The movie “American An Overview of “American Beauty” and How

“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 audience see the ugly in pretty and the pretty in ugly. In an attempt to be a supportive father Lester attends his daughters cheerleading performance. It is there that he first lays his eyes on the beautiful Angela. He instantly goes all goggle-eyed and travels into an elaborate fantasy world in which Angela’s body virtually explodes with rose petals. After over hearing Angela tell Jane that she thinks Lester is sexy he decides to start working out every night to become more desirable to Angela. For Lester, this is a battle of mythic and heroic proportions. He is trying to save his soul, trying to prepare himself to face death, although he doesn’t know it is coming so soon. Angela is more the trigger than the cause of Lester’s transformation. But this aesthetic vision feels a long way from actual lust, which is most often nagging, grinding, and insatiable sensation, more like a chronic infection than a seizure. His wife Carolyn is the product of self-help tapes and perfect makeup who sings, “Don’t Rain on My Parade” to juice herself up. She’s the caffeinated Donna Reed, the queen of Pleasantville. Her motto is to “dress for success.” She prides herself on appearance and how others v

Some topics in this essay:
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