First of all, the music contributes to the feeling of an older aged person, as it is very soft and repetitive which could signify the length of the person's life.The first character we see is a woman, her clothing is essential because before we even see her face, the style and colour denotes to the audience that she is an older woman, this is due to the fact the colour is bland grey and her clothing is 'frumpy'. Plus, the fact that she is gardneing is also a stereotypical activity for older people. The location in which the film is set in is a suburb where the surroundings are calm and quiet, a stereotypical area for an older generation to live The introduction to her husband is through his commentary over the opening scene, the dialogue we hear from him is very well spoken and sounds like he is very well educated, therefore we can conclude from this that he is an older man. Also, the manner in which he is dressed is another indication, as compared with his wife, their dress sense is almost the same. In comparison to our first two characters, the next door neighbours, Jim and Jim, are represented differently as they are both wearing suits in which are more fashionable and fitted, therefore denoting to the audience that they are younger. The introduction to the daughter, who from her appearance looks young, stereotypically views a breat augmentation website,as most teenagers are very self-conscious of their bodies and how they look. Plus, from the commentary of her father, he descirbes her 'pretty typical teenager; angry, insecure, confused'. there is a contradiction to the age stereotype as the father sits in the back of the car, where his posture is very alike to a stereotypical teenagers, alike to when they sulk, therefore there is juxtaposition between the father and his daughter as their postures in the care are the total opposite to what they 'should' be.
Some good points raised here, but rather than responding as a stream of consciousness identify the main points & characters - be selective. There is gold in the analysis of composition during the dinner scene as juxtaposition between wife with child 'in the middle'.
In this sequence the teenager Jane is represented as a ‘typical teenager’ who is angry, insecure and confused this is stereotyping all teenagers this age is likely to be like this. Her dad says that but he says ‘I wish I can tell her that will pass. But I don’t want to lie to her’ basically saying it doesn’t always change when you get older. The way Jane dresses as well is stereotyping that teenagers dress the way they feel, because she is all of them things you can see from her clothes, baggy, dull, and mixed up. Her mum says ‘are you trying to look unattractive?’ n Jane reply’s yes. This stereotypes teenagers like they don’t care how they look, if they feel that way, they will dress that way. The dialogue that Jane has in this sequence is blunt. As she doesn’t have a connection with her parents and she don’t talk to them. This stereotypes younger people to be blunt against adult, like they don’t have a connection, with them and feel they can’t relate. The close up of her face to show her emotions and bluntness of the world, midshots of her body language and clothes to show she is insecure ‘looking in the mirror’. This all presents the stereotype of young teenage age to be like this typically.
Both of the adults in this sequence (coralline and Lester) are represented as boring, dull, losers, unhappy, uptight and stressed. This is shown in the way they dress (smart but dull colours). Compared to the both Jims who are gay they are dressed smart but more fashionable and modern. The way they talk to each other and there body language, is uptight and stressed this is stereotyping adults to be this way and ‘boss’ to younger people. Both parents can’t talk to their daughter. This stereotypes adults to be too busy for younger people so they can’t connect with younger people properly. The music they listen to and the music in the background is ‘old type music’. Stereotyping older people to be boring and repetitive. As Jane says ‘do we have to listen to this every time?’ Leister is a man longing for something in his life basically happiness and youthfulness. Stereotyping all older people to be like this. When he sits in the back of the car sulking like a kid would do, this is a contrast between the age as sulking is no what adults do stereotypically.
How do the characters in american beauty represent stereotypes of age
In this clip of american beauty there are three main charcaters introduced a family of a husband, wife and teenage daughter set in the locations of there family home, the car and the husbands work place. The daughter is shown as a typical teenager being confused about her body and feeling inscure about herself in general. As the teenage daughter walks towards the car her mother labels her clothing unattractive adding to her insecruity and confidence levels. The mother is shown as a posh and controlive. At the beginning of the clip she is cutting roses from her garden making all the plants look identical in the amount of flowers showing she likes things to stay and be kept the same. At this point her shoes are also matching the cutters she is currently using. In this clip she is also shown talking to her gay neighbours showing an interest for other people business making her come across as a bit noisey. This is like a sterotypical woman wanting to know everything that is going on and liking to keep things the same as always. The husband in this clip is shown to be a steroetypical man going through a mid life crisis. The clip shows he is hardworking and gets alot of stress from work, worried about losing his job there. He uses swear words in his everyday language showing his lack of knowledge or understanding, in the clip he is put down by both his wife and daughter after he is late gatting ready and leaving the house and then again when his breifcase opens and the contents falls out. He is then sitting in the back of the car slouching and acting like a kid who is really bothered or excited about being there. The dialogue in this clip is not just used for conversations but the husbands voice is used over clips of his wife and daughter introducing them to the audience and telling them his true thoughts and feelings about them. There is juxaposition used in the clip between the husband and wife showing there differences for example the wife is energetic and bubbly and the husband is lazy and disorganised in everyday life.
The characters in American Beauty represents stereotypes of age very well. The sequence begins outside with an older woman gardening with a flowery pinafore on. This is stereotypical for an older woman as its said to make them relaxed and a time passer. Throughout most of the beginning the dialogue is narrative and the occasional speaking between characters. This is for the audience to be able to understand the characters better from one persons point of view so they do not get confused with what is going on. The characters are all very well spoken, however for a teenage girl, the character does not say much. Therefore showing she may be insecure and shy which is common for teenagers but mainly most come across abrupt and angry to older people. The shots have been juxtaposed from looking at the teenage girl walking down to the car, then the car with the mother, then the man walking down to the car then the car with the mother again. I think these shots are done well because you are able to see the comparison between the daughter and the father and see how they react to the mother shouting at them to hurry up. The mother seems to have the firmer hand in the house rather than the father, she comes across more dominant and as she is wearing a smart suit she looks powerful and presentable. However traditionally this would be the man of the house. Compared to the mother and father the teenage girl is dress very frumpy, clothes hanging off her as if they were boys clothes. This shows the difference in age by the different fashions and what they feel is presentable and what sort of working environment standards they have to obtain. The horn gets beeped very loudly to catch attention, this is a rather masculine sound. There is a close up of the reflection of the man’s face on the computer screen which half shows he is at work because of the writing on the screen, however this is not clear, therefore a juxtapose shot in then an establishing shot to show clearly the change in scenery. Dull colours are worn in the office to show sophistication which relates back to the teenager wearing brighter clothing for the age era. Shot reverse shot is used in conversation to see the expressions on their faces. The man assumes he is going to be fired and begins to back chat and use bad language towards his boss, he appears immature as if he is acting like a teenager because he can’t get his own way, whereas an adult should act more respectably. Soft music is played at the dinner table showing sophistication in the room. The father begins to moan about his job like a spoilt teenager not getting what he wants. The teenager replies with ‘can’t be my best friend because of your bad day’, showing she is more mature and sensible than the father. In effect it is as if they had swapped roles in the conversation. The father gets shouted at by the mother and sheepishly walks away to go and get some ‘ice cream’ which is child like behaviour. American beauty shows that even adults can still act immature and do not always say the right things at the right time even if they are older and teenagers are not all ‘angry and insecure’ as some adults assume they are.
