AMERICAN BEAUTY

[maikuu]

[Emika Kanazawa]

Janie does not like her parents because they quarrel in front of her. Especially she does not like her father. This is because her father looks at her friend. Her friend is attractive for boys, and she knows about that. Janie feels jealousy of her.

I guess the police will blame Carolyn because she has a gun, though she hides the gun. Probably the police will try to find evidence "who killed him?"

I am fond of this movie. This is sometimes funny and sometimes serious. Each person has a problem about their relationship with family or friends. I could not expect the end of this movie. Actually I cannot understand what the last scene means. Lester realized his affection to his family but he was killed by Colonel [Fitts]. It is the tragic scene.

Teacher's note: This author covers the bases pretty well. The movie seems to leave the interpretation of the ending up to the viewer, which perhaps makes the film more compelling because we become more involved in the story. Thanks for being the first to post, and a fine post it is.

--mike http://www.moviesgrowenglish.com

[Risaaa]

Janie hate her parents, because they ignored her. Lester always stare[s] at Angela when he sees Janie and Angela, and Carolyn does work so hard. That is why, they do not take care of her so much. Finally, His father asks her friend whether she is happy or not. He became to be happy when he knew she is good. He should be active earlier.

Lester has been afraid of being quiet. Carolyn's fear is being a victim. Jane does not want to be ignored by someone. Angela wanted to be special person not ordinary.

Police must doubt Carolyn. The reason is that she hid a gun in a shelf. They will find it at once. It is sadness thing because she missed her husband in end of movie.

I love this movie. Sometimes, I felt weird or sad during watching movie. However, totally, this is good movie. I think everyone should say their opinion directly. I am impatient. I want to understand someday what Lester said.

Teacher's note: First, a note on GPS: Please be careful about time frame when posting. I prefer to use present tense (general time) because the film exists in a general sense. Yes, what does Lester mean in the end? And poor Carolyn. Perhaps, her fate is worse than Lester's since she missed her chance to kill him (assuming she would have gone through with it.). And now, she is sure to be the prime suspect. However, I have a different theory on who actually kills Lester. Thanks for posting.

--mike http://www.moviesgrowenglish.com

[Saud97]

1-Why does Janie "hate" her parents?
2-Lester regrets "20 years of feeling sedated." What do the other characters regret/fear about their lives? (Carolyn, Angela, Rickie Fitts, Frank Fitts)
3-Who will the police blame for Lester's fate?
4-Write a summary/opinion of AMERICAN BEAUTY.

ANSWERS
1-She hates her parents because they always fight and mostly because they always ignore her.
2-Carolyn's fear is being a victim. Angela's fear of being ordinary. Rickie Fitts fears fear itself. Frank Fitts has a fear of being homosexual and has a fear of disappointment.
3-They will blame his wife, Carolyn because she has a gun in her bag.
4-A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.

Teacher's note: Summary/Opinion: Where did you find that? This is what people in the industry call a "logline." It is a good one, too. Thanks for posting.

--mike http://www.moviesgrowenglish.com

[Sulttn]

Jane Burnham doesn't like her parents because they quarrel and fight all the time and she missed the love and the feelings between three of them as a family and they ignored her via there attitude and her mother slapped her in her face. Especially she does not like her father's attitude cause he was trying to have sex with her girlfriend and he looks at her all the time and on front of her, and her girlfriend was trying to do the same thing with her father cause she is beautiful. Her girlfriend knew and likes to have sex with boys and she said she used to have sex with boys and Janie feels jealousy of her father.

Ricky and his father " Frank "and Jane and her father "Lester Burnham" each one has a problem about their relationship with family. The police will gonna took and rusted her mother cause she went back home with her gon. Finally her father asked her friend that she is happy or not and he felt happy comfortable. Jane felt comfortable with Ricky and she loves him that cause the leave with him to NY and Ricky loves her too.

Thank you for the best movie I ever had.

