American Beauty

Film Reflection
American Beauty can be seen as a critique of mass society.  It tells the story of one man’s search for happiness.  The film introduces Lester Burnham, an ordinary looking, married man and father in his forties.  However, he is in a loveless marriage.  His wife is so concerned about her real estate career that his husband often claims Carolyn doesn’t acknowledge him.  Furthermore, his daughter is a typically apathetic teenager who doesn’t care her father for his lack of support and she sometimes finds herself less than perfect.  He is in danger of losing job even if he has dedicated fourteen years to his occupation.  All of these factors dramatically affect him and cause feelings of desperation and vulnerability for him.  He searches to escape or rebirth. He is seeking the possibility of happiness.  After a while, he likes girl’s friend, Angela.  He feels excited by the thought that a teen age girl thinks he is hot.  Lester hears something from Angela, she has stated that she would have sex with him so Lester starts working out and build up his body.  This drives him to change himself completely.  He is in desperate and looks for happiness, he finds an escape in Angela.  After a while, he purchase a red sports car, smokes marijuana, exercising maniacally and fantasizing about younger women (Angela).  However, Angela is really a virgin although she lies continually about sexual encounters with many men.  It shows us, people don’t want to represent to reality to be center of attention and to be liked.
            All characters have choices to be happy, choices give an individual the freedom to decide the path, which they follow.  Each character has to learn how to deal with his or her own problems.
           Lester thinks having a red sports car makes him more popular but he depresses his unconscious desires in that way.  Using Marijuana can be the same.  Therefore, repression of one’s real desires and hiding, it can be seen clearly in this film.  Consumption can determines social standards of people’s life.  Therefore, this film provides us the increasing of consumption habits.
           In this film, they try to portray this image of happiness.  It is a film about an American family that tries to follow the perfect life, American Dream.  This dream can be described as having a family that is having a good neighborhood, having a successful career, and general people have to choose a life which make them very happy.  Burnham family tries to show that they are a happy family by living a beautiful home (with expensive furniture), having a teenager daughter, and careers of their own that they are very successful in.  However, they don’t glad with their situation.  According to Lester, his marriage is just for show.
People can be beautiful, but not happy.  For instance, Angela is pretty beautiful and attractive girl but she search different desires so she tells lie.  Beauty is defined by outer presentation and appearance, confidence and personality; these are the all component of happiness.  People may be happy, but not successful.  Lester cannot be seen as successful, he cannot be seen as happy.  His daughter meets a boy, play games with him and it finally makes her beautiful.  Lester realizes that he was not happy at his job so he decides to quit and applies at the one job that makes him happy (fast food restaurant).  Beauty does not need to whole happiness, but society tells and teaches us as it does.