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

Reality. Merriam Websters Online vocabulary defines reality as well-nighthing that is neither derivative nor dependent but exists necessarily. but what is real by todays standards? Does what appears to be normal tint reality? By looking at two different films it seems that the experienced cliche stands correct. Things arnt as they appear. American Beauty and The Virgin Suicides soften classic examples of how normal and happy suburban life is anything but. American Beauty, say by Sam Mendes (1999) and The Virgin Suicides, directed by Sofia Coppola (2000), share galore(postnominal) of the same themes stock-still though the plots are contrasted. Underneath the layers of white pathfinder fences, beautiful houses, and safe neighborhoods, lies a truth. A truth so sinfulness that it leads to the destruction of many fibres in both(prenominal) of these movies.The first element that mustiness 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 most. He is in an ongoing marriage that should be coming up to the red light. He is as well stuck in a job where he feels under appreciated and not well respected. He has been at this job for fourteen long time. That is fourteen years of being in jail. It is quite evident that he is not happy. Who would be when you hold up that your wife and you daughter think that you are a wide 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 life. Carolyn is confine by image. She has the notion that she cannot be happy unless everything appears as perfect. And Jane, feeling the exercising weight of her parents, wants to break off from her prison, her home life. She like most 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 Lisbon sisters. After the youngest sister plunged to her death during the first caller they were allowed to have, and Lux came home late after the homecoming dance, their parents literally rancid their home into a prison. For most children, mothers and fathers set boundaries for the Lisbons, its entreat bars (Berardinelli). They were not allowed out, had the tree cut down that was near their window, and til now 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 neer been a 13-year-old girl. No, but his profession and every adult 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, damage Poses, American Spectator, Jun 2000, Vol 33, Issue 5, p. 66Ebert, Roger, American Beauty, moolah 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. velvety Light Trap, Spring 2001, Issue 47, p 3-12.Scott, A.O., Film Review transitory 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