In the opening of this sequence the music is quite calm and could be associated with older people. We see the opening of an older women gardening, this is stereotypical of older women as they are often thought of as the gardener. She is also colour coordinated as women usually try to match what they are doing with their clothes, the fact that she is also being nosey towards her neighbour is another stereotype as women are said to be nosey and want to know all the gossip. The teenage daughter is classed as a typical teenager, being angry, insecure and confused. By saying this it is stereotyping teenagers as all being this way. The mother also uses the term unattractive about the clothes her daughter is wearing making her more insecure than she already is. Juxtaposition has been used from looking at the daughter walking to the car then back to the mother and then the father who is walking up to the car.
Compared to the way the mother and father dress the daughter seems as though she doesn't care about her appearance as much and that where she is going isn't as smartly dressed as her parents places of work. The clothes worn in the office that her father work at are very dull and smart this shows that it is a serious working environment. Shot reverse shot is used between the 'brad' and 'Lester' to show the conversation happening between them. Lester seems to be getting more sarcastic and angry about what he assumes is going to happen. This is the sort of thing that a teenager does in a situation showing that adults can also act immature.
For a teenager Jane doesn't have a lot to say, which from a teenager is not what you stereotypically expect. Her father starts moaning about his job, his daughter is not interested as she says that he can't be her best friend just because he had a bad day. It shows that she is more mature than he is. When the mother and father begin to get into a heated discussion he opts out by going to get some 'ice cream' that is something that would be expected from someone younger not a grown man.
American beauty shows the difference between the two genders and also the comparisons of ages. But some stereotypes that are used in this are not always true.
As we come into the opening scenes of this sequence we are introduced to quite a soothing, calm and collected music piece which could be associated with an older generation (which is further backed up when we are given the scenes of the 'older' women gardening, which is a stereotype of older people that they are all take care of gardens and are slow to embrace new concepts etc.) we are also given another stereotype of women which is that they need to be in the know/ nosey which is shown in the sequence when this older women spies and looks at her neighbor.
We are then given a new character a stereotypical teenager, this character is stereotypical for a number of reason for example the character is viewed as insecure and unsure of herself which can be backed up by the way her mother views the clothes she is wearing (she looks at them saying they are 'unattractive'. Going further into the use of Mise En Scene the mother and fathers attire is the complete opposite, they look like they care about there appearance seen in the mother and fathers work attire which is smart clothing/ business wear, while the daughters appearance looks like she doesn't really care as much about the way she looks in stereotypical society the same can be said about the parents the clothing they wear gives them the stereotypical view that they are going to work in a dull boring workplace.)
As for script and speech we see the parents fill the role of the teenager somewhat as the teenager 'challenges' stereotype (she doesn't say much which is uncommon for a teenage girl) whereas the parents fill the stereotype of the teenager (they have an argument and the father goes on about how is jobs bad the use of dialogue in this argument is also very childlike with the father opting to go for 'ice cream' which is once again challenging stereotype.
From this clip i can see American Stereotypes are used to show the difference of gender, age, social standing and many other comparisons, i can also see that al ot of the stereotypes that are shown are 'stretches' of the truth the common views we have of these people are challenged and changed to make a story and environment totally different to how we the audience can perceive it.
Firstly, we are introduced to the scene with a fairly upbeat however calm soundtrack, immediately relating to the fact that we see people of the older generation. The lady is doing gardening, and the music reinforces the idea that she enjoys this. The second shot, a wide shot, places her on the left hand side, bending down to cut some flowers, and the fact that there is so much viewing space next to her, completely focuses on the stereotype that old people are lonely, however in contrast to this, her husband is the voice over throughout the beginning scene, where he portrays that he is very well spoken, like most old people are. All of the older characters in this scene are dressed smartly, and the woman seems to be very interested in her neighbours and chats to them just how a stereotypical old lady would like to do.
Their daughter Jane is instantly introduced to the audience as a ‘typical teenager, angry, insecure, confused’ therefore putting ideas into people’s heads before they get to know the character. In opposition to her mother, she is dressed casually, and in not as dull colours. The first interaction between the two consists of the mum asking Jane if she is trying to look unattractive, something a typical mum would do as they are considered as ‘uncool’ in the eyes of youth. It is stereotypical for teenagers to be chatty, and talk a lot, although she doesn’t have a lot to say for herself. The husband leaves the house just after Jane, in the exact same long shot as her; he is in a hurry, and ends up with his brief case opening up, and all of his papers falling on the floor, absolutely juxtaposing the idea of teenagers being the clumsy ones who are always late, in comparison to adults who are normally seen as punctual and tidy. He states that both of his family members see him as a ‘loser’, again relating to how his daughter would generally see him as not cool. Again juxtaposing against teenagers, he is slumped in the car with his eyes closed, perhaps suggesting he had gone to bed late and was tired, something teenagers are stereotyped to do.
The scene consisting of him in his office, suggests that he is a typically hardworking man, although portrays a slight amount of sarcasm within his dialogue, which isn’t the general way you would go about talking to people n this environment, but by doing this, he holds some element of power, in his eyes looking down on people, almost acting ‘snobby’.
American Beauty clearly portrays typical stereotypes relating to age, with the older and younger generations acting together to create comparisons and also the effect of juxtaposition. The characters in this scene fit in with the typical stereotypes of age only to a certain extent.
Analysis on Age in American Beauty Clip James Beadle In the American Beauty clip we firstly are visually aware of middle aged women wearing grey old clothes that seem to be dirty and worn, this represents middle aged women as maybe not as vein as they once were in there teenage years, she is also doing the gardening which is a stereotypical hobby that middle aged women do. The music also strikes us quite hard being quite fast paced and repetitive and this could be seen as a comparison to the neighbourhood’s lifestyle. The commentary over the top of the soundtrack is of a man very well spoken and clearly quite upper class; this gives us a visual picture of the character before we even see him on the screen. Further on into the sequence you see the way that the two adults speak to each other and also there body language towards each other, it seems to be very blunt and unloving almost and this gives the stereotype that all middle aged peoples with kids and jobs are stressed and have forgotten how to love, this is enthused by them not wearing not any bright/exciting colours. Their daughter Jane is described by her father as insecure and confused which stereotypes her as a “Typical Teenager”. Jane Argues some Stereotypes of Teenagers in the way that most teenagers are made out to be appearance obsessed Technology Ridden Robots but she seems to not care in the slightest what she wears and almost takes pride when her mother says “Are you trying to look unattractive” and she replies “Yes”. The script Jane has been given is very blunt and almost takes after her parents but also at the same time has no relationship with them, as when her dad tries to bond with her telling the family about his bad day she replies “you can’t all of a sudden be my best friend just because you had a bad day” implying she may not have many friends and doesn’t make the most of life through her days. The best thing i found to compare between the Adults and the teenager are the costumes, Jane (The teenager) wears baggy clothing and has no care for her appearance and this reflects on her lifestyle meaning she is carefree and doesn’t take life seriously. On the other hand the adults wear suits and smart work wear meaning they take life seriously and live robotic 9-6 lifestyles, not in a selfish money grabbing way but to keep the upkeep of the family safe.