Teacher's note: I made a few GPS corrections here, but there are more, including spelling. A reminder to all authors that we need to read our posts before hitting the submit button. This saves future embarrassment. This post has a pretty good setup of "American Beauty." The author seems to have a good understanding of the relationships between the characters. These relationships are actually pretty complex, so well done!

--mike http://www.moviesgrowenglish.com

[AlaaAlansari]

I feel so sad about what happened to Lester. He was trying to get his needs in legal way, but unfortunately he couldn't. He has been misunderstood by all people around him, even his family. And finally, the man who killed him also misunderstood him. He thought that he was doing bad things with his son.

[Basileo]

Janie hates her parents because they fight a lot. She really does not like her father when he is giving her friend more attention then her. Angela fears that she will be an ordinary girl she wants to be special and attractive. The movie shows us the struggle of some American family's and what they get through in a daily basis. Also this movie shows you that you can follow your dreams even if you're old , you can still get up and do what you want. I think it was a nice movie it was my first time watching it. The ending was sad because Laster just got his life back after that he was killed.

[SHIHO]

The reason that Janie hates her parents is that she cannot feel love in her family because her parents are always fighting. Another reasons are that her mother forces Janie to do something that she thinks right and her father loves Janie's friend, Angela. This movie shows each character's regret or fear, deeply humans emotions not superficial ones. Carolyn fears being a victim, Rickie Fitts fears being himself and Angela fears being an ordinary girl that you can see in her words, "Nothing more worse than being an ordinary person."

I really like this movie because I can see the very humans in it. For example, Carolyn seemed to hate her husband by the very last scene but when she found her husband was dead, she grabbed his clothes and kept crying. In this scene, I could see her contradiction that she was actually loved him but she couldn't show what she thought in her mind and felt in her heart in every moment to him.

Teacher's note: I absolutely admire what this author says about poor Carolyn and how she has become unable to show her true feelings for her tragically fated husband, Lester. Because movies are fiction, they have a license to take reality and exaggerate it for the purpose of bringing home a strong message that we might not otherwise allow into our psyche. IMHO American Beauty does such a profound job of this. It's probably why this film won 5 Academy Awards. Thanks for this post.

--mike http://www.moviesgrowenglish.com

[Tony]

I think all of them feel lonely and unsatisfied in their life. Carolyn wish her success, Janie need and want who understand and want her and Leater want love. Eventually, however, they recognize the fact that they were seeking family.

I guess the police suspect Carolyn or Janie and Rickie, because Carolyn had lover and gun. Janie and Rickie recorded what they were talking about whether or not Rickie can kill him. If the police can find this, it is very strong clue. Maybe Rickie's father will not be suspected, because nobody know his motive, Leaster also.

This movie concentrate on love, craizy, strong and sad. I think the color, red show that. I like this movie.

Teacher's note: This author makes a good point about the color, red. What does red represent in Western culture? Does everyone notice the red door on the house, which is otherwise white? Thanks, author, for pointing this out.

--mike http://www.moviesgrowenglish.com

[Mohammadu]

Janie hates her parents because they ignore her all the time,she thinks that her father is a loser, and a pervert who is trying to sleep with her friend. Moreover, Her mother slaps and yells at her. Lester regrets spending his time at work, Because they fired [him] and didn't appreciate him in the end. Whereas, Carolyn is afraid of being caught cheating with buddy Kane, and she regretted doing that after Lester knew about it. The police will probably blame Ricky Fitts for lester's death, because the camera that he has, recorded him agreeing to Jane's request to kill her father lester.

American beauty is a profound movie which illustrates the relationships between the strange characters, And it represents comedy in a uniquely dark and entertaining way.

Teacher's note: Aside from the GPS issues, I like this post a lot. I wonder if the characters are strange, or are we just given privilege to know their secrets and fears. Remember, Lester says,"Our marriage is just for show." The suggestion is that we all have secrets and fears to some degree. But, we keep our secrets to ourselves; perhaps we even deny them to ourselves. But "American Beauty" blows the roof off of all these dishonesties and shows the painful realities of each of the otherwise "normal" characters. Thanks for a cool post.

--mike http://www.moviesgrowenglish.com