Nov. 09 2017 | "Look Closer" // About Me |

Success and Order.

American Beauty; the "Best Picture," "Best Film," "Best Original Screenplay," and "Best Cinematography" according to the 72nd Academy Awards, highlights the value of life.

The uncomfortable film through Lester's midlife crisis motive and people involved in his daily life, interpret the various ways individuals cherish life: 

Carolyn- American dream
Angela- Image
Colonel- Structure, and order
Lester- Pleasure
Ricky- Seeing the beauty in every moment-- detail & individuality
Jane- Being loved, sincerity, and attention

Despite the apparent values in each character; their internal needs contradict these values.

Consider Ricky's dad, Colonel Fitts, who values tradition and order and later is shown to seek a romantic partnership with a male counterpart internally. A relationship structure which he bashes various times throughout the movie, especially with the gay neighbors.

The tagline "Look Closer" headlined the premiere of the film in the late 90's and parallels to the idea of the character's visible values for life and their genuine internal pleasures.

My question to all of this:

Is physicality enough?

Growing up in a traditional Catholic household with a single parent, the solidarity and self-reliant characteristics were embedded into the everyday thought process by adults near me.

Emotional investment was not a criterion in living life; emotions didn't matter.

The idea of feeling emotion because of an action was a meaningless involuntary reaction of the body which meant there was no reason for the various nights exploring loneliness and emotional abandonment by the two to three job occupying grown-ups. 

The real focal point of life was the economic being:

Did you have shelter?
Did you have food?
Did you have enough to pay bills? 

During middle school, the economic well-being became a great concern to me and sparked my actions of selling Avon beauty products to my vain neighbors and selling homemade tamales because that was the value of life.

Crying in the room on a constant basis as a middle school student, I would recollect myself by heading to a walk-in closet and reading the Spanish written bible; comparing the economic life, I was living compared to those in the Bible because it reminded me of the privilege I had. 

Yet, the social and situational difference of the individuals in the sacred book to mine didn't cross my mind.

Vaguely would I capture the emotions exchanged within the biblical characters because of the resolution or the moral of the snipped bit of the biblical story related to the physical being of the person. 

Not mental state but the physical state of the people. 

Now, as a young adult, these economic values live under my skin but I objectively look at the value of individuality. 

Going back to the tense film, American Beauty, Ricky seeks the detail of every aspect of his life with which he records through his camera lenses.

He finds the beauty in uncomfortable elements-- the amusement with death. 

The emotional factor in life is a detail I cherish, evaluating the base of emotion is appealing. 

Why are you feeling this way?
Who is causing this? 

Emotions narrate life, they influence our actions and drive us to be involved with certain people or partake in activities.

The principle of mental intuition creates the meaning to moments in life; our self-awareness is far more critical than the physicality of economic well being. 

After all, we are conscious human beings and can acknowledge our inner nature-- mental state. 

Sources:

American Beauty Brief Info - Wikipedia

American Beauty Movie Poster - Bing

American Beauty Film - Amazon