Roses have been associated with love for centuries, and the film American Beauty has maintained this traditional symbolism. American Beauty uses roses to symbolise love in scenes where love is present, but in contrast it also uses roses in scenes where love does not exist, and is yearning to. To fully understand this concept one mus

Photographs are present in three scenes in the movie, that is to say they are used as a narrative technique in three scenes, the first of which is after the first dinner scene where Lester and Jane have there first conflict of the film, which leads on from the scene in the dinning room where the fight begins. The fight is about Lester and Jane’s relationship and the dysfunctional nature of the family, Jane comments on the lack of concern towards her from her family, Lester comments on times of a happier nature. Together they are a perfect contrast to what the photo shows. (The photograph is a ‘happy snap’ of the Burnham family when Jane was very young; the family are genuinely happy and enjoying themselves) This juxta positioning of the argument and the photo presents ‘the common photo rationale’ (stated above) that the Burnham’s are trying to remember better times despite recent family problems. In addition when the photo is shown in the final shot of the scene, and Lester throws his towel towards it, this represents the idea that hope for the resurrection of those times is gone, that those times are in the past. By looking closer at the power structure of the photo one can notice that there is no dominating presence in the photo. Caroline, Lester and Jane are all equal hight and are huddled together, symbolising there is no competition for the figure of power. The next Photo Tells quite a different tale, it is the photo shown at the beginning of the next dining room scene, which too tells a different tale. In this second and final dining room scene of the film the power structure changes, from Caroline to Lester. The photo, shown as the opening shot of the scene, resembles a Victorian family photograph in which the head of the home (the male) would sit and his family would stand around him. The satire humour and symbolism of this photo is such that Caroline takes that position, symbolising she in power, sitting while Lester and Jane stand. After a heated argument between Lester and Caroline, Lester throws a plate at the wall, smashing the photograph. In this scene the photograph symbolises the power structure of the Burnham family before and now, as it quite literally comes crashing down. Noting the power structure once more, and referring back to the first family photograph, we see how the family has changed in a modern world, from the equal power balance of times now past to the struggle for family domination that exists today. The final scene in which photographs are used in American Beauty is the scene in which Lester is shot. Lester holds the photo in his hand remembering the happier times and reliving them while a hand appears behind him and pulls a trigger. In this scene the photo symbolises not past love and happiness, but love and happiness that can live forever if Lester chooses to let it. The final photo is the very same as the first photo and somewhat resolves the movie in coming back to it, the power structure is now equal again and Lester is now content. The photographs in American Beauty achieve much more than simply symbolising the happier tim

Some topics in this essay:
American Beauty, Lester Jane’s, Caroline Lester, Fitts Fitts, Comparison Fitts, Lester Lester’s, Lester Caroline, Angela Lester’s, Jane Lester, Inside Burnham, american beauty, burnham family, burnham home, power structure, film american beauty, film american, lester’s view, fitts home, fitts family, roses symbolise, symbolise love, roses symbolise love, american beauty roses, burnham home houses, photographs american beauty,