American Beauty Character Analysis (Age) First we are portrayed with the character of the wife, she's middle aged and is well dressed, looking glamourous, wealthy and confident. There only child Jane is then presented to us, this is where this character follows and challenges the teenage stereotype. Jane on a website about breast augmentation and as she moves in front of the mirror she poses observing her figure, insecure about her body and most likely because of the website she would like bigger breasts. However both the characters of the mother and daughter are very much opposite. The mum calls her down to the car and as she approaches she comments 'Jane honey are you trying to look unattractive' Jane replies 'yes' the dialogue I think in this scene demonstrates age as opposites and also challenging the age stereotype because the teenager should be young and pretty or at least wanting to look attractive as well as the older middle aged should not be as conscious about her looks. Although in this scene it is the other way round the mother wants to be looking attractive unlike her daughter. The mise en scene also shows the difference in age as the young girl is dressed in quite ragged clothing and dull colors unlike the mother who looks sophisticated with sun glasses, she looks bright and healthy compared to jane this challenges the stereo type of the young having beauty and the elder not.
The father who's dialogue is narrating the first scene describing the characters of his neighbors and family he sounds very unhappy 'both my wife and daughter think im just this gigantic looser' because he's not content I think that there is composition used purposely to show that their family are not close during the dinner scene they are all sat quite far apart and the daughter is sitting in between them maybe expressing that the mother and father have a weak relationship or even to show the difference in the two ages. The juxtaposition also enhances this as jane leaves the table then the father leaving the mother on her own spending more time on screen to emphasis maybe how she feels lonely. The last shot is important as it pans over to the photograph of the family together, the composition shows them close together and happy this shot reminds the audience what their family used to be like and how it has now changed. Age is very important in this scene as it is clear that we have this stereotype of the teenager rebelling against her mum and dad and is reluctant towards them, her language is commonly blunt also.
First shot is of an older person – an adult – doing gardening. She is dressed in a skirt and a blazer with an apron tied round her. That signifies that older people usually do things around the house, lack social life not counting their neighbours and they are living their own world. The adult man in the window is looking at the action outside, which might also signify that older people do not get out as much as youngsters and they prefer to step aside and just live their life until the end, without any conflicts or social life problems, earning money and just living as “appropriate and accepted” by society. Also the words of the adult man about the woman he was watching (most probably his wife) he says that she used to be happy, and she wasn’t always like she was now which shows us that throughout life we change due to the process and progress of life. Another scene is of their daughter, Jane. She is represented as a stereotypical teenager. Her costume and room she was located in, suggests that she is a rebelling teenager, insecure, angry and a student. Jane is secretive and clearly in the stage of socialising, peer pressure and stereotypical phase of desirability to be accepted in social groups. Next shot shows how the adults are in control, especially the mother in this case. Both, the daughter and husband, obey to her authority, which she has gained by her age. The mother also criticises the daughter on her clothing and style, which is very patronising for a teenager, especially when she uses a certain language, e.g. calling her daughter “honey” with a specific tone in her voice, clearly patronising. Stereotypically, adults are represented as patronising. Also, usually much wiser than youngsters because they have lived their lives already and have some “experience”. Then there is the father, leaving house, dropping his suitcase and making the woman mad. In a way, she is treating him just as patronising as his daughter, which must be quite embarrassing and degrading for him. In this clip he is represented though as the eldest one out of the family, therefore represented as what in any other case would be equal as “elderly”. Elderly and youngsters can be viewed by adults as quite similar in few ways such as: helpless, hopeless, quite useless and too different to ‘normality’ that it is hard to comprahand. That might be why the woman is using sarcasm, and a patronising tone with both of them to represent her character as “normality” and then those two extremes that are represented in characters of the daughter and father.
The first shot in the clip from American Beauty is of an older adult gardening. Her costume is a skirt and blazer with a apron tied around her waist. This signifies that older people like to keep themselves busy doing housework and gardening due to their lack of social life and loneliness. There is also an older man looking out from the window watching who I presume is his wife outside. This could suggest that older people enjoy watching the younger people go about their busy lives, whilst they stay inside waiting for time to pass. They stay away from social groups and any conflicts and just enjoy living off the money they earned from their working lives. Also the way the man looks over his wife and what he says gives the impression that they once were sociable, happy people but time has moved on and they have progressed on with it. Another scene was of the daughter Jane. She was represented to be a stereotypical teenage girl. Her costume and room suggested that she is rebellious, slightly insecure of herself and angry at everything. Due to her age you can see she is the midst of socialising and peer pressure, the stereotypical idea of what all teenagers go through and the idea of wanting to be accepted. The next shot showed how the adults take control; this was portrayed by a mother I presume. She seemed to have the status and power over the daughter and the husband. The mother criticises her daughter on her appearance and what she’s wearing, the mother uses quite a patronising tone when talking to her daughter. She also uses the word “honey” a lot when talking to her daughter which again would be taken as patronising to the daughter. I think the idea of adults being patronising is a stereotypical idea of how they all act. The father is then show leaving the house, dropping his case making the woman mad. She then used a similar patronising tone she used on the daughter to speak to him in. This must of been degrading for the man as he looked older than the woman and be quite embarrassing to be spoken to the same way as she speaks to the teenager. Also as he is the eldest in the clip he could be seen as the ‘elder’ out of the three characters. This could then show that the adult woman is ‘normal’ and the teenager and the elder are similar in the way that they both need to be told what to do because they are ‘hopeless’ and ‘helpless’.
American Beauty Character Analysis: In the first shot, we are introduced to an older women who is gardening. She is wearing a blazer and skirt with an apron tied around her waist.She looks quite clean,gentle and wealthy.She obviously takes pride in her appearance and likes to keep herself busy doing housework or cleaning. This could also signify that older people are often stereotyped to lack a social life and can be quite lonely. The sound shown at the beginning of the shot is quite upbeat but calm, this is usually associated with older people. The adult man who I presume to be the woman's husband, is looking out from the window, this could show that he misses having a busy lifestyle and is now just waiting for time to pass with a calm exterior. He is living how society think the elder community should be living, staying out of conflict. It could also show that he is jealous of the younger man for having such an easy flowing conversation/friendship with his wife. There is another scene of their daughter, Jane. She is shown to be the typical stereotype of a teenager girl. The costume she is wearing shows that she is insecure and uncomfortable with herself. Being a teenager she is supposedly under peer pressure with her appearance and that she has to look good in order to be accepted in society.
The next shot shows how much power and authority the mother seems to hold over her daughter and her husband. The mother seems to criticise what her daughter is wearing,making her feel even more uncomfortable with herself. The tone she uses when talking to her is patronising and not very motherly.The father is then shown to leave the house late, acting clumsy and dropping his suitcase, while his wife becomes even more impatient. She then uses a similar patronising tone when talking to him also, this shows the man to be degraded and dominated by his wife. He is shown to be the elder one, known in society as 'eldery'. Juxtaposition has been used here from looking at Jane walking to the car, then back to the mother, then to the father who is walking to the car. In the car, he is slumped which suggests he is tired and it is something that teenagers are stereotyped to do showing they are quite similar.
