American Beauty and Thirteen

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Recommended: Representations of sexuality in films

Essay # 2: American Beauty and Thirteen

In this essay, I have chose to talk about the movies, American Beauty and Thirteen from group #1. The two topics discussed in this essay from group #2 are identity and difference along with sexuality. The cinematic elements from group #3 that will be discussed are cinematography and costume use. In many ways, both these films portray similar content in terms of characters fighting battles with themselves and society in order to fit in. In American Beauty, Lester Burnham tries to free himself from his boring life and depression. On the other hand, Thirteen shows the struggles of Tracy Freeland, who tries to fit in at school. This results in her to go on a self-inflicting rampage with her supposedly best friend Evie. Identity and differences are displayed through sexuality with Lester and Evie in different types of way. Lester lusts over his daughters best friend Angela, while Tracy tries to experience sexuality in different types of ways following Evie’s footsteps.

Sexuality creates an identity for both Lester and Tracy along with the supporting cast members in both films. The way both characters try to explore sexuality is what defines their character in the film. In American Beauty, the scene where Lester first sees his daughter’s best friend Angela dressed in a provocative cheerleading uniform while the camera slowly focuses on her hip movements is a great way to show sexual desire (Ball, 1999). Lester’s eyes in this scene are a clear way for the directors to show the type of sexual identity Lester will carry on throughout the film. In Thirteen, Tracy is identified as sexually conscious when she tries to talk to her brothers friends and they only end up paying attention to Evie and he...

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...tail. Also, many camera angles that exploit the atmosphere of sexuality make these films very similar in the eyes of a regular viewer. Both movies allow the viewer to experience how life is much tougher under social pressures from the point of view of many characters. Not only do these movies focus on small details in various scenes, they show the complexity of making movies while incorporating a unique story line and keeping the viewer involved with each and every characters problems.

Bibliography

Ball, A. (Writer), & Mendes, S. (Director). (1999). American Beauty [Motion Picture]. USA.

Hardwicke, C. (Writer), & Hardwicke, C. (Director). (2003). Thirteen [Motion Picture]. USA.

Monahan, R. B. (2013). Looking at Movies. In Chapter 9: Sounds (p. 416). New York: Norton & Company, Inc.

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