Interesting look at American families

Rating: 6/10 (13 December 2019)

American Beauty revolves around a middle-aged father, Lester Bernham (Kevin Spacey). Lester is unhappy with his current state in life, and seems to kind of snap and change abruptly. We follow Lester as he delves into a laze fare lifestyle in which he becomes attracted to a girl the same age as his daughter. Other plotlines branch out with Lester's wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) and daughter Jane (Thora Birch). Each separate story brings to light a different cultural issue in our society. We see infidelity in the affair Carolyn has, and typical teenage drama with Jane. The big surprise and difference in this film is Lester's undying attraction to his daughter's friend Angela (Mena Suvari). As Lester becomes more and more laid-back, he begins to make bad decisions, and almost sleeps with this young girl. In an even more surprising twist of irony, the man who started to fall apart seems to wake up and do the right thing in the end.
The theme of American Beauty is family. Specifically, the unconditional love for family. We see different examples of this theme throughout the film. Two main families appear in American Beauty. The Brenham's, who seem to go through a power struggle, and the Fitts's whose structure is clear and rigid. In the following paragraphs, I will go over some examples of why I believe the film to be family.
My first example deals with the main character of the movie, Lester. Lester feels powerless in his life. Lester's wife, Carolyn, is distant and does not show any affection. His daughter views him as a creepy old man, which is not entirely incorrect. His job is looking to let people go because of indiscretions from upper management. Everything in his life seems to be against Lester, and he can't handle it. Lester begins to make poor decisions, and he stops caring about his family. Lester lusts after an underaged girl and drives his family away. Lester starts to smoke marijuana, which he gets from his neighbor Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley). Throughout the entire movie, we see Lester make decision after decision that implies, he doesn't care about his marriage or his family. This behavior goes on until just before his murder. Lester picks up a picture of his family and seems to snap out of his mid-life crisis. He realizes, just before his death, that he loves and cares for his family.
Carolyn is no saint in the movie. She has an affair with a real-estate rival. She is cold and distant from Lester, and she makes snide comments to her daughter. It seems that Carolyn, similar to Lester, is pushing her family away. This behavior continues up to the point where she is about to murder Lester herself. We see Carolyn listening to a self-help book and holding a pistol. A bright red door is all that stands between Carolyn and Lester on a dark and rainy night. We see Lester's murder and assume Carolyn killed her husband. It isn't until we see Carolyn sobbing and grasping at Lester's hanging clothes in his closet that we realize she still loves Lester. Throughout the film, we see no indication that Carolyn cares about her family, but like Lester, at the very end, it is clear that she does.
Jane goes through a similar transformation as her mother. Jane makes repeated comments about how creepy and disgusting her father is. She mentions that she can't bring a friend home without her father being weird. Lester and Carolyn push Jane away to the point where she is willing to run away with her boyfriend, Ricky. Just before they leave, they hear the gunshot that kills Lester. When Jane sees her father, she is understandably distraught.
The other family in the movie, the Fitts's, has a much different dynamic. Colonel Fitts, Ricky's father, is the ultimate power in their household. When Ricky disobeys or makes a mistake, it is met with physical violence, as opposed to the Brenham's, who primarily use passive-aggressive comments and behaviors. The Fitts's provide an excellent example of family as a theme of American Beauty. Ricky and his father do not see eye to eye. After a misunderstanding involving Ricky and Lester, Colonel Fitts kicks his son out of the house. Colonel Fitts then visits Lester soaking wet and crying. This sturdy military man is brought to tears by his love for his son, and his inability to accept Ricky. Though Ricky's father is the reason his son left, he still loves his son and blames Lester. This love for his son drives Colonel Fitts to murder Lester over a misunderstanding.
Oddly, this movie reminded me of an extremely dark version of Office Space. As far as my theme goes, the movie Click comes to mind. In both of these movies, we see a husband who has a good life but wants more. The pursuit of these desires is the undoing of both Lester and Michael Newman (Adam Sandler). In both cases, if these main characters would appreciate what they have, and work on solving problems, they would have ended up in a better place.
Many cinematic techniques go into supporting the theme of family in American Beauty. One notable example is the use of color. The color red is vital to the theme of this movie. It appears that as Lester falls into his mid-life crisis, that the color red symbolizes his deepest desires. From the very beginning, we see a flood of bright red roses as Lester imagines Angela naked. Later in the film, Lester buys a bright red car that he has always wanted. When Angela approaches Lester the night of his death, she is wearing bright red lipstick, and a bouquet of bright red roses is in the shot. This color repeatedly appears up the point of Lester's death and beyond with the bright red pool of blood contrasting the white table. Carolyn also appears in a red dress and red nails after Lester resists Angela. This use of color could be a sign that Carolyn is something that Lester desires. The red door may be a reference that he wants his family back, and he wants a peaceful home. Interestingly, color vanishes as he remembers the good times with his family. Lester holds their family photo and flashes back to happy times. The absence of color here can help to create a feeling of old memories. I think the use of black and white in this scene, in particular, is to contrast his fake desires from his real desires. While he is going through his mid-life crisis, this bright red color is tantalizing and represents his selfish desires. The black and white scenes show what really matters to him after he finds clarity just before his death. (Petrie and Boggs, 2018, p. 202-204).
Another technique that supports family as a theme is camera angles. We see two very different families throughout this film. When Lester and his family are on screen, most of the camera shots tend to stay very neutral. This angle is evidence of the power struggle in the Bernham family I mentioned earlier. From time to time, the camera angle changes to suggest more power from Lester, and other times Carolyn seems to be the alpha. The point here is that there is no dominant force in the Bernham family.
In contrast, the Fitts's have no question who is in charge. We see Ricky looking up at his father many times throughout the movie. This angle represents the dominance that Colonel Fitts has over his family. In more extreme cases, such as when Ricky gets hit by his father, the camera angle keeps Colonel Fitts way above Ricky. These different camera angles support the theme of family because it helps to create a sense of each family dynamic. This view of each family helps to make sense of the film, and illustrate the differences between the families. (Petrie and Boggs, 2018, p. 131-132).
American Beauty brings a lot of social issues to light. Many themes could be analyzed throughout the movie. I chose to pursue the theme of family. I decided on this theme because I think that the dynamic between the two main families is interesting. Also, the fact that after everything the characters go through, in the end, family is what matters to them.