In today’s world, lots of families look like they are happy on the outside, but in reality, on the inside, they are very far from being happy. This occurrence of false impression is not only going on in today’s world, but it has been going on for years in the American society and in many other societies.
Many families believe that you need to portray an image to the outside world that you are very successful, and deal with your personal problems in the inside of your home. In the novel, The Sound and the Fury this family perfectly portrays an image of happiness, when on the inside, their house is falling apart one day at a time. In addition, in the movie American Beauty, a family tries to have this false image of happiness and perfection so that their neighbors can think high of them and believe that they are successful. Under it all, this family has many issues that are tearing them apart.
In American Beauty they try to portray this image of happiness when in reality, they where really falling apart inside. American Beauty is a film about an American family that tries to follow the “American dream”. The “American dream” usually can be described as having a family that is living in a good neighborhood, having a successful career, and in general your life is making you happy. In this dream everything is supposed to be perfect you should not have any real worries that will tear you apart. Everything should be easy to get to and every one should be happy. The Burnham family tries to show that they are a happy family by living in a beautiful home, having a teenage daughter, and careers of their own that they are very successful in. The family is actually living in a hell that they have created over the years.
In the movie, written by Alan Pall, the father, Lester Burnham Kevin Spacey shows the world that he is a very successful man. He works for a big company and his family seems to love him when they are out in public or if friends and neighbors are present. In reality, the father was a very confused man. He did not know what to do with his life. Over the years, he tried to plant in his head that he had a successful marriage, where in reality it was falling apart. His daughter at her teenage years did not have any type of relationship with her father.
