'As the film came to its end, Lester Burnham (Kevin
Spacey) delivered a voice-over at the moment of his death (after being shot in
the head by gay neighbour Colonel Fitts (Chris Cooper)), describing some of the
meaningful experiences of his life (with a montage of images, some black and
white from the past) - and despite his death, he expressed his feelings of
"gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life":'
"I had always heard your
entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of
all, that one second isn't a second at all. It stretches on forever, like an
ocean of time. For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout Camp, watching
falling stars. (Gunshot) And yellow leaves from the maple trees that
lined our street. (Gunshot) Or my grandmother's hands, and the way her
skin seemed like paper. And the first time I saw my cousin Tony's brand new
Firebird. And Janie, and Janie. And Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed
off about what happened to me, but it's hard to stay mad when there's so much
beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's
too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst. And then I
remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through
me like rain, and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment
of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure.
But don't worry. You will someday."
I like this monologue, not only for it's relevant content for my idea, but also because of the structure and devises it uses. The use of similes and metaphors (eg. "My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst") creates images in the listeners' minds and allow the listener to feel more and experience the same emotion as the speaker. Another technique that I would like to make sure that I use in my writing is complicated to simple sentence structure. I find it very effective in building tension and bringing great attention to the details and also giving the impression of wisdom. And then switch to short sentences is blunt and frank and often signals a heightened level of emotion from the speaker. Whether it is excitement, dread, fear and sadness, changing the sentences structure keeps the emotion levels high and also makes your writing more interesting to read and listen to. The repetition of the name 'Janie' also indicates that she is important to the speaker.The use of anecdotes also brings emotions to the surface and makes a connection between the character and the audience. Anecdotes are often of things that people can relate to and they feel personal and intimate to listen to. I also like the layout and structure of this monologue and it is similar to the structure that I would like to use. It is non-linear and starts in the present, with flash-backs where the character is remembering, before returning back to the present for the end. In my monologue, I would like to include direct address as well to create a strong connection between the speaker and the listener/reader. Because of my objectives and my aim for this piece, I think that it is very important for me to create a strong bond and evoke a range of emotions from the audience. This monologue uses quite standard English but it has a fairly informal tone. As it is part of a movie, it was written to entertain. This movie is called American Beauty and this is the final scene of the movie. This monologue is rounding up the end of the film and i like how the lines reflect the title of the movie ('it's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world'). This monologue is easy to read but that doesn't make it dull, instead, the simplicity makes the reader/listener appreciate what the character is saying and allows them to focus on the message he is trying to relay. This simplicity also allows the reader to feel more because they are noticing the way the character is using descriptions that involve many of the senses. He talks about touching is Grandmother's hands and how they felt like paper and he talks about the heaviness in his heart. These exploit the reader's senses and allows them to experience the same things as the character.
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