An American Beauty Pt 2
December 28th 2008 23:18
Part two
Denial is shown through characters with how they deal with reality.
Frank is a closeted homosexual who uses insults to make he feel better about his reality. (Huntley 5, Newman 6). After introducing his character he meets the gay neighbors. They establish who they are, and say they are partners. Frank looks suspicious and says, “Let's cut to the chase, okay? What are you guys selling?” The couple look confused and respond that they are just welcoming them to the neighborhood. Frank persists and the neighbors answer by telling him their job titles. Now Frank is bewildered, until it dawns on him that they are homosexual. In the next scene Frank is driving Ricky in his car. Frank is commenting on how shameless his homosexual neighbors are. Ricky replies that they aren’t ashamed of being gay. Frank looks sharply at his son and tells him that being gay is something to be a shame of. The audience doesn’t realize something is wrong until Frank accuses Ricky of being gay. Ricky lies to his father. Frank has become a very different man. Frank lifts his fists to beat Ricky but he’s weak. Ricky leaves and crying Frank goes next door and kisses Lester. Another character that shows denial is Angela. She is a model, which is beautiful and is always telling stories to Jane about sex with different guys. Reality shows she’s an insecure, undesired, and unattractive young girl who lashes out to other in order to feel better. In a scene she’s telling two girls how she’s just had sex with a famous photographer. The girls respond with disgust. Angela tells that’s how the real world is. One of the teenage girls tell her that she’s the same as them and she’s only been published when she’s fat so she should stop acting like she’s famous. Angela is shocked and calls off a name as the girls walk away. She, then, turns to Jane and says, “I am so sick of people taking their insecurities out on me.” Later in the third act, Angela is telling Jane that she can’t go off with Ricky. Jane says she’s going and Angela responds saying, “Well, at least I'm not ugly.” Ricky responds back, “Yes, you are. And you're boring. And you're totally ordinary. And you know it.” This hits Angela in the face. She leaves the scene. This direct confrontation makes Angela face reality.
Another them in the film is loneliness versus the need to feel a connection. A lot of frames have only one character alone. There are shots of Lester in the shower, garage, and the office.
When Carolyn is alone in the house as she is selling when she is crying, and in the car after her lover leaves. Then there are the frames that have Angela in the mirror looking at herself, and Jane in the mirror looking at her breasts. These shots show a lack of emotional connection between the characters. The Burnham family and Fitts are families that are falling apart because of the lack of emotional connection. The best relationship in the movie is the gay couple across the street. Suggesting unconventional love is probably better. Lester connects with no one until the end of the film. At that point, Lester and Angela sit down and have a healthy conversation about Jane.
The main theme in American Beauty is the title itself. One point of view is the to take a deeper look into things to find beauty. “Beauty, as a meaning of conventionality, of the American dream is an illusion.” Angela, the blond all American cheerleader, projects an image of being a young girl that sleeps around, when the truth is she’s an insecure and confused girl.
Jane, on the other hand, is not good looking but her character is empathic and beautiful. Frank is the ideal American dad, but reality has him as an abusive husband and closet homosexual. Another way of looking at American Beauty is the search for beauty in daily life. In Act I, Lester’s character is sedated by life. When he meets Angela and Ricky, he starts looking for his beauty. In Act II, Lester refutes back to his youth, by working out, buying the car of his dreams, working at a fast food restaurant, and listening to classic rock music. In Act III, Lester’s search is complicated when he is undressing Angela. He unbuttons her shirt and is going to kiss her. “This is my first time,” Angela says, Lester smiles and asks her if she’s joking. She is not joking. Lester looks at her as he realizes that he’s found what he was searching for. She is the American Beauty. Ricky finds beauty in everything through his camera. Ricky finds beauty because he takes the time to look at ordinary things that most pass over. Ricky explains, “Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it... and my heart is going to cave in.” Ricky sees beauty and lets it take over him. (Huntley 4.)
