester copes with his wobble to old age in a different manner than Carolyn in the sense that hes preferred to be sedated, to use his own terms.He felt that everything in his life was going downhill he was losing his job, he hasnt had sex with his wife in a long time, and he just doesnt find any aspects of his life exciting. Yet wedded the right stimuli (in the person of Angela, whom he is obviously attracted to), he realizes that aging should not be the end of his life.He starts working out and bettering himself. He shows through his decision to disown his job, resume his teenage job as a fast food employee, and buy his dream railcar that sometimes, people regress while moving towards old age.Carolyn, however, has an opposite reaction. Knowing that she now only has exceptional time, she goes down the serious route. She became more focused on her career and had little t ime left for personalised pleasure.Jane and Angela on the other hand, show teenagers metamorphosing into adults. Jane, realizing that most teenagers her age are already forming well-developed bureaus, reacts to her maturation by desiring breast augmentation.Angela, though, who projects a confident stance, does not do or wish to do anything as drastic. In fact, it seems that she is vacuous of the possible biological changes that adulthood might bring to her current good looks.Lesters obsession with Angela has given him an energy boost. Suddenly, he finds the guts to stand up to his wife and demand for what he wants. Then he gets involved in a fitness regimen and dives into the use of marijuana (which he purchases from Ricky).This has eventually led to drastic changes in his family life Carolyn and he find themselves quarreling in front of Jane, who naturally forms greater hatred for her parents.Early in the film and towards the middle part, we get a glimpse at how Ricky feels a bout death. He thinks that death is nothing to worry about and is something interesting to watch. This was apparent in the scene where he was filming a dead bird and describes it as beautiful.And the death of Lester reinforces this examining Lesters bloody body, Ricky utters, Wow. Lester also portrays a itinerary of coping with death. Through his narration, he describes death as a sort of freedom and a end of everything that is happy.Using Lester as a narrator, Ball speaks of how the after life does exist and how it is something that we all have to go through at one point in our lives.American Beauty is not just another pretty, award-winning movie. It is an powerful demonstration of how people react differently towards changes in life, specifically adulthood and life transitions.ReferencesMendes, Sam. (Director). (1999, October 1). American Beauty Motion picture. USA DreamWorks.Berk, Laura E. (2004). Development Through the Life Span. Boston,