Essay about American Beauty and Thirteen - 939 Words

Essay # 2: American Beauty and Thirteen In this essay, I have chose to talk about the movies, American Beauty and Thirteen from group #1. The two topics discussed in this essay from group #2 are identity and difference along with sexuality. The cinematic elements from group #3 that will be discussed are cinematography and costume use. In many ways, both these films portray similar content in terms of characters fighting battles with themselves and society in order to fit in. In American Beauty, Lester Burnham tries to free himself from his boring life and depression. On the other hand, Thirteen shows the struggles of Tracy Freeland, who tries to fit in at school. This results in her to go on a self-inflicting rampage with her supposedly†¦show more content†¦In American Beauty, Lester’s daughter Jane shows unusual sexual desires with her neighbor Ricky who is identified as a mysterious and creepy character. Sound plays a big role in the scenes that they are both present in because of Ricky’s unusual b ehavior. When sexual intimacy scenes appear between both these characters, sound is visible with quiet music and subtle movements of clothes and items. As mentioned in â€Å"Looking at Movies†, sounds create expectations, which can show the viewers that, the scene lead to signs of intimacy between characters (Monahan, 2013). In the scene where Rick is pointing the camera through the window and Jane reveals herself completely from the front, is a sign of looking past the differences that both characters face at home and showing intimacy towards each other (Ball, 1999). The camera angle steadily moves from chest level to waist level while zooming onto Jane. In Thirteen, Tracy experiences a similar moment with Evie’s friend Rafa when they are alone home at Evie’s house. In this scene, Tracy and Evie both are making out with the boys and you can feel the atmosphere getting hotter due to the quietness of the actual scene with gentle music and only a few kissing sound s being heard (Hardwicke, 2003). In this scene, the camera angle tries to capture both the girls taste in clothing from a low angle of view from the backside toShow MoreRelatedPersuasive Essay On The Standard Of Beauty1529 Words   |  7 PagesWhen thirteen-year-old Alyssa looks into the mirror, she runs through a list of everything she hates about her body, â€Å"I wish my stomach was flatter, my chest was bigger, my thighs were skinnier, my arms were more toned, and my waist was smaller.† She looks into the mirror, comparing her body to the bodies of her friends, celebrities and the images she sees in magazines. Alyssa does not look like all those girls and this makes her feel gross, insecure and out of place. 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