American Beauty portrays stereotypes that relate to age and the comparisons that they have between older and younger generations.
Straight away, as we are introduced to the scene we can assume that the first character to be introduced would be from the older generation simply because of the calm style of music. This is followed by the close up of someone cutting a flower using a sharp tool which instantly you would resemble this to an adult or elderly person as they ‘stereotypically’ may be more interested in gardening than youths. Throughout the first minute of the clip, the duration of each shot is rather slow to present adults. The speed of each shot gradually picks up when the teenager is introduced. This is also evident by the fast paced shot reverse shot when the teen is walking towards the car. Along with this scene we can contrast the clothing of the mother and the teen. The mother who is seen wearing smart business dress which gives the impression that she takes a lot of pride in her appearance where as the teen is seen wearing clothes that is her own style that she is probably trying to test out in school to compete against peers. However, the mother does not seem to understand the fashion of the teen which shows their difference in age.
The dialogue between the two parents and the teenager at dinner poses the reality and stereotype of a typical teenager, who is most likely to be suffering from teenage angst, where they find it difficult to engage a natural conversation about the daughter’s day. Although, this does show difficulty for the father. The composition of the parents and the teenage daughter demonstrates power (being the parent’s status of maturity, income and life experience). This is done through the parents sitting opposite to each other with the teenage daughter sitting in between them. However, the shot angle is balanced possibly to signify that the teenage daughter maybe just as strong character as the parents.
American beauty Analysis: The first shots was of an old/middle ages women gardening, her appearance was well dressed, clean and also looked very wealthy. She looks like she takes care in the way people look at her and how she comes across to people. They only have one child and he’s talks about her being a typical teenager, angry insecure, confused, which is stereotypical that he thinks that every teenager is like that. To me I think that the mother and the daughter are very unalike because the mother cares what she look like and the daughter doesn’t, this part in the clip shows this 'Jane honey are you trying to look unattractive' Jane replies 'yes'. To me I think that is challenges the teenager stereotype because most girls her age care about their appearance and go to all extremes to look their best and she doesn’t. Mis-en-scene: the girl is dressed in boring, dark colour and the mother is dressed smart and had jewellery on, but the girls clothing shows that she is insecure. When all sitting down at the dinner tables Jane show a typical teenager, not wanting to engage or talking about her day with her parents, saying the bare minim then being sarcastic when he asks her again about it. The mother to me seems more dominant over the man, which challenges there stereotypes because it is normally the man who rules the house and has power over the women. The last shot of the scene is a zoom in on a photo of the family when they were young looking happy and getting along but it shows as people get older they don’t normally want to do things as a family.
Age is represented in many different ways in this clip, it introduces us to three main characters, all represented differently, all in contrast to each others ages. The first character we meet is the mother, before we actually see her, we know she is of a 'older generation' because of the soft, calm music that accompanies it. Throughout the opening, the camera focuses on the adults the most, presenting them in different ways. When the teenager is introduced, the editing cuts become faster, this also gives us a contrast of age, from what they are wearing. The mother is very well presented, dressed in a smart suit with her hair done perfectly, the daughter on the other hand seems to have a more relaxed image, fitting in with what people of her generation wear, the mother finds it hard to understand why she does not take pride in her appearance, this could be because of their difference in age.
When it comes to the dinner scene, you can really see a contrast in ages when the mother and daughter begin to converse. The teenager is being stereotypically moody and not wanting to engage with her parents. The dialogue between all characters in this scene is very witty and sarcastic. Even though this part of the clip represents age, it also shows hostility for the father. The Mise- en – scene and composition of this clip represents the age between them very well, both parents are sitting at either end of the table and the teenager is in-between them both, this shows their authority and power over the teenager, the arrangement of this scene could also signify a relevance to an ‘Interrogation interview’ from police dramas etc, trying to get as much information from the teenager as they can.
In the first part of this clip, we see an older person who is tending to her garden with soft music over the top. On top of what we are seeing and what we are hearing, a voice over comes on with he husband of this woman describing life so far. His voice is simple, well educated tone of voice which shows he is also a older person compare to his daughter as he sounds wise and that both him and his wife have experience. Another general stereotype of old age is being a nosie neighbour, this tend to happen more when people get older as when you are young you don’t tend to care what everyone else is doing. Tending to a garden with care is stereotypically associated with old people and so straight away we know what type of person this lady is. From her clothes, she dresses in simple, smart attire for her day to day clothes which are stereotypically associated with old people as they tend to dress smart everyday. The husband also wears a suit as he go to work however he still has the suit on even during the evening which shows he is also in the mind frame of an old person. We are introduced to Jane, the teenage daughter of this couple. We straight away with only a few seconds see that she is image conscious and wants to change her body. This is a typical teenage stereotype as most teenagers hate the way they look and constantly want to change their body as they are not happy with how people judge them. She also has a attitude of the typical teen as well as sarcasm. She dresses shabby, like she doesn’t care what her parents think. This is to make a statement of that she has a ‘don’t care’ rebellious attitude which is a teenager kind of attitude. This also shows how naive she is compared to her father and mother. In comparison to this, the father goes to work with his smart attire and has a tired, fed up attitude. He finds himself sleeping while being driven to work, he quotes, “I’m not exactly sure what it is but I know I didn’t always feel this sedated”. The word “sedated” was used to show he’s very tired which is a sign of getting older. This is the typical stereotype of getting old and what’s to come when we get to the elderly stage. He is called into the office and when he speaks to his boss, he shows of his knowledge for the company and how the business work to show his age. This was a big indication of him being old. The scenes are very spaced out. In the first sections where he is the voiceover and he’s peering out the window, the cuts are slow and the camera is very steady. This is to show us these people don’t rush things and that they are careful. Even with the scenes of the daughter, the camera is steady and slow, this could represent how sometimes in young teens life is not always in the fast lane which is how they are perceived. When the family are eating dinner, there is music in the background as they are eating. The daughter wants it turned off as it is classical music which is perceived as the music old people listen to. There is after a scene where Jane and her father have a talk. The juxtaposition of the two characters indicates that they are comfortable with each other and have been close in the past however, the daughter walks away leaving the father standing alone showing the relationship needs working on. This is a typical father daughter scene where the old and the young try to work a way so they can work together. The scene finishes on slow music, showing tenderness between the characters. In conclusion, the old in this scene are shown as tired, grumpy, wise, and responsible and almost like they have wasted/had their time. This is your general stereotypical standard of old people as they always go on about how they wish they could do it all again, Where as the younger/teen generation are shown to change themselves because other people judge them and to dress oddly/shabby because they don’t care about themselves.
