American Beauty Textual Analysis Essay

The task for my APP assignment was to select a suitable 5 minute extract from a film or television programme and write a detailed textual analysis showing how it embodies ideas, attitudes, values and cultural beliefs that appeal to its intended audience. It will take into account the codes, conventions, myths and ideological assumptions on which meaning depends. This is an analysis of the opening scene in American Beauty.

The film begins with a flash forward introducing a girl who is complaining about her father, and how he is narcissistic (fig 1). Her relationship with her father is obviously very restricted, she states she “needs a father who’s a role model” which implies he is not. The shaky camera and graininess of the shot suggests that somebody is recording her. The use of a home video’s personal touch gives the audience a better sense of what the character is going through, it shows the girl is speaking her own mind. Therefore the audience can piece together the person recording the film is

He is gazing up as if he was praying for help, this interpretation can be deduced because of the light in the top right of the frame which is reminiscent of the symbolic light of heaven (fig 5). This then gets contradicted when the shot changes to him masturbating in the shower, this juxtaposes the scene as he looks down and away from the light. He is self-ashamed and will take any chance to get some relief. Although he may look down on this act, he self-professes it is the best thing that will happen to him that day. Furthermore, this also gives an indication into what his love life is like. “But, the boundaries of classification established by a particular culture, religion or society, are ritually and routinely transgressed”. (Gillespie and Toynbee, 2006, 47) Within religion, masturbation is frowned upon and he is doing it in god’s view. This is an early act of rebellion that foreshadows later