An Overview of “American Beauty” and How it Portrays America

Beauty” is about a man named Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), and his ideal American family. “American Beauty” opens by having its propagandistic Lester Burnham declare, “I’m 42 years old and in less than a year I’ll be dead. Of course, I don’t know that yet. In a way I’m dead already.” In this simple manner the film establishes its somber tone, its dry sense of humor, its non-linear narration, and its characters fate. Having revealed the fatal outcome, what follows is a brief overview of the final days of Lester’s frustrated life; of his wife Carolyn’s (Annette Bening) systematic belittling of him and all things associated with him; and of their daughters (Thora Birch) overpowering contempt towards both of them. We first meet Lester as we glide over his uniformly common neighborhood and to his red front door. In voice over he tells us he is “trapped on the proverbial treadmill of his white-collar existence.” Lester is a writer for a big time magazine; his wife Carolyn is a successful real estate agent. The Burnham’s live in the suburb in a white-framed house with a white picket fence. Leste

r’s wife Carolyn maintains the perfect garden and even has pruning shears to match her gardening clogs. Their daughter Jane (Thora Birch) is a cheerleader at school, but home she is very glum and uncommunicative. The Burnham’s sit down every night to eat dinner together, from the outside they appear to be the perfect ideal American family. In voice over, he tells us that he hasn’t had sex in a long while; when his wife Carolyn catches him masturbating she accuses him of “being disgusting.” His daughter Jane also thinks he’s disgusting: “She hates me,” Lester tells Carolyn, “and she hates you too.” Lester feels forgettable and fed up as he remarks, “I wouldn’t remember me either.” To the horror of his picture-perfect wife and acrimonious daughter Lester tries to recapture vitality for life. We all have the desire to be desired. We want the nice sports car, the good-looking family, and the big house behind the white picket fence. Is all this really possible? Is there such thing as the perfect family? Using the film “American Beauty” I will compare the idealistic family to the realistic family. I will show how easily life can pass you by, and how important it is for us to be our true selves.

“In less than a year I’ll be dead.” So begins the narration of Lester Burnham a “nothing writer for a nothing magazine.” Statistics say that in the next 20 years it will become common practice to change careers five times during a lifetime. In the course of a mid-life crisis Lester loses his job, vents his frustration at his hibernating marriage, and becomes foolishly infatuated with a high school cheerleader named Angela (Mena Suvari), his daughter’s best friend. Many men fantasize about being with a younger, more beautiful woman. Almost every man is tempted at least once in his life to cheat on his wife. After being downsized Lester blackmails the company for 60,000 dollars and the first thing he spends it on is a 1970 Pontiac firebird. He wants a more simplistic life for himself that is free of worry and responsibility. Lester’s scripted family role is cast aside as he quits his job and picks up a crappy job working at a local fast food burger place, begins lifting weights, smoking pot, and develops an obsession about Jane’s friend Angela. There comes a point in every person’s life that death is coming and it is important to appreciate life for what it is, and to make every moment count. Lester begins to explore his inner thoughts and desires. In one scene Lester sits on the very expensive couch and almost spills a beer. Carolyn snaps at Lester for nearly spilling his drink on the couch and he responds “This is just stuff. And it’s more important to you than living. And, honey that is just nuts.” Lester wants Carolyn to realize the same thing that he is beginning to realize. We live in an extremely materialistic world. The house we live in, the car we drive, the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, the movies we watch, and the college we graduate from often judge us. In today’s society we forget to take a look at the things that really matter. All we want care about is money. This movie helps the

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