First of all, the music contributes to the feeling of an older aged person, as it is very soft and repetitive which could signify the length of the person's life.The first character we see is a woman, her clothing is essential because before we even see her face, the style and colour denotes to the audience that she is an older woman, this is due to the fact the colour is bland grey and her clothing is 'frumpy'. Plus, the fact that she is gardneing is also a stereotypical activity for older people. The location in which the film is set in is a suburb where the surroundings are calm and quiet, a stereotypical area for an older generation to live The introduction to her husband is through his commentary over the opening scene, the dialogue we hear from him is very well spoken and sounds like he is very well educated, therefore we can conclude from this that he is an older man. Also, the manner in which he is dressed is another indication, as compared with his wife, their dress sense is almost the same. In comparison to our first two characters, the next door neighbours, Jim and Jim, are represented differently as they are both wearing suits in which are more fashionable and fitted, therefore denoting to the audience that they are younger. The introduction to the daughter, who from her appearance looks young, stereotypically views a breat augmentation website,as most teenagers are very self-conscious of their bodies and how they look. Plus, from the commentary of her father, he descirbes her 'pretty typical teenager; angry, insecure, confused'. there is a contradiction to the age stereotype as the father sits in the back of the car, where his posture is very alike to a stereotypical teenagers, alike to when they sulk, therefore there is juxtaposition between the father and his daughter as their postures in the care are the total opposite to what they 'should' be.
ReplyDeleteSome good points raised here, but rather than responding as a stream of consciousness identify the main points & characters - be selective. There is gold in the analysis of composition during the dinner scene as juxtaposition between wife with child 'in the middle'.
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T 4 - still lots to do here
In this sequence the teenager Jane is represented as a ‘typical teenager’ who is angry, insecure and confused this is stereotyping all teenagers this age is likely to be like this. Her dad says that but he says ‘I wish I can tell her that will pass. But I don’t want to lie to her’ basically saying it doesn’t always change when you get older. The way Jane dresses as well is stereotyping that teenagers dress the way they feel, because she is all of them things you can see from her clothes, baggy, dull, and mixed up. Her mum says ‘are you trying to look unattractive?’ n Jane reply’s yes. This stereotypes teenagers like they don’t care how they look, if they feel that way, they will dress that way. The dialogue that Jane has in this sequence is blunt. As she doesn’t have a connection with her parents and she don’t talk to them. This stereotypes younger people to be blunt against adult, like they don’t have a connection, with them and feel they can’t relate. The close up of her face to show her emotions and bluntness of the world, midshots of her body language and clothes to show she is insecure ‘looking in the mirror’. This all presents the stereotype of young teenage age to be like this typically.
ReplyDeleteBoth of the adults in this sequence (coralline and Lester) are represented as boring, dull, losers, unhappy, uptight and stressed. This is shown in the way they dress (smart but dull colours). Compared to the both Jims who are gay they are dressed smart but more fashionable and modern. The way they talk to each other and there body language, is uptight and stressed this is stereotyping adults to be this way and ‘boss’ to younger people. Both parents can’t talk to their daughter. This stereotypes adults to be too busy for younger people so they can’t connect with younger people properly. The music they listen to and the music in the background is ‘old type music’. Stereotyping older people to be boring and repetitive. As Jane says ‘do we have to listen to this every time?’ Leister is a man longing for something in his life basically happiness and youthfulness. Stereotyping all older people to be like this. When he sits in the back of the car sulking like a kid would do, this is a contrast between the age as sulking is no what adults do stereotypically.
How do the characters in american beauty represent stereotypes of age
ReplyDeleteIn this clip of american beauty there are three main charcaters introduced a family of a husband, wife and teenage daughter set in the locations of there family home, the car and the husbands work place.
The daughter is shown as a typical teenager being confused about her body and feeling inscure about herself in general. As the teenage daughter walks towards the car her mother labels her clothing unattractive adding to her insecruity and confidence levels.
The mother is shown as a posh and controlive. At the beginning of the clip she is cutting roses from her garden making all the plants look identical in the amount of flowers showing she likes things to stay and be kept the same. At this point her shoes are also matching the cutters she is currently using. In this clip she is also shown talking to her gay neighbours showing an interest for other people business making her come across as a bit noisey. This is like a sterotypical woman wanting to know everything that is going on and liking to keep things the same as always.
The husband in this clip is shown to be a steroetypical man going through a mid life crisis. The clip shows he is hardworking and gets alot of stress from work, worried about losing his job there. He uses swear words in his everyday language showing his lack of knowledge or understanding, in the clip he is put down by both his wife and daughter after he is late gatting ready and leaving the house and then again when his breifcase opens and the contents falls out. He is then sitting in the back of the car slouching and acting like a kid who is really bothered or excited about being there.
The dialogue in this clip is not just used for conversations but the husbands voice is used over clips of his wife and daughter introducing them to the audience and telling them his true thoughts and feelings about them. There is juxaposition used in the clip between the husband and wife showing there differences for example the wife is energetic and bubbly and the husband is lazy and disorganised in everyday life.
The characters in American Beauty represents stereotypes of age very well. The sequence begins outside with an older woman gardening with a flowery pinafore on. This is stereotypical for an older woman as its said to make them relaxed and a time passer. Throughout most of the beginning the dialogue is narrative and the occasional speaking between characters. This is for the audience to be able to understand the characters better from one persons point of view so they do not get confused with what is going on. The characters are all very well spoken, however for a teenage girl, the character does not say much. Therefore showing she may be insecure and shy which is common for teenagers but mainly most come across abrupt and angry to older people. The shots have been juxtaposed from looking at the teenage girl walking down to the car, then the car with the mother, then the man walking down to the car then the car with the mother again. I think these shots are done well because you are able to see the comparison between the daughter and the father and see how they react to the mother shouting at them to hurry up. The mother seems to have the firmer hand in the house rather than the father, she comes across more dominant and as she is wearing a smart suit she looks powerful and presentable. However traditionally this would be the man of the house. Compared to the mother and father the teenage girl is dress very frumpy, clothes hanging off her as if they were boys clothes. This shows the difference in age by the different fashions and what they feel is presentable and what sort of working environment standards they have to obtain. The horn gets beeped very loudly to catch attention, this is a rather masculine sound. There is a close up of the reflection of the man’s face on the computer screen which half shows he is at work because of the writing on the screen, however this is not clear, therefore a juxtapose shot in then an establishing shot to show clearly the change in scenery. Dull colours are worn in the office to show sophistication which relates back to the teenager wearing brighter clothing for the age era. Shot reverse shot is used in conversation to see the expressions on their faces. The man assumes he is going to be fired and begins to back chat and use bad language towards his boss, he appears immature as if he is acting like a teenager because he can’t get his own way, whereas an adult should act more respectably. Soft music is played at the dinner table showing sophistication in the room. The father begins to moan about his job like a spoilt teenager not getting what he wants. The teenager replies with ‘can’t be my best friend because of your bad day’, showing she is more mature and sensible than the father. In effect it is as if they had swapped roles in the conversation. The father gets shouted at by the mother and sheepishly walks away to go and get some ‘ice cream’ which is child like behaviour. American beauty shows that even adults can still act immature and do not always say the right things at the right time even if they are older and teenagers are not all ‘angry and insecure’ as some adults assume they are.
