Write an essay on both American Psycho and American Beauty make comments on the idea of the American Dream. Ideas of materialism, crisis of identity, stereotyping, and true free will permeate from the films with regards to both the imagined and the reality of the American Dream. Focusing on a specific concept within the films, you should be able to write an essay that answers the following questions through analysis:
1. What contributes to certain characters need to change, to act? What is its significance?
2. What do the films' endings say about the act of change? Does anything actually change?
3. How do these films shatter the image of the American Dream? How is the American Dream different from its initial inception?