- Do you think it is trying to say anything about life in modern America?
- Do you recognize anything in the film from our region of the country?
- Did you notice the director using and editing techniques, colors, or symbolism to add depth to the film? What did you notice and what do they add to the film?
- What is the film saying about beauty?
- What is the film saying about voyeurism?
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Reactions to the film
What did you guys think of the movie? Respond to one or all of the following bullets.
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the director is defiantly saying that americans do so many things for show. our society is becoming more about what other people think about each other rather that the what the individual wants. lester even says that his marriage is just for show, its just to give him and his wife a place in society. thats now how we should be living our lives, thats why we have so many divorces in our country because people going for looks and not true value
ReplyDeleteI think the moral or message the director is trying to give is that life is a beautiful thing and you can't waste your time being boring, but at the same time don't over do it. I agree with what dan was saying how this century we are always worried about what other people think and we do most things for show. The director uses a lot of red in certain scenes such as the rose pedals, the blood when luster gets shot, the red car, the red dress the wife is wearing at the end. Its also weird that even though roses are his wife's favorite flower he always pictures Angela with them.
ReplyDeleteSammy corsi
First of all, I really enjoyed this film. It may have even been my favorite movie we watched this semester, along with Raging Bull. I believe there are a lot of things going on in the film. There are themes about beauty, American society, voyeurism, etc. One thing I found interesting was the director's view on "beauty". I felt that he was trying to portray the idea that there is beauty in just about everything in the world. For example, the plastic bag. Most of us wouldn't stop to watch a plastic bag dance around fro 20 minutes; and it would probably be even more unusual for us to find beauty in such a thing, but Ricky did. Sometimes we are just so caught up in just going through the motions of life that we forget or don't see the beauty in ordinary, everyday things. Lester forgot the beauty of innocence and purity when he became infatuated with Angela, but her uttering the words, "It's my first time," was enough to bring him back to reality.
ReplyDelete-Yvonne R.
The strongest feeling that came across me after viewing this film was definitely pertaining to life in modern America. Americans are fixated on a stable job, a stable and boring family, and an overall redundant and ideal life. Many Americans fall into this category as in the movie however we do not enjoy it. What this movie does is reveals the greatness that can come from going against the norm. Although in the end Lester is murdered, he changes in such a major way that after being the enemy for the entire film, the bad father, the poor husband, we now see him as a hero. His ability to break the monotone barrier of American life, bring out individualism and realize what he is missing out with his family makes him a hero.
ReplyDeleteAri
Yes I do think that this film is making a comment on modern American life and saying that we no longer chase after the American dream. Or at least most of us don’t try as hard to achieve the American dream, instead we just settle for what easiest, or what’s going to make us the most or enough money. Not many people look into a profession and pursue it as a career that won’t allow them to make as much money as they want or need. Aside from that this film also touches on the idea that when you’re older nothing in life really matters anymore and that you forget about what it means to have fun or to be truly relaxed and carefree for even one day. That you get stuck in this negativity rut because all you ever think about now is keeping a job that makes you miserable because it provides money for your family. However you get so wrapped up in work and how it stresses you out and you forget how to do the most important thing, which is how to love. Both Carolyn and Lester forgot how to love each other and also as a result of their hectic and routine-based lives, forgot how to love their daughter which is why she feels so weird and left out all the time. Janey never has anyone to talk to because no one ever listens to her. She wants to talk to her parents but they never seem willing to listen to what she has to say, and instead are always trying to focus the conversation on whose day was worse, or whose job is worse, or who feels worse about how badly their marriage is ending up. She also tries to reach out to Angela but whenever they’re talking about something, Angela always manages to refocus the conversation on her. But she then meets the one person who will listen to her and falls in love with him, probably for that reason. How people listen to each other is another part of modern American life that this film deals with because throughout this movie no one seems to care at all about what anyone else has to say, they only want to hear about themselves and talk about the stage that their life is in.
ReplyDelete