ReplyDeleteIn the opening of this sequence the music is quite calm and could be associated with older people. We see the opening of an older women gardening, this is stereotypical of older women as they are often thought of as the gardener. She is also colour coordinated as women usually try to match what they are doing with their clothes, the fact that she is also being nosey towards her neighbour is another stereotype as women are said to be nosey and want to know all the gossip. The teenage daughter is classed as a typical teenager, being angry, insecure and confused. By saying this it is stereotyping teenagers as all being this way. The mother also uses the term unattractive about the clothes her daughter is wearing making her more insecure than she already is. Juxtaposition has been used from looking at the daughter walking to the car then back to the mother and then the father who is walking up to the car.
ReplyDeleteCompared to the way the mother and father dress the daughter seems as though she doesn't care about her appearance as much and that where she is going isn't as smartly dressed as her parents places of work. The clothes worn in the office that her father work at are very dull and smart this shows that it is a serious working environment. Shot reverse shot is used between the 'brad' and 'Lester' to show the conversation happening between them. Lester seems to be getting more sarcastic and angry about what he assumes is going to happen. This is the sort of thing that a teenager does in a situation showing that adults can also act immature.
For a teenager Jane doesn't have a lot to say, which from a teenager is not what you stereotypically expect. Her father starts moaning about his job, his daughter is not interested as she says that he can't be her best friend just because he had a bad day. It shows that she is more mature than he is. When the mother and father begin to get into a heated discussion he opts out by going to get some 'ice cream' that is something that would be expected from someone younger not a grown man.
American beauty shows the difference between the two genders and also the comparisons of ages. But some stereotypes that are used in this are not always true.
As we come into the opening scenes of this sequence we are introduced to quite a soothing, calm and collected music piece which could be associated with an older generation (which is further backed up when we are given the scenes of the 'older' women gardening, which is a stereotype of older people that they are all take care of gardens and are slow to embrace new concepts etc.) we are also given another stereotype of women which is that they need to be in the know/ nosey which is shown in the sequence when this older women spies and looks at her neighbor.
ReplyDeleteWe are then given a new character a stereotypical teenager, this character is stereotypical for a number of reason for example the character is viewed as insecure and unsure of herself which can be backed up by the way her mother views the clothes she is wearing (she looks at them saying they are 'unattractive'. Going further into the use of Mise En Scene the mother and fathers attire is the complete opposite, they look like they care about there appearance seen in the mother and fathers work attire which is smart clothing/ business wear, while the daughters appearance looks like she doesn't really care as much about the way she looks in stereotypical society the same can be said about the parents the clothing they wear gives them the stereotypical view that they are going to work in a dull boring workplace.)
As for script and speech we see the parents fill the role of the teenager somewhat as the teenager 'challenges' stereotype (she doesn't say much which is uncommon for a teenage girl) whereas the parents fill the stereotype of the teenager (they have an argument and the father goes on about how is jobs bad the use of dialogue in this argument is also very childlike with the father opting to go for 'ice cream' which is once again challenging stereotype.
From this clip i can see American Stereotypes are used to show the difference of gender, age, social standing and many other comparisons, i can also see that al ot of the stereotypes that are shown are 'stretches' of the truth the common views we have of these people are challenged and changed to make a story and environment totally different to how we the audience can perceive it.
Firstly, we are introduced to the scene with a fairly upbeat however calm soundtrack, immediately relating to the fact that we see people of the older generation. The lady is doing gardening, and the music reinforces the idea that she enjoys this. The second shot, a wide shot, places her on the left hand side, bending down to cut some flowers, and the fact that there is so much viewing space next to her, completely focuses on the stereotype that old people are lonely, however in contrast to this, her husband is the voice over throughout the beginning scene, where he portrays that he is very well spoken, like most old people are. All of the older characters in this scene are dressed smartly, and the woman seems to be very interested in her neighbours and chats to them just how a stereotypical old lady would like to do.
ReplyDeleteTheir daughter Jane is instantly introduced to the audience as a ‘typical teenager, angry, insecure, confused’ therefore putting ideas into people’s heads before they get to know the character. In opposition to her mother, she is dressed casually, and in not as dull colours. The first interaction between the two consists of the mum asking Jane if she is trying to look unattractive, something a typical mum would do as they are considered as ‘uncool’ in the eyes of youth. It is stereotypical for teenagers to be chatty, and talk a lot, although she doesn’t have a lot to say for herself.
The husband leaves the house just after Jane, in the exact same long shot as her; he is in a hurry, and ends up with his brief case opening up, and all of his papers falling on the floor, absolutely juxtaposing the idea of teenagers being the clumsy ones who are always late, in comparison to adults who are normally seen as punctual and tidy. He states that both of his family members see him as a ‘loser’, again relating to how his daughter would generally see him as not cool. Again juxtaposing against teenagers, he is slumped in the car with his eyes closed, perhaps suggesting he had gone to bed late and was tired, something teenagers are stereotyped to do.
The scene consisting of him in his office, suggests that he is a typically hardworking man, although portrays a slight amount of sarcasm within his dialogue, which isn’t the general way you would go about talking to people n this environment, but by doing this, he holds some element of power, in his eyes looking down on people, almost acting ‘snobby’.
American Beauty clearly portrays typical stereotypes relating to age, with the older and younger generations acting together to create comparisons and also the effect of juxtaposition. The characters in this scene fit in with the typical stereotypes of age only to a certain extent.
Because I went a bit over the 300 words...
ReplyDeletehttp://maisy-as-media-tvdrama.blogspot.com/search?q=american+beauty
Analysis on Age in American Beauty Clip James Beadle
ReplyDeleteIn the American Beauty clip we firstly are visually aware of middle aged women wearing grey old clothes that seem to be dirty and worn, this represents middle aged women as maybe not as vein as they once were in there teenage years, she is also doing the gardening which is a stereotypical hobby that middle aged women do. The music also strikes us quite hard being quite fast paced and repetitive and this could be seen as a comparison to the neighbourhood’s lifestyle. The commentary over the top of the soundtrack is of a man very well spoken and clearly quite upper class; this gives us a visual picture of the character before we even see him on the screen. Further on into the sequence you see the way that the two adults speak to each other and also there body language towards each other, it seems to be very blunt and unloving almost and this gives the stereotype that all middle aged peoples with kids and jobs are stressed and have forgotten how to love, this is enthused by them not wearing not any bright/exciting colours. Their daughter Jane is described by her father as insecure and confused which stereotypes her as a “Typical Teenager”. Jane Argues some Stereotypes of Teenagers in the way that most teenagers are made out to be appearance obsessed Technology Ridden Robots but she seems to not care in the slightest what she wears and almost takes pride when her mother says “Are you trying to look unattractive” and she replies “Yes”. The script Jane has been given is very blunt and almost takes after her parents but also at the same time has no relationship with them, as when her dad tries to bond with her telling the family about his bad day she replies “you can’t all of a sudden be my best friend just because you had a bad day” implying she may not have many friends and doesn’t make the most of life through her days. The best thing i found to compare between the Adults and the teenager are the costumes, Jane (The teenager) wears baggy clothing and has no care for her appearance and this reflects on her lifestyle meaning she is carefree and doesn’t take life seriously. On the other hand the adults wear suits and smart work wear meaning they take life seriously and live robotic 9-6 lifestyles, not in a selfish money grabbing way but to keep the upkeep of the family safe.
