Far And Away And You'Ve Got Mail
Changing the American Dream
"California, the cornucopia of the world, a climate for health and wealth without cyclones or blizzards," so advertised on a poster to the immigrants freshly setting foot on Ellis Island (Creating America pg. 171). That was the image sold to immigrants about America, the streets were paved with golden opportunities, and money fell freely from the skies making the American dream seemingly easy to obtain. Movies provide us with diverse views of the American dream past and present. Two perfect examples are Far and Away and You've Got Mail. Each of these films displays the necessary ingredients to portray the American dream as it was then, and how it is now.
Joseph, played by Tom Cruise, a poor Irishman in Far and Away wants revenge. On the burial day of his father and last living parent, his house was burnt down by the lackeys of a rich landowner wanting to collect his rent. With no parents and a plot of land that will not grow the necessary amount of produce to sustain itself, he tells his brothers that he will repay the man who torched their home with a bullet. Tom's character is not exactly a known marksman, but set's out on this mission with full confidence. The trouble lies in the fact that the head for which the bullet was intended happened to be the father of a very ornery and ambitious girl. Nicole Kidman, playing the character of Shannon, was a very rich girl. She grew up having to be proper from head to toe and movement to stillness. She was refined, and could not stand it. Kidman was willing to do just about anything to live a life of her own.
The strange duo met through a plan of revenge set by Cruise on Kidman's father. The face that was supposed to take place did not occur because Nicole figured out how to get them both out of their current situations, and on to a place where dreams came true. They helped each other come to America together and landed with expectations not exactly met. The streets were...
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