The Representation of Alan Ball's Identity in American Beauty

In order to understand to what extent does Alan Ball tries to represent his own identity search through Lester Burnham, first it is necessary to define the interpretation for an concept of identity, because since every psychologist and scientists through each specific sociological and historical context demonstrates a different definition. Therefore, it must be defined according to the interpretation which could be used more accordingly in the essay. Identity will be understood through this essay as the aspects or attributes of a person that form the basis for his or her dignity or self-respect.

Moreover, according to the psychologist Erick Erikson, identity crisis means the condition of being uncertain of one's feelings about oneself, especially with regard to character, goals, and origins, occurring especially in adolescence as a result of growing up under disruptive, fast-changing conditions. Fast changing conditions could be interpreted as rapid succession events which a person experiences and doesn´t does not know how to interpret them with his own values and distinctive traits that differs him from another individual, therefore presenting an identity crisis.

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Is this part of the same reference? Moreover, childhood trauma is The (no need for a capital letter) experience of an event by a child that is emotionally painful or distressful, which often results in lasting mental and physical effects. The search for identity throughout the film is presented in Alan Ball’s screenwriting techniques, in which the characters are constructed as separated individuals (intentions, voice tone, speaking style) but are bonded together to represent the whole thematic of the film.

Where did you get that information from? Moreover, this is done through specific language used by each character which communicates a different idea behind the main expressions in the dialogue. This technique is called subtext, which is defined as the invisible language, thoughts and feelings, that exist in the context of the scene or story, but that are never overtly spoken. Writers and screenwriters utilize subtext in order to give richness and value in each word a character uses in order to send a specific message which is not directly said in the expression. Throughout this essay, the subtext will be analyzed by based on the character’s dialogue, which will be quoted in Italics and interpreted to demonstrate a point in how they represent an identity search within their identity crisis.

American Beauty shares the story about how the representation of white raced middle class people struggles to fight for come to terms with their identity, which is mainly based on the experiences the main character, Lester Burnham, has and how his interactions with the rest of the personalities in the movie show the reader viewer the struggles for each one of them. Lester interacts with each character in order to obtain a different perspective on how they are facing their identity crisis and search.

Lester Burnham is the center of the character context. As a result, he will be used as a direct comparison to Alan Ball’s life and how both of their lives represent an identity search.