American Beauty Character Analysis (Age)
ReplyDeleteFirst we are portrayed with the character of the wife, she's middle aged and is well dressed, looking glamourous, wealthy and confident. There only child Jane is then presented to us, this is where this character follows and challenges the teenage stereotype. Jane on a website about breast augmentation and as she moves in front of the mirror she poses observing her figure, insecure about her body and most likely because of the website she would like bigger breasts. However both the characters of the mother and daughter are very much opposite. The mum calls her down to the car and as she approaches she comments 'Jane honey are you trying to look unattractive' Jane replies 'yes' the dialogue I think in this scene demonstrates age as opposites and also challenging the age stereotype because the teenager should be young and pretty or at least wanting to look attractive as well as the older middle aged should not be as conscious about her looks. Although in this scene it is the other way round the mother wants to be looking attractive unlike her daughter. The mise en scene also shows the difference in age as the young girl is dressed in quite ragged clothing and dull colors unlike the mother who looks sophisticated with sun glasses, she looks bright and healthy compared to jane this challenges the stereo type of the young having beauty and the elder not.
The father who's dialogue is narrating the first scene describing the characters of his neighbors and family he sounds very unhappy 'both my wife and daughter think im just this gigantic looser' because he's not content I think that there is composition used purposely to show that their family are not close during the dinner scene they are all sat quite far apart and the daughter is sitting in between them maybe expressing that the mother and father have a weak relationship or even to show the difference in the two ages. The juxtaposition also enhances this as jane leaves the table then the father leaving the mother on her own spending more time on screen to emphasis maybe how she feels lonely. The last shot is important as it pans over to the photograph of the family together, the composition shows them close together and happy this shot reminds the audience what their family used to be like and how it has now changed. Age is very important in this scene as it is clear that we have this stereotype of the teenager rebelling against her mum and dad and is reluctant towards them, her language is commonly blunt also.
First shot is of an older person – an adult – doing gardening. She is dressed in a skirt and a blazer with an apron tied round her. That signifies that older people usually do things around the house, lack social life not counting their neighbours and they are living their own world. The adult man in the window is looking at the action outside, which might also signify that older people do not get out as much as youngsters and they prefer to step aside and just live their life until the end, without any conflicts or social life problems, earning money and just living as “appropriate and accepted” by society. Also the words of the adult man about the woman he was watching (most probably his wife) he says that she used to be happy, and she wasn’t always like she was now which shows us that throughout life we change due to the process and progress of life.
ReplyDeleteAnother scene is of their daughter, Jane. She is represented as a stereotypical teenager. Her costume and room she was located in, suggests that she is a rebelling teenager, insecure, angry and a student. Jane is secretive and clearly in the stage of socialising, peer pressure and stereotypical phase of desirability to be accepted in social groups.
Next shot shows how the adults are in control, especially the mother in this case. Both, the daughter and husband, obey to her authority, which she has gained by her age. The mother also criticises the daughter on her clothing and style, which is very patronising for a teenager, especially when she uses a certain language, e.g. calling her daughter “honey” with a specific tone in her voice, clearly patronising. Stereotypically, adults are represented as patronising. Also, usually much wiser than youngsters because they have lived their lives already and have some “experience”.
Then there is the father, leaving house, dropping his suitcase and making the woman mad. In a way, she is treating him just as patronising as his daughter, which must be quite embarrassing and degrading for him. In this clip he is represented though as the eldest one out of the family, therefore represented as what in any other case would be equal as “elderly”. Elderly and youngsters can be viewed by adults as quite similar in few ways such as: helpless, hopeless, quite useless and too different to ‘normality’ that it is hard to comprahand. That might be why the woman is using sarcasm, and a patronising tone with both of them to represent her character as “normality” and then those two extremes that are represented in characters of the daughter and father.
The first shot in the clip from American Beauty is of an older adult gardening. Her costume is a skirt and blazer with a apron tied around her waist. This signifies that older people like to keep themselves busy doing housework and gardening due to their lack of social life and loneliness. There is also an older man looking out from the window watching who I presume is his wife outside. This could suggest that older people enjoy watching the younger people go about their busy lives, whilst they stay inside waiting for time to pass. They stay away from social groups and any conflicts and just enjoy living off the money they earned from their working lives. Also the way the man looks over his wife and what he says gives the impression that they once were sociable, happy people but time has moved on and they have progressed on with it.
ReplyDeleteAnother scene was of the daughter Jane. She was represented to be a stereotypical teenage girl. Her costume and room suggested that she is rebellious, slightly insecure of herself and angry at everything. Due to her age you can see she is the midst of socialising and peer pressure, the stereotypical idea of what all teenagers go through and the idea of wanting to be accepted.
The next shot showed how the adults take control; this was portrayed by a mother I presume. She seemed to have the status and power over the daughter and the husband. The mother criticises her daughter on her appearance and what she’s wearing, the mother uses quite a patronising tone when talking to her daughter. She also uses the word “honey” a lot when talking to her daughter which again would be taken as patronising to the daughter. I think the idea of adults being patronising is a stereotypical idea of how they all act. The father is then show leaving the house, dropping his case making the woman mad. She then used a similar patronising tone she used on the daughter to speak to him in. This must of been degrading for the man as he looked older than the woman and be quite embarrassing to be spoken to the same way as she speaks to the teenager. Also as he is the eldest in the clip he could be seen as the ‘elder’ out of the three characters. This could then show that the adult woman is ‘normal’ and the teenager and the elder are similar in the way that they both need to be told what to do because they are ‘hopeless’ and ‘helpless’.
American Beauty Character Analysis:
ReplyDeleteIn the first shot, we are introduced to an older women who is gardening. She is wearing a blazer and skirt with an apron tied around her waist.She looks quite clean,gentle and wealthy.She obviously takes pride in her appearance and likes to keep herself busy doing housework or cleaning. This could also signify that older people are often stereotyped to lack a social life and can be quite lonely. The sound shown at the beginning of the shot is quite upbeat but calm, this is usually associated with older people.
The adult man who I presume to be the woman's husband, is looking out from the window, this could show that he misses having a busy lifestyle and is now just waiting for time to pass with a calm exterior. He is living how society think the elder community should be living, staying out of conflict. It could also show that he is jealous of the younger man for having such an easy flowing conversation/friendship with his wife. There is another scene of their daughter, Jane. She is shown to be the typical stereotype of a teenager girl. The costume she is wearing shows that she is insecure and uncomfortable with herself. Being a teenager she is supposedly under peer pressure with her appearance and that she has to look good in order to be accepted in society.
