American Beauty
American Beauty is a movie that exposes preconceived notions about living in suburban America. This movie also becomes a commentary on the human condition while exposing the raw truth of a dysfunctional family. The Burnhams Lester, Carolyn, and Jane start out as the typical middle-class American family. Lester works for a magazine and is unhappy with his job. He later ends up quitting his job and blackmailing his boss for sixty thousand dollars. Carolyn is a real estate agent, who is thirsty for success. Their daughter, Jane, is a typical teenager, who is unhappy with her life and her parents. The whole demise of their family begins upon the arrival of several new elements that shake up the whole family. These elements being their neighbors. Their next-door neighbors are a gay couple and the Fitts'. Frank Fitts is a Marine Corps Colonel who suppresses his homosexuality and his family. Barbara Fitts never seems to do anything at all and their son Ricky is always able to find the beauty in anyt . . .
He has feelings of love for Angela because he thinks she is everything that is missing in his life. However, Carolyn is not the only Burnham woman who has found a new man in her life. Classified under love are passion, desire, and even infatuation. The point is that no matter whom you are, regardless of where you are in your life, it is never to late to go for your dream as long as you have the will and desire to do so. Jane closely correlates to the actions and dreams of her father while Angela has the same views as Carolyn. Carolyn, being a success driven freak, hooks up with Buddy Kane, the real estate King, and soon loses him when Lester learns of their affair. There are hundreds of items in the movie that are purposefully chosen by Alan Ball to be red. hing and usually captures it on videotape. Another aspect of the movie is that the ideals that Lester and his wife have are also shown, on a smaller level, through his daughter, Jane, and her friend Angela. Lester becomes a pot-head after it turns out that Ricky is also a drug dealer. The red rose pedals clarify to the audience Lester¡¯s desire for Angela. The purpose of this in not to say that one dream is better than another or that there is a right and a wrong dream to have. On the day of Lester¡¯s death, Carolyn is wearing a solid red dress. When Lester meets both Ricky and Angela, he becomes obsessed with drugs and sexual fantasies.
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