The unbridled belief that anyone in the United States can become anything if they work hard enough is packaged in the all-encompassing phrase, “the American Dream.” Centered around the idea of meritocracy and continued economic mobility, this concept gave millions hope for a better future in a land of possibilities.
Though, of course, this proved to be a fantasy. Glamorous lifestyles emerge for a select few, and the consequences of rampant consumerism and reckless ambition turn society into a nightmare.
As such, cultural attitudes toward the American Dream shifted. Messages of hope evolved into messages of despair. Some could say the notion died out as we became more cynical.
We see through art, however, that this dream evolved into something far more tangible and real than money alone can possess. While gradual, warnings against what we thought the dream was, along with new messages of hope, appeared from the darkness.
One of the earliest warnings, and the story most associated with the American Dream, is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The novel, published in 1925, was ahead of its time in highlighting the corruption beneath an era of glitzy fashion and invention.
The anti-hero of Jay Gatsby, a man of great renown and “certainly richer than God,” stars as an American ideal. A man built from nothing, he raises himself to the upper echelons of New York society through sheer determination. Yet of course, the readers later discover that he made his money from bootlegging during the Prohibition Era and other various crimes.
Gatsby proves to be a cautionary tale. Readers have a front-row seat as he grows obsessive and loses touch with reality. And after he is killed, none of his hundreds of supposed friends attend his funeral.
Fitzgerald’s notion wasn’t received well at the time. The Great Gatsby fared poorly and was deemed a critical failure. In a way, its initial failure represents that Americans weren’t yet ready to reevaluate the reality of the American Dream.
Soon after, past the darkness of the Great Depression and Second World War, the American public saw a resurgence in the American Dream. The time period was marked by white picket fences, growing suburbia, the baby boom, and Norman Rockwell paintings.
As the middle class expanded and more people gained money, the American Dream still was not accessible to everyone as promised. The Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life tackles this head-on.
Frank Capra’s film centers around George Bailey, a man beaten down by his circumstances. He leaves his childhood dreams on the back burner to serve others, such as taking over his father’s building and loan company to fight for his lower-class neighbors against the rich and greedy Mr. Potter.
But when he is on the brink of financial ruin and jail for a misplaced deposit, the town rallies around him for his dedication to the community. They donate the sum back and more, thanking him for building their homes and standing up to Potter. The film serves as a reminder that “no man is a failure who has friends.”
Of course, life is not as simple as miraculously receiving finances from one’s town. As the decades passed, wealth divides grew more and more apparent. Class mobility seemingly disappeared, so much so that many believed the American Dream died. Hard work equalling great success surely was.
But in the vein of It’s A Wonderful Life, films began to present a new goal to aspire to. The Pursuit of Happyness displays Chris Gardner tirelessly working not for the sake of commercial success, but for a better life for his young son.
His generosity and dedication, not selfishness, elevate their family from homelessness into financial stability. And while Gardner begins a future of great success by the end of the film, the first thing he does when he gets a job is run to his boy.
Because when we strive for a dream about money instead of others, we have nothing to show for it. There Will Be Blood condemns Daniel Plainview for drilling oil and killing those in his way by estranging him from the only person who loved him: his son.
But we’ve also had to realize the limitations of our notion of the American Dream. Jon M. Chu’s In the Heights explores this exact concept for immigrant populations. In the film, characters celebrate their Latino heritage, protest for Dreamers, and come together as a community to support each other’s career and educational aspirations.
The film shows that the American Dream was never made with them in mind, but they found something better. They made a community full of love. That love echoed through their support of each other—distributing wealth to open salons, creating fashion designs, and attending college.
Somewhere along the way, we learn what the American Dream really is. The true American Dream is one of community and connection. It’s about turning your neighbors into family, supporting each other through life’s tumultuous times, and never giving up. It has always been about those we love, but somewhere along the way, people convinced themselves it was only about wealth.
The easy economic mobility of the past may have died, but our art and connection have helped us believe in a new one. Being able to grow wealth was never about the money itself, but being able to provide for those we love.
Of course, financial security still matters. We can’t dream without a roof over our heads. But as our art reminds us, money alone can’t make our lives more meaningful. Love will not pay the bills, but the pursuit of stability should be centered around each other, not for money’s sake alone.
Maybe that was always the true crux of the American Dream. But due to the nature of a capitalist world, we lost it somewhere along the way.
More than anything else, our art conveys that financial success will never satisfy the same way that people can. Rather than wealth above all else, we must aspire for a life well-lived—a life grounded in community, connection, and love.
