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Example research essay topic: Black And White American Beauty - 2,883 words

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Sociology: Anthropology, Identity and Cinema Within the course of this research, we will elaborate on the meaning of the notion of acting normal based on the following three films: American Beauty, Crying Game, and Brazil. We will see what the intents of the filmmakers are, how the notion of acting normal is defined and analyzed in various literature, and what new points the filmmakers come up with. Before starting the discussion, it would be useful to illustrate how postmodernism is related to the movies at issue here, because the notion of acting normal will be discussed here in the light of postmodernism. Postmodernism is known as a broad social and philosophical movement that questions the rationality of human action. It also questions any human endeavor that claims a privileged position with respect to the search for truth, science for instance, or that claims progress in that respect. One of its main concerns is to spread the medium of expression to more popular circles, which is a way to subvert the social scales, and therefore the belief that art is not for the masses.

Postmodernism took it upon itself to oppose the ideals of the traditional beliefs of modernism. In other words, postmodern thought claims that there is no universal value system, and thus, no point in looking for them, which was one of the modern concerns. Many post-modern thinkers define themselves as more radically skeptical and democratic than the old "modernist" intellectuals so they often tend towards libertarian models of society with that oppose big governments and bureaucracy, and lead towards popular culture art forms. In other words, most modern thinkers generally don't believe in capitalism nor do they believe in socialism, both of which are modernist ideals. This can be understood in certain contexts as a tendency to anarchy. Some postmodernist writings subvert the foundations of the accepted social and cultural models of thought and experience so as to reveal the lack of meaning of human existence and the underlying "abyss", or "nothingness" which produces a complete disbelief in any supposed security.

Such a concept is applied in terms of daily life as well as of a complete world picture, including art. This leads to a species of negative or pessimistic carpe diem. There is no point in worrying about past, nor future, nor life nor death. Live the day, and that is it, for we can have no security of any of the "universal" concepts, taught to us from childhood as "the truth." American Beauty, directed by Sam Mendes, is simply a study of a dysfunctional American Family which reveals the nature of modern suburbia with wit, precision, and invention.

Allan Balls script continually explores ideas about what constitutes ordinariness in our lives and what beauty truly is, and why people who have everything, live lives of desperation. Far more importantly, though, is what the film has to say about the American Dream or rather the American Nightmare. American modern society is constructed around the notion that happiness is found through material success: a lucrative job, a nice house in a quiet neighborhood, fancy cars etc. Kevin Spacey (Lester) and Annette Benning (Carolyn) play a couple who, on the surface, seem to have it all. A Perky real estate agent, Benning drives around in a Mercedes, and clips their rose garden using sequesters that match her shoes which Lester comments is no mistake. Lester pulls in sixty grand a year working in marketing, and the couple has a seemingly harmless, typically disaffected teen, Jane, played by Thora Birch.

Lester is a typical suburban husband whose life seems to have slipped into a rut. He tells us, In less than a year Ill be dead. Of course, I dont know that yet. In a way, Im dead already. He says his life holds no joy masturbating in the shower is the highlight of his day! Both my wife and daughter think Im a gigantic loser, Lester reveals, ''Never have I felt so sedated.

His wife Carolyn is trapped into the phoney, positive spin mentality of corporate America. She is fixated on things like the price of couches, and outselling her rival, The King of real estate, a sleazy, well-to-do, Peter Gallagher playing Buddy. She is obsessed with her image of success to be well-respected in the community, wear the right clothes and have a nice garden. They are things that many people depend on to try and give themselves a sense of identity and wellbeing, a place in the world.

But, her failure to achieve, results in episodes of self-loathing tears and slapping. Her materialistic perfectionism is tinged with a deadly vanity everything is about her, and maintaining her image of success. She even criticizes her family in order to make herself feel better about herself, more important than her lowlife family. Beyond the exterior as the film progresses, all the faults and cracks in the family are revealed. Lester is rapidly beginning to realize suburbia has left him soulless. He realizes the lack of honesty in his life, the lack of communication.

It doesnt seem to be a midlife crisis, but rather a short rebirth. He begins to realize how precious life is, a realization that is some ways too late. Left to obsessive masturbation by his frigid wife, Lester lusts over his daughters best friend, Angela. Meanwhile Carolyn has an affair with The King, whose swagger and machismo she finds irresistible compared to Lester's increasingly rebellious behavior. Mum and Dad, however, arent the only ones becoming unraveled.

