American Beauty (1999) vs Citizen Kane (1941)

In this post we will be comparing and contrasting the films Citizen Kane (1941) and American Beauty (1999). This post will be discussing the similar emotions portrayed by both Kane's and Lester's wife. Also in this post will discusses the different but somewhat symbols; for Citizen Kane it was "Rosebud" and for American Beauty it was red roses.

      Both films begin as telling exactly what was going to happen to both main character as they both were going to die. However, they both were presented in different ways. In Citizen Kane it showed the ending of the film and him lying on his deathbed and said the biggest idea that the entire movie was trying to prove what it was "Rosebud" However, in American Beauty Lester was narrating that he was going to die but not telling specifically HOW he was thus creating a mystery on how and when he was going to die and by what feeling does he die from.
     The main character Kane was an empowered figure that had supporters and people that disliked him. He was a rich person that collected many expensive items such as paintings, antiques, newspapers, and junk. This implies that he most likely collected these items to feel less alone. One thing that isn't an object but was something that he wanted to collect was people's hearts and consideration. He wanted "love" which in the movie it didn't seem like he was getting from his wife. The main character in American Beauty, Lester didn't collect things but he definitely was alone despite having a wife. Even more than Kane because he was trapped in that phase of not knowing what to do. He was such a boring person at first. Something in his life had changed when he used to be happy with his wife and daughter. In the movie his daughter Jane and himself got into a conflict and Lester asked the question "What happened to us? We used to be cool" This implies that they had a less conflicting relationship where they were disagreeing. The wife was explained by a picture that he viewed which showed the entire family having a good time.
   Both films use symbolism to drive their stories. However, they are presented in different ways. In Citizen Kane "Rosebud" was depicted as the snowglobe which no one mentioned what exactly "Rosebud" was until the end where the audience can sorta find out aAmerican Beauty the film heavily uses the symbol of red roses. There are many different meaning for the red roses. However, what I personally thought the roses meant was desire and love. In the film Lester was interested in Jane's friend Angela who DEFINITELY was different than Jane. Lester had a dream or halucination where he imagined Angela dancing in the gym by herself specifically for him. However, when she opened her jacket a bunch of roses came out. The amount of roses showed the amount of desire and love there was. There was one scene in the movie where it Lester's wife Carolyn was trying to sell houses but there was only single roses. However, when Angela was over his house, the roses were closer to her and there was a bunch of roses showing that there was a lot of love going towards her.
nd analyze what exactly does "Rosebud" means.