The (Anti)American Dream
To understand this list you have, first, to understand what the American Dream is and what ideas support it. I think a visit to the Wikipedia will refresh your memory: [link]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream[/link]
The (Anti) American Dream is just the opposite. The Non-American-Dream. The ugly face of the American Dream. The flawed American Dream. The American Dream lies to you, if you prefer.
This list intend to include movies that can be used to demonstrate that the ideas behind the AD are flawed, are unrealistic, and can actually take you to hell. The movies I have included in this list tell stories of people who fail in life no matter they do what the American Dream says you have to do to succeed. Movies that show that America's way of life and the ideal of the American Dream are just an impossible fantasy and show the flaws of the AD ideal. Movies that show that getting the American Dream does not equal becoming happy inside. Movies about people who tried to pursue the American Dream and failed. In short, movies that show a more real America than the over-sweetened version that Hollywood portrays.
If you want to make a suggestion, please remember that, for any movie to fit in this list has to have a negative or uncertain ending, but be a story that shows that the whole system affects the individual in a bad way, that the individual's hopes and dreams that feed the American Dream are unrealistic (even if you are socially competent, a good person, hard-working, well educated, etc.), because fighting hard for what you want does not equal success, no matter your intelligence or human qualities. What is more, even if you achieve it, a dream of success, of economical and social success, does not equal happiness or inner fulfilment. On the contrary, stories of struggle and surmounting tragedies successfully are indeed part of the core of the American Dream, so not fit for this list.
If you like this list, you might be interested in my I have an ethical dilemma for you. Free entry :D
The (Anti) American Dream is just the opposite. The Non-American-Dream. The ugly face of the American Dream. The flawed American Dream. The American Dream lies to you, if you prefer.
This list intend to include movies that can be used to demonstrate that the ideas behind the AD are flawed, are unrealistic, and can actually take you to hell. The movies I have included in this list tell stories of people who fail in life no matter they do what the American Dream says you have to do to succeed. Movies that show that America's way of life and the ideal of the American Dream are just an impossible fantasy and show the flaws of the AD ideal. Movies that show that getting the American Dream does not equal becoming happy inside. Movies about people who tried to pursue the American Dream and failed. In short, movies that show a more real America than the over-sweetened version that Hollywood portrays.
If you want to make a suggestion, please remember that, for any movie to fit in this list has to have a negative or uncertain ending, but be a story that shows that the whole system affects the individual in a bad way, that the individual's hopes and dreams that feed the American Dream are unrealistic (even if you are socially competent, a good person, hard-working, well educated, etc.), because fighting hard for what you want does not equal success, no matter your intelligence or human qualities. What is more, even if you achieve it, a dream of success, of economical and social success, does not equal happiness or inner fulfilment. On the contrary, stories of struggle and surmounting tragedies successfully are indeed part of the core of the American Dream, so not fit for this list.
If you like this list, you might be interested in my I have an ethical dilemma for you. Free entry :D
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