by Christopher Kish

Created on: June 15, 2007

A Marxian Beauty-

The rise of materialism and the general consumption of goods has shaken our society into a new direction. In the past, it seemed that people held great importance to the time they spent with family and the moral values they passed down by generation. This is harshly opposed to the contemporary society that now seems to value cars and televisions almost more than familial relations. American society has spawned a mindset and lifestyle that forces humans, without awareness of the fact, to conform to societal standards of materialistic values and capitalist methodology. Karl Marx, the noted historical and political philosopher, suggests that capitalist society is perpetuated by production. He uses the phrase "mode of production" to describe such a society, based around ideals that have been established by the upper class, or bourgeoisie. The citizens of this society are then held under a "dominant ideology," created by the bourgeoisie. It is this Marxian concept that reflects many of the thematic elements in the groundbreaking film, American Beauty.

The concept of dominant ideology holds many characteristics, but can be quickly understood as the ideology of the upper class. Essentially, the bourgeoisie who own most of the production and make most of the money set the standards for society. This ruling class makes it seem like wage labor and capitalist production are the norms of life and are natural in some way. The working class, or proletariat, views life however the upper class sees fit; since the upper class supports large factories and wage labor, so does the working class. According to Marx, this dominant ideology distorts reality and provides the people with a "false consciousness" that makes the skewed, capitalist society seem good. These Marxian concepts are sadly still rampant in our society; too much of our culture is based around money and material goods, and the film American Beauty accurately aims to show that.
In 1999, American Beauty was released in theaters and the world was subject to one of the most precisely directed and disturbingly realistic films of all time. It revolves around a protagonist named Lester Burnham, played by Kevin Spacey, who is opening his eyes to the suburban world around him for the first time. He lives in a large house painted red, white, and blue, and works a regular desk job for an advertising company. His wife, Carolyn Burnham, played by Annette Bening, is a real estate agent who always seems to be

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