Psychological Reaction to the movie American Beauty - Essay Example

Psychological Reaction to the movie American Beauty I believe American Beauty is a film that delves into your typical, middle suburban American home and slowly uncovers all of the abnormalities that lie within. The family is portrayed as normal but as the films tag line suggests look closer then it is possible to fully understand the implications that takes place in this seemingly happy home. My perception is that the film is masterfully directed by the famous theater director Sam Mendes and encompasses a great number of cinematic techniques that appear fresh and exciting.

Critics have mentioned many of these techniques. However, they failed to notice the clever use of color used throughout the film, especially the color red. Psychologically speaking, Sam Mendes effectively uses the color red; as a central design to accentuate mood and theme, to contrast families, and to reveal characters personalities and feelings. This paper speaks of whether the movie should be allowed to see on the part of the college students or not and it looks at the reaction to this movie in the psychological sense.

Since this paper delves into the psychological tone that I have set in reaction to the movie, I have focused on the color red which has been used widely in this paper and it is thus the point of discussion in the following lines as well. As we know that in American culture red is a color of various meanings and images. Roses in American culture are the ultimate symbol of love, life and death. We need to understand from the psychological point of view that flowers are a large part of the American culture.

Roses epitomize beauty; perhaps that is why they chose the title American Beauty. The title American Beauty is a hodgepodge of symbolism; it encompasses a variety of meanings. For the viewer it can stand for the American beauty raised a rare and antique climbing rose much like the roses in the Burnham garden. It can also represent the American ideal of a woman such as Angela, the ideal American beauty with her long flowing blonde hair, her porcelain complexion and her ruby red lips and bright blue eyes.

Another adaptation of the title is the beauty of a perfect American home much like the Burnhams home appears to be. My first reaction after seeing Sam Mendes’ feature film directorial debut, American Beauty, is that it disturbed me. This is the kind of movie that makes one wonder about what really is beautiful, and where can one find this beauty. American Beauty accurately and purposefully describes the meaninglessness and loneliness of the current moment in much of America. It is a story that finds its source on the pages of daily newspapers, with a group of characters we all know well from our neighborhood store, from people’s personal histories, or at least from television.

I would certainly not recommend this movie to be viewed by college students as it would just tarnish their way of thinking about school and college and nothing good would cross their mind all this while. BIBLIOGRAPHY Black, Paula. Gender and the Beauty Industry: Discipline and Power. Routledge, 2004 Gimlin, Debra L. Body Work: Beauty and Self-Image in American Culture. University of California Press, 2001 Word Count: 516