The rose and the color red is the most powerful symbol in the movie. Throughout the movie roses or the color red are placed in the scene. Joseph King, author of “The Beauty of ‘American Beauty’” writes, “From those early scenes, the [audience] believes the roses act as an agent of Carolyn's, as if somehow her influence extends through the roses.”(King 2) This ends up being far from the truth. The rose belongs to everyone” Every character interacts with the rose differently based on his or her personality. The first time the rose is seen is in Act I when Carolyn is cutting the roses. Perhaps to show how Carolyn is cut off from life. To her there is no symbolism or metaphor about the rose. It’s just a flower, just decoration. She is a realist, and measures things for their physical properties. She never escapes that role. In Lester’s fantasies roses are used to hide his lust for Angela. In the first fantasy during a half time show, Lester sees Angela dancing on the stage. A long shot shows Lester on the stand alone in the stands watching. Angela does a striptease. A few shots are repeated of Angela doing certain movements. There are many close ups to Angela’s and Lester’s face, and Angela’s body parts. As Angela unbuttons her shirt, the tension is building up for her top to open up. When the time comes, instead of seeing her breasts, red rose petals burst out from her shirt. The roses block her breast, and shocks Lester back to reality. There are two more fantasy that has roses either in a bathtub full of water, or surrounding Angela and raining down on Lester’s face as he grins happily. The red rose here symbolizes happy and lust.
Lester’s life changes from a dull grey life to a life full of color. At the end of the film, Lester has found his family is the American Beauty. He looks at a portrait of his family in happier times. Behind the portrait is a vase of roses. The camera pans left and a gunshot goes off, red hits the wall and Lester is dead. Even in death his obsessions with color follows him as his eyes follow his red blood across the counter.
American Beauty is an art. The story and shots throughout the film are made for people to “look closer” at daily life and find beauty in what is normal. The use of symbolism and metaphor provoke powerful emotions. It’s no wonder that this film won eighty-seven awards and has been nominated for seventy-one times. Then it dominated the seventy-second Academy Awards. As the movie ends Lester’s final words are, “I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... You will someday.”
Denial is shown through characters with how they deal with reality.
Another them in the film is loneliness versus the need to feel a connection. A lot of frames have only one character alone. There are shots of Lester in the shower, garage, and the office.
The main theme in American Beauty is the title itself. One point of view is the to take a deeper look into things to find beauty. “Beauty, as a meaning of conventionality, of the American dream is an illusion.” Angela, the blond all American cheerleader, projects an image of being a young girl that sleeps around, when the truth is she’s an insecure and confused girl.
The rose and the color red is the most powerful symbol in the movie. Throughout the movie roses or the color red are placed in the scene. Joseph King, author of “The Beauty of ‘American Beauty’” writes, “From those early scenes, the [audience] believes the roses act as an agent of Carolyn's, as if somehow her influence extends through the roses.”(King 2) This ends up being far from the truth. The rose belongs to everyone” Every character interacts with the rose differently based on his or her personality. The first time the rose is seen is in Act I when Carolyn is cutting the roses. Perhaps to show how Carolyn is cut off from life. To her there is no symbolism or metaphor about the rose. It’s just a flower, just decoration. She is a realist, and measures things for their physical properties. She never escapes that role. In Lester’s fantasies roses are used to hide his lust for Angela. In the first fantasy during a half time show, Lester sees Angela dancing on the stage. A long shot shows Lester on the stand alone in the stands watching. Angela does a striptease. A few shots are repeated of Angela doing certain movements. There are many close ups to Angela’s and Lester’s face, and Angela’s body parts. As Angela unbuttons her shirt, the tension is building up for her top to open up. When the time comes, instead of seeing her breasts, red rose petals burst out from her shirt. The roses block her breast, and shocks Lester back to reality. There are two more fantasy that has roses either in a bathtub full of water, or surrounding Angela and raining down on Lester’s face as he grins happily. The red rose here symbolizes happy and lust.
American Beauty is an art. The story and shots throughout the film are made for people to “look closer” at daily life and find beauty in what is normal. The use of symbolism and metaphor provoke powerful emotions. It’s no wonder that this film won eighty-seven awards and has been nominated for seventy-one times. Then it dominated the seventy-second Academy Awards. As the movie ends Lester’s final words are, “I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... You will someday.”
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