Alan Ball's Film: "American Beauty"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Alan Ball's film "American Beauty" combines the elements of identifiable characters, a realistic story and a powerful ending to create a socially valuable and sometimes painful look at the typical American family. The author points out that film critics argue that this film is not an accurate representation of the average American family and that some aspects of the movie devalue the overall experience. The paper relates that Ball uses average characters to allow the audience to identify with each one, so that the film's meaning can reach deeper into every viewer, which is an important aspect to socially valuable films because the audience must be able to sink themselves into the film and come out of the theater with a better understanding of their own culture.

From the Paper:

"The Fitts family is the division of American society that, except for Ricky Fitts, has the lifestyle of people in the past. Colonel Fitts is a military man whose regulated past and homophobia characterize him as the typical stubborn conservative. His wife, Barbara, is the submissive mother and spouse whose entire life revolves around the pointless tasks of housecleaning and cooking. These characters are important because they provide a wide spectrum that accurately catches even the less prominent aspects of society. The film's social value stems from the ability for the audience to identify with these true-to-life characters on-screen, allowing Ball to explore the universal experience that can be applied to anyone who views the movie."

More papers on Alan Ball's Film: "American Beauty":

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• Essay # 69744 : "Ideological Interpretation of "American Beauty"

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