Jane, disgusted and alienated by her parents, finds solace in the unnerving calm of her new next door neighbor, Ricky. She is bitter about certain aspects of her life and disappointed by her parents, but she has qualities that slowly emerge that make her special and unique. Ricky has a fetish for video taping just about anything he can, and a seductive insight into whats real in the world, despite the beatings from his self-loathing, Marine Corps father. Ricky shows Jane that it is okay to be herself and be happy with who she is.

American Beauty forces society to confront the reality of our own life. It comments on the issue that society today is too materialistic, and we tend to leave behind the real necessities of life love, honesty and happiness. Success and Happiness are two features of modern society that are definitely questioned in American Beauty. It asks, Can we have both or do we have to make sacrifices? The characters of American Beauty have made their lives so career driven, their own personalities and the person they truly are being denied.

Lester cant even see the woman he married in Carolyn anymore. It seems people strive to hard to get a nice white picket fence. The film American Beauty is an artistic way of telling us money and nice things arent everything. Never has there been more prosperous populations like there are today, and never have people been so profoundly unhappy and unfulfilled by the things we think we need. Terry Gilliam's science fiction satire, Brazil is a collection of eccentric architecture, lighting, costumes, and cinematography that endorse his unique luster. The film merges many of the century's troubles into a vast glimpse of Gilliam's vision.

Terrorism, bureaucracy, technology, industrialization, and love combine to produce a distorted reflection of society. This reflection is supported by the overall design Gilliam provides within the film. The design of each individual scene can be depicted or illustrated by the scene itself. Gilliam's overall satiric message is enhanced by the design of each scene, and seemingly the mood of the entire movie.

The films content is saturated from the opening scene. Gilliam maintains this saturation throughout the entire film. The audience is taken through the life of the main character Sam. His life sets the stage for Gilliam's vision. The portrayal of the main character Sam and his world are the perfect combination for a satire. The world created by Gilliam is ludicrousness.

Gilliam gives the scenery a plain look with mostly dark colors to signify the corrupt world. The glamorous new-born ladies with their face-lifts symbolize materialism and the new unnatural reformation, while most everyone else is consumed in black and white. The only other brilliant actions in the movie ironically occur when a terrorist bomb goes off in the middle of the population. The buildings throughout the town although large, are quite plain and tedious. In this day and age a company is recognized by its appearance and design.

All together, the buildings seem to imprison the people of the city symbolizing the choke hold of the government. Gilliam presents Sams house with state of the art technologically. The simple ring of his alarm sets off and automatically accomplishes many of a persons daily morning chores, for morning without stress is virtually impossible. However, because of technologies biggest downfall, Sam finds his morning everything but ideal.

Possibly the biggest farce in this disorganized and confused world is making the world appear disorganized and confused. The duct work strung throughout not only the walls of each house, but also throughout the town symbolizes this disorganization and confusion. A scene doesnt go by where the backgrounds are not covered by the large prominent pipes seemingly stemming from everywhere. The ductwork not only symbolizes this disorder but many other things as well. Pipes connected throughout the world symbolize the total control of the Central Service or the government and bureaucracy. The Big Brother theme instills a powerful message.

The world at work is also used to portray Gilliam's vision. Although very similar to the regular world, its tastelessness adds to the satire. Hardly any color is shown throughout the offices or labor buildings, symbolizing that these buildings more than any other, are controlled by the single governmental force. The archive office where Sam first works is layed out like that of an industrial factory. With everyone working in succession, and the same cubicle-like area represents how restricted the population was.

The constant noise and flow of people running around like they have no purpose keeps one wondering if any kind of work could be accomplished? Gilliam uses this to satirize the current government in which confusion throughout the system often leads to uncertain future. The information retrieval offices, on the other hand, are quite different. The serenity shown by Gilliam in which Sams only interaction with people are his infrequent visits by a discombobulated boss and by annoying altercations with his next-door co-worker. Each individual office is not a personal office, but rather numbered. The rooms are shown very a-symmetrical, giving the feeling of being large when it actually is very small.

The high ceilings with narrow, surrounding walls provide this strange dimension. The floor space is very small with just enough room for work around the desk. This once again reflects the imprisonment by the bureaucracy. The last world designed by Gilliam, and the most distinctive is Sams dream or fantasy world. This world is much different than the two previous so called real life settings. Gilliam does a very good job of portraying this substantial different between reality and impracticality, and therefore poking fun at this flaw in the human mind.

Everything from the colors, to the settings, and even through the music all help the dream world in giving the movie a totally different dimension. Instead of the drab black and white colors and background, the fantasy world involves a numerous array of bright, splendid, yet soft, pastel colors. This portrays Sams freedom from reality and all that the real world encompasses. Full of clouds and soft noise, one cannot help but feel in a released and care free state.

