John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”, and Sam Mendes’ “American Beauty”, explore the fallacious and impossible nature of the ‘American dream’. The American dream encapsulates the ‘inalienable right to happiness’ in the American constitution, the individual right to dictate one’s own destiny and reap the rewards of hard work. Through comparative analysis of Steinbeck’s satire of the attainment of the dream as unrealistic, with themes of apathy and materiality, and Mendes’ subverted parody of suburban utopia as superficial consumerism the audience gain insight into the true nature of the American dream as either unattainable, intrinsically materialistic, and ultimately not the source of true happiness.
Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ is a 1937 …show more content…
However, as Steinbeck stated himself, “knowing a man will never lead to hate”, and the greed and apathy of humanity is countered through the strength of friendships that are moulded by the dream. Lennie and George’s bond is characterized as a lone citadel of love amongst a sea of apathy from the farmhands, with their focused behaviour revealing the importance of friendship derived from the dream. Furthermore, George’s recurring statement of “Guys…that work on ranches, are the loneliest…With us it ain 't like that… We got somebody…We don’t have to sit at a bar” also highlights how the dream allows its adopters to maintain motivation. The importance of this motivation through fraternity is shown through juxtaposition of the beauty of nature with its “golden foothill slopes” and “mottled sycamores” to the unfriendly inhabitants of the farmstead, their building “whitewashed”, with floors “unpainted”. The American dream’s purpose is particularly evident in the closing scene where George kills Lennie. Firstly, the dream serves its motivational purpose, pacifying and subduing Lennie, allowing him a painless death. The imagery of the “water snake gliding smoothly through the water”, and the “hillside banks” which run “deep and green”, is incongruous to the heron’s killing of the snake. This foreshadows the demise of …show more content…
Throughout the film, American clichés such as the white picket fence and the instrumental “On Broadway” are accumulated to convey the “showiness” of modern America. Furthermore, the recurring visual motif of the rose, although symbolizing passion, simultaneously symbolizes traditional American beauty, with the genetic engineering of the rose again stressing the superficiality of modern American culture. The ultimate irony of Angela Haze, “sick of people taking insecurity out on her”, is mirrored in the Colonel’s vehement homophobia, revealing the widespread nature of superficial values. The helicopter-gimble shot at the very end of the film, slowly zooms out of Lester’s house, also intimating that entrapment by the American dream may be more widespread than originally thought. A recurring theme throughout the film is exploitation of sex, for social and monetary gain. This exploitation is humorously emphasized in the repeated allusion to Buddy’s status as the “king of real estate”, perhaps critiquing the sexuality of the American culture during the 1990’s. Finally, Buddy’s belief that “one must always project an image of success”, summates “American Beauty’s” satire of the modern American values as a result of an overly consumerist and hollow dream. Hence, “American Beauty”
Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ is a 1937 …show more content…
However, as Steinbeck stated himself, “knowing a man will never lead to hate”, and the greed and apathy of humanity is countered through the strength of friendships that are moulded by the dream. Lennie and George’s bond is characterized as a lone citadel of love amongst a sea of apathy from the farmhands, with their focused behaviour revealing the importance of friendship derived from the dream. Furthermore, George’s recurring statement of “Guys…that work on ranches, are the loneliest…With us it ain 't like that… We got somebody…We don’t have to sit at a bar” also highlights how the dream allows its adopters to maintain motivation. The importance of this motivation through fraternity is shown through juxtaposition of the beauty of nature with its “golden foothill slopes” and “mottled sycamores” to the unfriendly inhabitants of the farmstead, their building “whitewashed”, with floors “unpainted”. The American dream’s purpose is particularly evident in the closing scene where George kills Lennie. Firstly, the dream serves its motivational purpose, pacifying and subduing Lennie, allowing him a painless death. The imagery of the “water snake gliding smoothly through the water”, and the “hillside banks” which run “deep and green”, is incongruous to the heron’s killing of the snake. This foreshadows the demise of …show more content…
Throughout the film, American clichés such as the white picket fence and the instrumental “On Broadway” are accumulated to convey the “showiness” of modern America. Furthermore, the recurring visual motif of the rose, although symbolizing passion, simultaneously symbolizes traditional American beauty, with the genetic engineering of the rose again stressing the superficiality of modern American culture. The ultimate irony of Angela Haze, “sick of people taking insecurity out on her”, is mirrored in the Colonel’s vehement homophobia, revealing the widespread nature of superficial values. The helicopter-gimble shot at the very end of the film, slowly zooms out of Lester’s house, also intimating that entrapment by the American dream may be more widespread than originally thought. A recurring theme throughout the film is exploitation of sex, for social and monetary gain. This exploitation is humorously emphasized in the repeated allusion to Buddy’s status as the “king of real estate”, perhaps critiquing the sexuality of the American culture during the 1990’s. Finally, Buddy’s belief that “one must always project an image of success”, summates “American Beauty’s” satire of the modern American values as a result of an overly consumerist and hollow dream. Hence, “American Beauty”