The next shot shows how much power and authority the mother seems to hold over her daughter and her husband. The mother seems to criticise what her daughter is wearing,making her feel even more uncomfortable with herself. The tone she uses when talking to her is patronising and not very motherly.The father is then shown to leave the house late, acting clumsy and dropping his suitcase, while his wife becomes even more impatient. She then uses a similar patronising tone when talking to him also, this shows the man to be degraded and dominated by his wife. He is shown to be the elder one, known in society as 'eldery'. Juxtaposition has been used here from looking at Jane walking to the car, then back to the mother, then to the father who is walking to the car. In the car, he is slumped which suggests he is tired and it is something that teenagers are stereotyped to do showing they are quite similar.
American Beauty portrays stereotypes that relate to age and the comparisons that they have between older and younger generations.
Straight away, as we are introduced to the scene we can assume that the first character to be introduced would be from the older generation simply because of the calm style of music. This is followed by the close up of someone cutting a flower using a sharp tool which instantly you would resemble this to an adult or elderly person as they ‘stereotypically’ may be more interested in gardening than youths. Throughout the first minute of the clip, the duration of each shot is rather slow to present adults. The speed of each shot gradually picks up when the teenager is introduced. This is also evident by the fast paced shot reverse shot when the teen is walking towards the car. Along with this scene we can contrast the clothing of the mother and the teen. The mother who is seen wearing smart business dress which gives the impression that she takes a lot of pride in her appearance where as the teen is seen wearing clothes that is her own style that she is probably trying to test out in school to compete against peers. However, the mother does not seem to understand the fashion of the teen which shows their difference in age.
ReplyDeleteThe dialogue between the two parents and the teenager at dinner poses the reality and stereotype of a typical teenager, who is most likely to be suffering from teenage angst, where they find it difficult to engage a natural conversation about the daughter’s day. Although, this does show difficulty for the father. The composition of the parents and the teenage daughter demonstrates power (being the parent’s status of maturity, income and life experience). This is done through the parents sitting opposite to each other with the teenage daughter sitting in between them. However, the shot angle is balanced possibly to signify that the teenage daughter maybe just as strong character as the parents.
American beauty Analysis:
ReplyDeleteThe first shots was of an old/middle ages women gardening, her appearance was well dressed, clean and also looked very wealthy. She looks like she takes care in the way people look at her and how she comes across to people. They only have one child and he’s talks about her being a typical teenager, angry insecure, confused, which is stereotypical that he thinks that every teenager is like that. To me I think that the mother and the daughter are very unalike because the mother cares what she look like and the daughter doesn’t, this part in the clip shows this 'Jane honey are you trying to look unattractive' Jane replies 'yes'. To me I think that is challenges the teenager stereotype because most girls her age care about their appearance and go to all extremes to look their best and she doesn’t. Mis-en-scene: the girl is dressed in boring, dark colour and the mother is dressed smart and had jewellery on, but the girls clothing shows that she is insecure.
When all sitting down at the dinner tables Jane show a typical teenager, not wanting to engage or talking about her day with her parents, saying the bare minim then being sarcastic when he asks her again about it.
The mother to me seems more dominant over the man, which challenges there stereotypes because it is normally the man who rules the house and has power over the women.
The last shot of the scene is a zoom in on a photo of the family when they were young looking happy and getting along but it shows as people get older they don’t normally want to do things as a family.
Age is represented in many different ways in this clip, it introduces us to three main characters, all represented differently, all in contrast to each others ages. The first character we meet is the mother, before we actually see her, we know she is of a 'older generation' because of the soft, calm music that accompanies it. Throughout the opening, the camera focuses on the adults the most, presenting them in different ways. When the teenager is introduced, the editing cuts become faster, this also gives us a contrast of age, from what they are wearing. The mother is very well presented, dressed in a smart suit with her hair done perfectly, the daughter on the other hand seems to have a more relaxed image, fitting in with what people of her generation wear, the mother finds it hard to understand why she does not take pride in her appearance, this could be because of their difference in age.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the dinner scene, you can really see a contrast in ages when the mother and daughter begin to converse. The teenager is being stereotypically moody and not wanting to engage with her parents. The dialogue between all characters in this scene is very witty and sarcastic. Even though this part of the clip represents age, it also shows hostility for the father. The Mise- en – scene and composition of this clip represents the age between them very well, both parents are sitting at either end of the table and the teenager is in-between them both, this shows their authority and power over the teenager, the arrangement of this scene could also signify a relevance to an ‘Interrogation interview’ from police dramas etc, trying to get as much information from the teenager as they can.
In the first part of this clip, we see an older person who is tending to her garden with soft music over the top. On top of what we are seeing and what we are hearing, a voice over comes on with he husband of this woman describing life so far. His voice is simple, well educated tone of voice which shows he is also a older person compare to his daughter as he sounds wise and that both him and his wife have experience. Another general stereotype of old age is being a nosie neighbour, this tend to happen more when people get older as when you are young you don’t tend to care what everyone else is doing. Tending to a garden with care is stereotypically associated with old people and so straight away we know what type of person this lady is. From her clothes, she dresses in simple, smart attire for her day to day clothes which are stereotypically associated with old people as they tend to dress smart everyday. The husband also wears a suit as he go to work however he still has the suit on even during the evening which shows he is also in the mind frame of an old person.
ReplyDeleteWe are introduced to Jane, the teenage daughter of this couple. We straight away with only a few seconds see that she is image conscious and wants to change her body. This is a typical teenage stereotype as most teenagers hate the way they look and constantly want to change their body as they are not happy with how people judge them. She also has a attitude of the typical teen as well as sarcasm. She dresses shabby, like she doesn’t care what her parents think. This is to make a statement of that she has a ‘don’t care’ rebellious attitude which is a teenager kind of attitude. This also shows how naive she is compared to her father and mother.
In comparison to this, the father goes to work with his smart attire and has a tired, fed up attitude. He finds himself sleeping while being driven to work, he quotes, “I’m not exactly sure what it is but I know I didn’t always feel this sedated”. The word “sedated” was used to show he’s very tired which is a sign of getting older. This is the typical stereotype of getting old and what’s to come when we get to the elderly stage. He is called into the office and when he speaks to his boss, he shows of his knowledge for the company and how the business work to show his age. This was a big indication of him being old.
The scenes are very spaced out. In the first sections where he is the voiceover and he’s peering out the window, the cuts are slow and the camera is very steady. This is to show us these people don’t rush things and that they are careful. Even with the scenes of the daughter, the camera is steady and slow, this could represent how sometimes in young teens life is not always in the fast lane which is how they are perceived.
When the family are eating dinner, there is music in the background as they are eating. The daughter wants it turned off as it is classical music which is perceived as the music old people listen to. There is after a scene where Jane and her father have a talk. The juxtaposition of the two characters indicates that they are comfortable with each other and have been close in the past however, the daughter walks away leaving the father standing alone showing the relationship needs working on. This is a typical father daughter scene where the old and the young try to work a way so they can work together. The scene finishes on slow music, showing tenderness between the characters.
In conclusion, the old in this scene are shown as tired, grumpy, wise, and responsible and almost like they have wasted/had their time. This is your general stereotypical standard of old people as they always go on about how they wish they could do it all again, Where as the younger/teen generation are shown to change themselves because other people judge them and to dress oddly/shabby because they don’t care about themselves.
oppps... i so got carried away ¬¬
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