American Beauty, directed by Sam Mendes and The Virgin Suicides, direct

Reality. Merriam Websters Online Dictionary defines reality as something that is neither derivative nor strung-out but exists necessarily. But what is real by todays standards? Does what appears to be normal equal reality? By looking at two different films it seems that the old cliche stands correct. Things arnt as they appear. American ravisher and The complete(a) Suicides give classic examples of how normal and happy suburban intent is anything but. American Beauty, directed by Sam Mendes (1999) and The thoroughgoing(a) Suicides, directed by Sofia Coppola (2000), share many of the same themes even though the plots are contrasted. chthonicneath the layers of white picket fences, beautiful houses, and safe neighborhoods, lies a justness. A truth so dark that it leads to the destruction of many characters in some(prenominal) of these movies.The beginning element that must be looked at is the imprisonment of the characters in both films. The main character of American Beauty , Lester Burnham, is the man whom feels the burden of imprisonment the well-nigh. He is in an ongoing marriage that should be coming up to the rose-cheeked light. He is also stuck in a job where he feels under appreciated and non well respected. He has been at this job for 14 years. That is fourteen years of being in jail. It is quite evident that he is not happy. Who would be when you know that your wife and you daughter think that you are a gigantic loser (American Beauty)? Lester is not the only character who suffers from this. His wife Carolyn and daughter Jane both know what it is like to feel trapped in an unhappy look. Carolyn is imprisoned by image. She has the notion that she cannot be happy unless everything appears as perfect. And Jane, feeling the weight of her parents, wants to break off from her prison, her home life. She like intimately teens views her parents as weird and wants out of that life.In The Virgin Suicides the characters that are the most imprisoned are the five capital of Portugal sisters. After the youngest sister plunged to her demise during the first party they were allowed to have, and Lux came home late after the recurrence dance, their parents literally turned their home into a prison. For most children, mothers and fathers set boundaries for the Lisbons, its iron bars (Berardinelli). They were not allowed out, had the tree cut fling off that was near their window, and even had actual bars put on the window... ... Youre not even old enough to know how hard life gets, he tells her. Obviously, doctor, she says, youve never been a 13-year-old girl. No, but his profession and every handsome life is to some degree a search for the happiness she does not even know she has. (Ebert).BibliographyBerardinelli, James, Review American Beauty, http//movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/a/american_beauty.html, 1999Berardinelli, James, Review The Virgin Suicides, http//movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/v/sirgin_sucides.html, 2000Bow man, James, Suffering Poses, American Spectator, Jun 2000, Vol 33, Issue 5, p. 66Ebert, Roger, American Beauty, simoleons Sun-Times, http//www.suntimes.com/cgi-bin/print.cgi Ebert, Roger, The Virgin Suicides, Chicago Sun-Times, http//www.suntimes.com/cgi-bin/print.cgi , May 5, 2000McKittrick, Casey, Shaping Pedophilic Discourse around American Beauty Happiness. Velvet Light Trap, Spring 2001, Issue 47, p 3-12.Scott, A.O., withdraw Review Evanescent Trees and Sisters In an Enchanted 1970s Suburb, The New York Times, http//movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/review.html Viner, Russel, The Virgin Suicides, Student BMJ, Jul 2000, Vol. 8, p 254