Jeff’s usual media consumption habits are quite ridiculous. This guy is a media junkie. He has hundreds of movies (VHS and DVD), CDs, MP3 files, video games, a satellite dish with 600 channels (literally), and a DSL Internet connection in his apartment. He rarely misses an advanced screening of a movie (good or bad) and has a bad habit of ruining most films before the opening credits are done. But, for some strange reason that I have yet to understand, he had never seen American Beauty! Of all the people I have met in my life, this guy would be the last to miss out on a great movie such as this. I was also excited to see how he would react to the movie because most people I have spoken

Based on the readings in chapter 12 of the Questioning the Media text, my viewing subject exemplified a few parts of the ‘Uses and Gratification’ section. Jeff was able to find personal identity in the movie and was quite entertained at the same time. American beauty is great because it is not mindless entertainment like so much of the garbage on TV and in the movie theaters these days. This movie does not insult the intelligence of its audience and directly goes against what we are supposed to ‘like’ in a film or show. American Beauty does not require a ‘smart’ audience to understand the film, but it is far from the stuff tailored for ‘couch potatoes.’

Both Jeff and I have similar reactions to the movie and while we both interpret it in the same ways, we each identified with different characters. I personally connect with the character of Lester Burnham in that I feel trapped at this point in my life. I am 20 years old, living at home, attending community college, and feel like I am missing out on some of the best experiences of my life right now. In the movie Lester changes his life and frees his soul, something that I have been struggling with over the past few months. My favorite theme in this movie is that of liberation and free will.

are on the inside, despite the image we project outside our homes. I asked him to rate the movie based on what he had seen in the past year and he said it was the best movie he had seen in a really long time. I was happy to hear his reaction because I personally take this movie to heart.

I think the mass media in general insults its audience when it makes mindless entertainment. It is true that Americans spend a lot of time in front of the television. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t smart or can not grasp entertainment with meaning and purpose. The reason we watch so much trash on television is because the networks believe that’s all we want (thank God for the Discovery Channel) and that’s all they put on the air. Net

Some topics in this essay:
American Beauty, Discovery Channel, Kevin Spacey, Fight Club, Questioning Media, Lester Burnham, Fitz Ricky, Ricky Fitz, Carolyn Lester’s, , american beauty, american beauty movie, network television, mindless entertainment, character lester, mass media, beauty movie, ricky fitz, watch movie, life movie, scene lester,