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In the movie American Beauty we see a commentary about people in contemporary society both as individuals and as members of families. I selected the character of Lester Burnham, played by Kevin Spacey, and did a psychological examination on him using the bio psychosocial model. I noticed many important details that had to be read under close evaluation which represented the heart of Lester. He is a man weighed down with a soul-sucking job as a corporate slave at a media marketing magazine. And he hates his life. He doesnt have a good outlook on much.
He starts out as sort of a schlep with bad posture & is out of shape. He jump-starts each day by masturbating in the shower, and it's all downhill from there. He masturbates because of the fact that he does not get sexually fulfilled by his wife. Lester is slipping deeper and deeper into a hopeless depression, but ironically he is downright lively about his own misery. He is so depressed but yet he has this feeling of making a joke about it. I believe he is repressing feelings and trying to get others around him to feel sympathetic.
Biologically this depression could be from lack of serotonin produced by his endocrine system. Which his psychological stress brand about the neurotransmitter imbalance. Their could also be reasons for a genetic hereditary component for his depression which did not manifest until later in life. Many people would love to have the luxuries this man has and not think of the severe problems with his family communication.
Today their is not a majority of people who do not live in a successful middle class society. Maybe his depression turned the wife off and their for he created his own downfall. His job of fourteen years is now letting him know how irreplaceable he is. This makes him feel worthless. Which decreases his self confidence also.
This is one of Lester's first snaps to his change. His second snap is when he has an eye-opening encounter when he sees his daughters cheerleader friend Angela. Instantly hes obsessed with her and becomes fed up with his life. Ricky also has influences in Lester by turning him on to some primo mind-altering marijuana. This pot might be a temporary biological condition to dramatically affect his functioning in behavior that he normally would not use. He provides an example for Lester on how to approach life.
Lester calls Ricky his "hero, " when Ricky unemotionally tells his catering boss, "Then don't pay me. " Here, talking with Lester was more important to Ricky than a paying job. This gave Lester an example of how to view his horrible job. He even thinks back to his past on how happy he was getting laid and partying, how he did have his whole life ahead of him. But he remembers the feeling of irresponsibleness and not being nervous to not have stability.
He now discovered that he no longer feels fulfilled in his job or his personal life and now attempts to make a critical shift in a career and his lifestyle; A midlife crisis. The next day Lester snaps for good. He turns in a devastatingly honest job description, which results in forcing his corrupt boss to pay him a sizeable termination bonus. Facing a midlife crisis, Lester looks at his life and decides to live it the way he wants to, he no longer can live life like a prisoner: he quit his job and works at a fast food restaurant because of the lack of responsibility, starts smoking pot, and begins working out in a persistent hope to impress Angela. He sees in her something that has been missing in his life. His physical appearance I believe made him also feel less confident and had to do with his depression.
As he became more fit he became more confident. He also purchases the car he always wanted. One of his dreams and fantasies coming to reality also like Angela. He goes through a kind of decision to rediscover himself, he tries things he's never tried, or at least go back to things that he's long-since forgotten. Psychologically I believe in his unconscious mind is becoming more conscience when he fantasizes and dreams about Angela. These sexual feelings have been submerges into his unconscious thoughts and are now being repressed.
They are life instincts which constitute his libido. But his id cannot take action. Eventually his ego is demanded by the id to move forward and make a pass to Over the course of the story, Lester Burnham transforms his middle-aged self into a lean and fit shadow of his former self. I think Lester is very much like a lot of men in American life, who start out having certain ideas about the kind of life they will have, but somewhere along the line, they get squashed down. I believe Lester grew up in a family where the husband had to have certain responsibilities to raise a family and be the breadwinner. He had viewed this either from his parents or society itself.
Their is an expected role that people must play in society and Lester believed this until he suddenly realizes the lack of honesty in his life, the lack of communication not being able to say what he feels and do what he wants. Hes grappling with feelings that have long been dormant, but have been reawakened in him. He begins to realize how precious life is. A realization thats in some ways too late. He feels like hes been in a coma for about twenty years and hes just now waking up. His self-schema views him self and looks at his role in society.
He uses accommodation to change the framework he is unhappy with. This is difficult and threatening, especially when important assumptions are challenged. Lester Burnham is suffering from a mid-life crisis that also affects the lives of his family. Lester and Carolyn Burnham are on the outside, a perfect husband and wife, in a perfect house, in a perfect neighborhood. They live all together behind a mask for society to view them as normal. They want to be part of high Lester and Carolyn may have been in love once but now they " ve grown distant.
It seems like when he was younger he fell in love with a fun and energetic women who changed substantially by life's responsibilities. They " re not really communicating anymore. The wife sells real estate and puts a price tag on her feelings. She cares about objects to much. She is a little too wrapped up in her job and takes on an affair with business rival Buddy Kane's.
The constant social adjustments demand a change that is also considerably stressful for both of them. Lester and Carolyn no longer have sex and this could be why he has so much hostility. Their is no sexual arousal ness, it is absent. Lester is treated like he doesnt exist and he doesnt even complain. He feels like he lives in hell. Lester then rebels, he wants to live life happy and no one is going to stop him.
This shocks his family and particularly his wife. She usually has the upper hand in the family and I believe that was because Lester was brought up by his parents to be respectful to women and after time he let her rule his life. Until he snapped. Because of learned behavior he knows that the nice guy finish last so Lester changes. Because of Carolyn's strictness and emotional abuse Lester has become a victim and now he has the tendencies to become overly aggressive and angry. Which is exactly what happens.
Carolyn really doesnt have any insight into what Lester's problem is, or for that matter, what her own problem is. It's no wonder that their sullen daughter, Jane has turned out to be one of those sulky, selfish teenagers. Jane has almost become to hate her father. Their is no communication their either. And when their is, he doesnt take into account his daughters feeling. Therefore Jane freezes them out.
She wants a role model. But she views him an angry, insecure, confused, and pathetic. He fells like hes not available for her. Even though, he does want to be.
This parenting style of Neglectful-Uninvolved Parenting is going to effect Jane for the rest of her life. The consequences have proved in her low self esteem and their unavailability to attach. The way society puts members into roles, Lester and Carolyn have expected behaviors that will rub off on Jane and their for she will become just like them. Because of the mothers childhood of being brought up poorly she believes that Jane has a better life by having things at her age when really all she needs is some affection.
Because of the lack of communication in her family life, Jane seems to fall in love with Ricky Fitts, the strange boy next door. He realizes how easy it is to get bogged down in the routines of trying to be successful, raise a family and keep things going. And that is exactly what happened with Lester. In the end I think he finds quite a peaceful place, and learns very important lessons about what's most valuable to seek.
He knows that he cannot count on anyone except himself for his own happiness. Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Lack Of Communication Lester Burnham
