Language in American Beauty (1999)

One of the dozens of things I keep track of in feature films is the language used in reference to female characters. Part of the reason for this is that language is very revealing about filmmakers. It tells us a lot about how well or poorly they think of women. American Beauty (1999), a drama written by Alan Ball, contains four named female characters that appear throughout (two high school girls and two women). None of these females fare well, and they are called the following names: b*tch, slut, c*nt, a disgusting pig, a prostitute, a little brat and a bloodless, money grubbing freak. Moreover, Kevin Spacey says to Thora Birch, one of the teenage girls, “You better watch yourself Janie or you’re going to turn into a real b*tch, just like your mother!” I shone a spotlight on the language used in reference to females because it is not negligible and should not be ignored by those who are concerned about the fact that we live in misogynist societies. I look forward to sharing my findings about the language used in mainstream movies of the 20th and 21st centuries in my upcoming film guide for women.

© 2019 Alline Cormier