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Scarface and the american dream
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In the film public enemy, there are some themes that become very prevalent within the film that are closely tied and related to gangster films. Some of these themes being; the American dream, hard earned and honestly wealth created as a goal for immigrants in the 1900’s. As well as intense violence that comes with the job of being a hometown hoodlum who robs and kills for a living, and it all ends along with the notorious fall of a gangster who cheated his way to the top. This film focused more on the disillusion of the American dream because of how hard conditions were due to the great depression. “Gangster films are often morality tales: Horatio Alger or 'pursuit of the American Dream' success stories turned upside down in which criminals
The American Dream is a dream that everyone imagines to be picture perfect. The American Dream means having freedom, equality and opportunity’s to achieve the dream that you conceptualize to be right by you. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck did not want to just illustrate the American dream as being easy, but he wanted to point out the American Dream as being difficult too. Steinbeck made a work of art by composing a great novel to make the reader understand that life can be difficult and at times dreams are hard to achieve. Of Mice and Men was written and based on the settings of the Great Depression (Anderson). The Great Depression was a very dire time that left multiple of people despondent and the unavailing to move on with their lives. The Great Depression created a world where everyone had to seek and survive for themselves. In the novel Steinbeck wanted to explore and point out how powerless people where during the time of the Great Depression. Steinbeck purposely incorporated his characters to depict the life struggle of what people go through during grim times. In the novel, Steinbeck illustrated a great set of characters Lennie, George, Candy and Crooks. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck discusses handicaps, hardships, and friendships of the characters.
Dreams are goals in life where people aspire to execute their passionate desire to an extent where it motivates them, allowing many to grasp their objectives (Dictionary). However, the dream can consume someone’s thoughts and acts, altering their persona. The nature of each protagonist in the novel, The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, and in the film American Gangster by Ridley Scott, were very similar due to the fact that their dreams destroyed their character. The protagonist in The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, first aspired to become a rich man. In efforts of fulfilling his desires, his own dream destructed his emotional conscious. Similarly, the main character of American Gangster, Frank Lucas was destructed, but by immorality and wrongdoing
Since its publication in 1925, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has indisputably been one of the most influential and insightful pieces on the corruption and idealism of the American Dream. The American Dream, defined as ‘The belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone,’ was a dominant ideal in American society, stemming from an opportunist pioneer mentality. In his book ‘The American Tradition in Literature’, Bradley Sculley praised The Great Gatsby for being ‘perhaps the most striking fictional analysis of the age of gang barons and the social conditions that produced them.’ Over the years, greed and selfishness changed the basic essence of the American Dream, forming firmly integrated social classes and the uncontainable thirst for money and status. The ‘Roaring Twenties’ was a time of ‘sustained increase in national wealth’ , which consequently led to an increase in materialism and a decrease in morality. Moreover, the
There is a thin line that exists between the depiction of a villain and a gangster that Hollywood has mastered walking on. While villains and gangsters may do many of the same things in movies, like stealing and killing, they each do them for different reasons. Villains enjoy crime because that is what gets them off; some may feel they are doing society a favor, like Uncle Charlie in Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, and others are more simply portrayed as naturally evil or mentally ill. But Gangsters are doing what they do for something American society can relate to—to make a living and, ultimately, get to the top.
To have a strong American Dream, there must be a fear of failure. In both works, failure is defined as losing manhood, and success is equated with being the “ideal male”. The American Dream becomes an extension of masculinity attained through material possessions, work ethic, and status. Manhood is represented by the determination, achievement, and accomplishment, which makes failure more threatening as it equates to the destruction of the individual rather than his goals. Fear is another motivation which turns the struggles for greatness very personal for the cast. The theme of the film is based on antiquated concept that males are supposed to protect and provide for women; therefore, failing to succeed becomes a threat to the male’s domestic
One of the most important things that Americans hold true to is their beliefs. These are the things that we stick to our guns when we are challenged by others, and they show up in American Hustle. The American dream comes to light in the movie and plays a major role in the story line. The film takes us through the story of a mayor named Carmine Polito. The film describes his father emigrated from Italy and nothing with him, and made something out of him. His son Carmine, made something out of himself by working hard to become a powerful person and a man of wealth. Another American belief that becomes evident in the film is family. As A...
The American Dream had always been based on the idea that each person no matter who he or she is can become successful in life by his or her hard work. The dream also brought about the idea of a self-reliant man, a hard worker, making a successful living for him or herself. The Great Gatsby is about what happened to the American Dream in the 1920s, a time period when the many people with newfound wealth and the need to flaunt it had corrupted the dream. The pursuit of the American Dream is the one motivation for accomplishing one's goals, however when combined with wealth the dream becomes nothing more than selfishness.
