Macias, Mena, Torres 1

Erica Macias, Leslie Mena, Carolina Torres

Professor Augustine
English 113B
April 27, 2015
Happiness is wroth more than materialism
If you ask someone what the American dream means to them, you can be sure that
not everyone will have the same dream. However, Americans are set to believe that the
American dream is to be successful in wealth. For example, in the movie American
Beauty the Burnham Family had it all; from a perfect family image, to a well-paid job,
and to a good quality home. As for in the movie American Psycho the main character,
Patrick Batemen was a successful handsome businessman, and focused on materialistic
things. Patrick Batemen is revealed as a metrosexual who enjoys killing people. Although
people try to live up to the American dream, they turn out to have an unhappy lifestyle
because they focus on materialistic things that do not bring them happiness in the end.
In the movie America Beauty Carolyn Burnham is seen as materialistic women
She is always focused on trying to be a successful real estate and having nice things.
Though she wanted to have a good social image, on the other hand her family was falling
apart. Her husband, Lester Burnham, and her never saw eye to eye. In a New York Times
article, Materialism is bad for you, studies say by Carey Goldberg illustrate how
materialistic items do not offer actual happiness and in fact is only temporary. Goldberg
illustrated that people who value material success more than they value happiness are
more likely to experience almost as many negative moods as positive moods (Goldberg,
1). As we can see in the movie American Beauty Carolyn valued her success because

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she wanted to have the best and with that she believed it would bring her a good social
states and happiness. However, in realty we cannot have both. There is a fine limit when
materialism takes over and it starts becoming a problem. For example, in the movie
Carlyon materialistic values was starting to coming between her marriage. There is a seen
where her husband, Lester Brahman, is trying to be intimate with Carolyn and he is
holding a beer over her. Carolyn quickly reacts when she sees him holding the beer by
saying, This is a $4,000 sofa, upholster in Italian silk. This is not just a couch. That
moment of intimacy quickly swept away because of the comment Carolyn said. We could
see that Carolyn drive for materialistic success leads not only her family, and marriage
away but it also converts her to become unhappy. Towards the end of the movie Carolyn
becomes unhappy with her life because of her lack of success in selling homes. To add
more to her unhappiness she was caught by her husband having an affair with one of
Carolyn collogues. Over all Carlyon desire of becoming the top real estate seller and
maintaining a perfect life style does not bring her genuine happiness at the end.
In the movie American Psycho Patrick Bateman was a handsome businessman
living the American Dream. Many people may see the American dream in different ways
but we were sure Patrick had it all. Everyone expects to receive happiness when having
money but is that true? In the movie Patrick had more serious issues than materialistic
things he was a killer. He had it all from a perfect house, job, and looks but what he was
missing was his happiness. "I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh,
skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust," said
Patrick. He was not happy with his life because all he could feel was greed and disgust
for everyone around him. Researchers in the New York Times have proven that money

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doesn't buy you happiness. For example they found that reaching materialistic goals such
as a certain salary could contribute to ill being. People who valued more the close
relationship, personal growth and community involvement had more positive feelings and
a deeper sense of well-being. As they state this fact it is true that money along with
materialistic things don't bring you happiness. Reaching self-goals can bring grieve that
destroys you mentally because of all the things you want in life that you can't have. For
example if someone focuses so much on unimportant things like having a Michael Kors
bag they will never achieve in having money because of their grieve for it. Therefor
money and materialistic things bring happiness to a certain extent.
Although many say money cannot buy happiness, some may
argue that it does in fact bring happiness. There are people who
blissfully spend money to boost their self-esteem. Many things that can
help a persons self esteem cost a lot of money. When you are wealthy
you are able to buy things such as good clothes, the best beauty
products, and even things you don not necessarily need. You can also
get pleasure from going out and having a good time with friends and
can sometimes even treat them to a meal. All of these things can only
be bought if you have money. It makes one happy because its make
you feel as you are at the top and are better than them. In the article
Money Can Buy Some Happiness by Constance Holden, he talks
about a study that took place on genders of different ages and races
and the point of the study was to see if people who had money were
happier than those who didnt. In the end they found that people who

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had more money than their acquaintances were happier and more
satisfied. He said, Now sociologists are chiming in with a study
showing that money buys happinessas long as it puts people ahead
of their peers (Holden, 1). If people never get to their goals of having
more success or more money than someone else they wont be happy.
Theyll keep trying and will miss important things that matter in life
such as family. When theyre trying to live up to their American dream
and are materialistic they lose the chance on truly being happy with
the things they have and arent appreciative. Theyll find out later on
that all those things do not matter and what truly matters is being
happy for themselves and not for trying to impress other people.
When people are focusing on trying to accomplish their American
dream and are focused on materialist things they forget that there are
other things in life that matter. In American Beauty the mom, Carolyn
Burnham, is worried about her job and her appearance and does not
pay enough attention of her family. In the end she ends up losing her
husband because he was fed up with her caring more about her
appearance and at the same time she also loss her teenage daughter.
In one scene she even told her daughter that she doesnt appreciate
anything, when all Jane really want is to have a normal loving family. If
Carolyn wouldve focused on her family as much as she did on material
things, they couldve had the chance of still being united as a family.
Carolyn wouldve have been happier if she tried as hard in her family

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as she did at her work because family. When people care more about
materialistic, they do not end up happy. Another example was in
American Psycho, Patrick Bateman was a successful man who tried to
show off everything he had. He ended up being unhappy and became
soon a serial killer. Thousands of people try to achieve their American
dream everyday and once theyve achieved it they are still unhappy
with the results. People who focus on other things from money are
happier and better off. We should all focus less on materialistic objects
that will only grant us happiness for a small period of time and focus
on real goals that will bring us long times happiness.

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Work Cited
Goldberg, Carey. "Materialism is bad for you, studies say." The New Your Times. 8 Feb.
2006. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.
Holden, Constance. Money Can Buy (Some) happiness. Science, 309.5739 (2005):
1322-1322b.
Doheny, Kathleen. "Looks, Money, Fame Don't Bring Happiness." ABC News. ABC
News Network, 23 May 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.