Movie review: American Beauty

[Guru-In-Vegas]

As AWFUL as animated kid porno is coupled with the thought of the disgusting men that enjoy it, who the hell am I to judge?  As long as no one is a victim or exploited then that person should have every right to indulge themselves.  

I guess its an extension of my views on "art".  Any form of expression no matter how low brow or "heinous" is just that.  A form of expression.  In a "free" country no one should have the power to supress another's views.

SC, your example of an aborted fetus movie reminds me of the Bodies Exhibit here at the Tropicana.  There are others that travel or are permanent in other cities and I'm sure some of you have seen it.  Anyways its just human corpses that have been preserved and posed in many different ways to give a scientific view with an artistic feel into the human body.  There is a seperate room along the path of the exhibit where it warns people that the room contains bodies of babies as well as aborted fetuses.  So they can choose to skip it or enter.  The choice is yours to make.  Its not like you get a free fetus in a petri dish with a purchase of every ticket.  In other words, it isn't something that you just get shoved down your throat, its a decision the viewer makes to partake in.

[SCFinfan]

Speaking of -- I could have sworn that there was a law not only against having a child under 17 nude in film but depicting someone as under 17 nude in a film?

There was. It was the Child Online Protection Act. I think.

There was another case that was leveled against the insidious Paul Little, AKA Max Hardcore. He had over-eighteen actresses say they were twelve or thirteen on camera before he violently sodomized them. They tried to get him for obscenity. No such luck.

[SCFinfan]

SC, your example of an aborted fetus movie reminds me of the Bodies Exhibit here at the Tropicana. 

Ah yes... in Tropicana.

What about in Mobile, AL? Charleston, SC? Blue Hills, KY? Thrombosis, GA? It changes city to city, town to town, hamlet to hamlet. And thus, what the government says can't be seen, can't be seen, as long as it doesn't violate the first amendment.

[Phishfan]

SC, your posts are well thought out and make sense, given your profession. But to think this film shows anything close to your examples is off base. Films should never be limited to the un-realistic picture that every situation is perfect and every thing is rosy view of the world. Part of the beauty of this film is that it shows the character flaws. Not showing flawed characters in film would be the beginning of brainwashing a culture.

[SCFinfan]

Phish, you are totally correct. I'm not saying I'd ban this film. It's just lost its magic for me. There are some films I'd censor though.

And, thank you for your kind words, Phish.

[CF DolFan]

Not showing flawed characters in film would be the beginning of brainwashing a culture.

Not showing character flaws would eliminate just about everyone but Jesus from the Bible. That isn't what he was saying at all. 

I'm not saying that the film is obscene, shouldn't be shown, or whatnot. I am saying that not everything deserves some sort of artistic treatment.

That said, I do disagree that all reality deserves exposition. There are simply things too heinous to be shown in an artistic light.

Other than saying the film has changed for him, he never said it should be banned. He just feels that everything under the sun doesn't deserve the same freedom under the title of art.

[Phishfan]

it's hard for me to not see that the movie is about murder, parental neglect, drug use, pedophilia, and adultery.

I don't know that the movie necessarily highlights any of those actions as good, which I would have a problem with. I just don't know if such subjects are worth an artistic exposition.

I don't know CF. This sure looks like he is saying these character flaws are not worthy of being shown. Maybe he isn't saying all character flaws, but he has certainly pointed out these specifically.

[bsfins]

Jesus people it's F*cking movie review....and you guy's find away to turn it into a F*king arguement about relgion and politics...

You guy's could suck the fun out of having sex with a supermodel...

[SportsChick]

Lil B is the man. THANK YOU DUDE

[Guru-In-Vegas]

Anyways, since I only responded to comments before my own, I wanted to say that I think this movie is great.  Great story, great acting, great direction.  Its been a few years since I've seen it, but now I've got the itch to go watch it again. 

On a side note, Mena Suvari swears she's A-list. 

So it was like 2 years ago and we were eating and drinking at this Mexican joint here in town on Cinco de Mayo.  We had a big table so we were kind of seperated from the rest of the restaurant.  But then this couple comes in looking like a mess from the Real World.  The guy had some ridiculous hair like shoulder legnth dreadlocks, a suit, big ass sunglasses and a trucker hat.  I didn't even notice the female but I was already half drunk and blurted out something like "MTV is here". 

That was the last time they were noticed at my table.  Until of course, the guy kept turning around and looking at us.  Finally, he switched seats with her so his date's back was facing us.  I swear it was like an hour to an hour and a half later that someone noticed it was the "American Pie chick".  Suddenly, there was a huge "OOOOOH YEAH!"  At that point it all made sense; the "look", the seat switch, the paparazzi avoiding glasses.  We started to crack up mostly because of her shitty attitude and her assumption that anyone gave a fuck about her being there.  Not to mention she was damn near dry humping the guy at the table.  And if I'm not mistaken, that same night was the release of one of her movies. 
/end hijack/

[MaineDolFan]

Whatever happened to Mena Suvari?  I always thought she was kind of homely and a bad actress.  She was actually so bad in American Pie 1 that they had her do a cameo only in AP2. 

It's pretty sad when you can't act your way into AP2.  Funny movie, yes.  Chock full of Academy Award winning actors?  Not quite.