The American dream has lost a lot of its innocence as America has developed. Everything in the America of today has become business based, and as a result the purity of the original American Dream has been tainted. It seems necessary in modern society to have loose morals to be successful. Perhaps this is where the American Dream really started to deteriorate; when someone realized they could achieve success much faster by capitalizing at another’s expense. Scott Fitzgerald’s character Gatsby found this out. In his younger days Gatsby had a regiment for self-improvement, a testament to his willingness to work for success and break through class barriers. However, Gatsby learns that the world does not work that way. Gatsby is supposed to have
The American Dream seems almost non-existent to those who haven’t already achieved it. Every character in the novel has moments of feeling happy and endures a moment where they believe that they are about to achieve their dreams. Naturally everyone dreams of being a better person, having better things and in 1920’s America, the scheme of getting rich is quick. However, each character had their dreams crushed in the novel mainly because of social and economic situations and their dream of happiness becomes a ‘dead dream’ leading them back to their ‘shallow lives’ or no life at all.
Founding father Benjamin Franklin described the American dream as the “pursuit of a better existence… a higher quality of life through hard work, determination, and devotion” (Benjamin Franklin). The American dream is an idea that if you work hard, you can rise from “rags to riches” and live a wealthy and prosperous life with moral values of respect and integrity. Ironically, Franklin’s version of the dream was decaying during the roaring 1920s when society became corrupt and obsessed with greed. In his classic book, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows how the American dream of “hard work, determination, and devotion” was deteriorating because society had become greedy and materialistic. In addition, moral values were in decline and that was illustrated by Tom Buchannan and his affair with Myrtle, Jay Gatsby and his illegal bootlegging business, and Daisy Buchannan and her affair with Gatsby.
In the film Scarface (1932) the ideological message that I personally see is the issue of power, more specifically street credibility, and how your reputation defines you in the streets to other gangsters and thugs. For one to understand the ideological message of power that this films projects one must know a thing or two about how street life was like during the time this film takes place, which is (1932). At this time in United States history, there was a large portion of these criminals who actions and methodology became to be known...
The American dream has an inspiring connotation, often associated with the pursuit of happiness, to compel the average citizen to prosper. In Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby’s infatuation for Daisy drives him towards wealth in order to respark his love. Due to Daisy’s rich background, the traditional idea of love becomes skewed because of the materialistic mindsets of people in the 1920s. In the novel the wealthy are further stratified into two social classes creating a barrier between the elite and the “dreamers”. Throughout the novel, the idea of the American dream as a fresh start fails. As Nick, the narrator, spends time in New York, he realizes the corruption pursuing goals. Characters such as Gatsby and Myrtle constantly strive toward an the American dream, which Nick realizes to be fruitless in the end.
In conclusion, the American dream targeted the individual working hard in the pursuit to become successful and wealthy, with high-quality job and prosperity. In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the American dream symbolizes being free from any kind of restrictions and the ability to have the pleasure in the wide-open Western edge. However, The Great Gatsby criticizes the American dream due to moral and social value decay of the society.
In today’s society the term “American Dream” is perceived as being successful and usually that’s associated with being rich or financially sound. People follow this idea their entire life and usually never stop to think if they are happy on this road to success. Most will live through thick and thin with this idealization of the “American Dream” usually leading to unhappiness, depression and even suicide. The individual is confused by society’s portrayal of the individuals who have supposedly reached the nirvana of the “American Dream”. In the play “Death of a Salesman” Willy thinks that if a person has the right personality and he is well liked it’s easy to achieve success rather than hard work and innovation. This is seen when Willy is only concerned how Biff’s class mates reacted to his joke of the teachers lisp. Willy’s dream of success for his son Biff who was very well liked in High School never actually became anything. Biff turned into a drifter and a ranch worker. In the play “Seize the Day” Tommy who is financially unstable also pursues the idea of getting to the “American Dream” and becoming wealthy. He foolishly invests his last seven hundred dollars and eventually loses it leaving him broke and out of work. In both plays following the American Dream is followed in different characters and in both the characters are far away from it leaving them broke and forgotten by almost everyone.
The American Dream is the belief that anyone can rise from rags to riches. The movie, Gran Torino, does an excellent job demonstrating the achievement of the American Dream. The movie demonstrates these ideas through Thao Vang Lor, and Walt’s Gran Torino. Thao fulfills the American Dream in the movie and the car serves as a symbol of the dream for both Thao and Walt. Thao is a classic example of a boy being able to rise from unfavorable circumstances to a future with many opportunities.