Also, especially adding to the design of this world compared to the other two are the costumes or clothing. Saint-like, white robes and magnificently apparent armor give the scenes not only a sense of heaven but also of some profound nature. Presented by flying up in the clouds, and destroying the large, evil nemesis give the audience the feel that this is Sams perfect world. A perfect world in that no one can watch or keep track or him, a perfect world in that he can do and perform the gutsiest of feats, and a world in which all his cares go away. Even though the props, architecture, and lighting Gilliam uses vastly enhance the portrayal of each satiric scene, it is not this that promotes the underlying theme. More specifically, it is the entire design of each scene and even more of these three very contrasting worlds that help expose Gilliam's satiric message.

Proving that love comes in all shapes, sizes, and genders, Neil Jordan's "The Crying Game" blends a terrorism thriller with an unusual romance in a manner that is as utterly original as anything. What begins as a mildly diverting story involving the kidnapping of a British soldier by a group of Irish Republican Army volunteers soon turns into one of the most bizarrely constructed demonstrations of the lengths to which one will go for love. The movie opens in Northern Ireland, where a British soldier is kidnapped by the IRA. In a secluded forest hideout, he is guarded by a team including Fergus (Stephen Rea), who has become a committed terrorist and yet is still a person with kindness in his soul.

The soldier may be executed if the British government doesn't release IRA prisoners. Meanwhile, he must be guarded, and as Fergus spends a long night with him, they get to know and even like one another. The soldier shows Fergus a snapshot of his girlfriend, back in London, and asks him to look her up someday - if, as the soldier suspects, he is going to die soon. This is a version of the classic Irish short story, "A Guest of the Nation, " by Frank O'Connor, in which IRA men in the 1920 s make the mistake of becoming friendly with the man they will have to kill. But the movie resolves this dilemma with an unexpected development. And then, the next time we see Fergus, he is in London, under a new name, working as a laborer on a construction site.

He still has the snapshot. He goes looking for the soldier's girlfriend, and finds her working in a beauty salon. On an impulse he goes in to get his hair cut. After work, she goes to a nearby pub.

They begin a conversation, using the bartender as a middleman in one of the many unexpected narrative touches in an entirely original film. The girlfriend, named Dil is an original, too, with a delightful dry way of understating herself, of keeping her cool while seeming amused at the same time. She reminds us there is such a thing as verbal style; too much modern movie dialogue is flat and plot-driven. Fergus and Dil are attracted to one another. But there are fundamental unacknowledged deceptions between them - not least, the fact that Fergus is the man who shares responsibility for the boyfriend's death.

The most fascinating passages in the film follow the development of their relationship, which becomes an emotional fencing match as it survives one revelation after another. Then the IRA tracks Fergus to his hiding place and has another job for him to do. The peculiar thing about "The Crying Game" is that this story outline, while true, hardly suggests the actual content of this film. It is much more complex and labyrinthine - both in terms of simple plotting, and in terms of the matters of the heart that follow. Most movie love stories begin as a given; we know from the first frame who will be together in the last. Here, there are times when we know nothing, and times when we know less than that.

Yet because we care about the characters - we can't help liking them - it's surprising, how the love story transcends all of the plot turns to take on an importance of its own. One of the keys to the movie is the casting. The ironic, vulnerable Dil is a real original, a person who arrives on the screen not as a writer's notion but with a convincing, engaging personality. Stephen Rea, as Fergus, is an essentially good person who has gotten involved in a life that requires him to be violent and ruthless. He doesn't have much heart for it; maybe Dil has deeper resources. And Miranda Richardson has a key role as an IRA terrorist who toys with Fergus, early and late, confusing sexual power with political principles.

Words Count: 2, 762. Bibliography: "American Beauty" Director Sam Mendes (1999). "Crying Game" Director - Neil Jordan (1992). "Brazil" Director Terry Gilliam (1985). Borgman, A. 2000. Society in the Postmodern World. The Washington Quarterly 23 (1): 189.

Butler, Judith. 1999. Subject of Sex/Gender/Desire. Gender Trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity. London: Routledge. 3 - 44.

Dennis, N. 1991. Takes on Postmodern: Baudillard, Leonard, and Jameson, Images of Postmodern Society: social theory and contemporary cinema, London: Sage, 29 - 52. Elkind, D. 1995. The family in the Postmodern World, National Forum, 75 (3): 24. Graham, Mark. 1998. Follow the Yellow Brick Road: and anthropological outing in queer space/ Ethnos 63: 175 - 193.


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Research essay sample on Black And White American Beauty

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