American beauty review

American Beauty review
Romance, sexuality, repression, imprisonment, redemption, denial, materialism, absence and a whole lot of beauty are the many themes of American beauty.

 The film takes us the audience through a narrated representation of the American dream meltdown as it includes everything the dream selfishly holds. Instead of looking at the American dream from a stranger's point of view and pointing out all the positive obvious aspects, American beauty looks at it in a much more real way which is actually hidden by all the things which have been coloured in as what makes the dream.

A big house, a big garage, a perfect garden, a nice car and the 'perfect' nuclear family is everything that people assume the American dream is, and American Beauty actually shows that, but with a inch of reality which is the people that live in it and the affect it has on others and themselves. Lester Burnham (Spacey) lives in the American dream and somehow has 'made' it as some people would see it, but ironically the way he himself sees it is that he has not made it and actually failed somehow and wants to redeem himself. This is the same situation with his wife, Carolyn Burnham (Bening), as she too is deeply unhappy but instead of admitting it as her husband, she tries to disguise it with pretending to still be happy but we see her in many breakdowns.

 Along with adults being deeply unhappy, the youth in American beauty is also seen to be missing something. Jane, the daughter of Lester and Carolyn, seems to be disappointed with her appearance and her father. The reason for this is that Lester, being unhappy with himself has given up on most things, one which he hasn't realised, is giving his daughter the attention she desires. The other teenager in the film isn't as unhappy as the rest of the people in the film as he has found a portal in life to see beauty; by videoing natural beautiful things, and not being scared of death, but is also desperate for his dad's love and affection as his dad, Col. Fitts, is a furious homophobic. Another example of unhappiness is the daughter's friend Angela, as she disguises herself throughout the film as a slutty teenager who's had plenty of sex but really turns out to be a virgin who really is insecure about herself and how she is seen, as the worst thing she fears is to be ordinary.

 I think the main moral of the film is finding beauty within you. As Lester is asked how he feels from Angela, and he replies “it’s been a long time since anyone ever asked me that”, he is given the attention he deserves and was seeking for through the film. After just gaining the attention, he realises he has a wonderful family and wife, and whatever he wanted to do different or change as we see him as a rebel throughout the film, he doesn't really as he wants to keep everything the same. As Carolyn is convinced she wants to leave Lester as she practices how to tell him, she enters the house to find her husband dead. She completely breaks down and cries and hugs his clothes as she wants to hug his soul and feel his scent. The beauty she finds is her husband, that even though all the arguing and cheating happens in the film, the only man she really needs to live is him.

 The film is seen as a man who has been imprisoned in the materialistic and dominating world of his wife, suddenly breaks out with desire to win over the new, sexy, exciting friend of his daughter. By doing this he exercises, smokes drugs, quits his job, and somehow just wants to be normal, or younger. But the real meaning of the film is Lester's motive to find beauty in his life. He thinks the beauty is his daughter's friend, but really is the understanding and gratefulness of having a wonderful family as he does. This film teaches us that object, cars, houses and money doesn't gain happiness for life, maybe for a short extent of time, but what really matters is your own individual understanding and viewpoint of beauty. Lester's beauty is his family, Carolyn's beauty is her husband, Jane's beauty is parental affection, Angela's beauty is being unique, Ricky's beauty is nature, and Col. Fitts' beauty is coming out with who he really is. The film shows us that beauty can mean anything to anyone, and you can't really try to spot it or find as it is everywhere, you just have to wait until it's your time and when you do you will be at peace.

 “You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure. But don't worry...you will someday”