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Quinn Barnette
Prof. Julie Hicks
Arts + Society: Film
Oct. 28, 2014
American Beauty
Sam Mendess American Beauty is a film created to magnify a few real lives of
suburban families in America. Many themes were expressed in this film, most of
which being social commentary on the complexity of home life for so many families.
Mendes accomplishes this dramatically with uncomfortable situations as well as
subtly through symbolism and perspective.
I felt that American Beauty is well worth the praise it has received. Not many
films can elicit such a variety of emotional responses from its audience in the way
American Beauty does. One of the reasons this is, is that the director uses extensive
techniques to portray certain themes and influence audiences opinions of
characters. Visual techniques are used constantly throughout the film. For instance,
the most obvious use of color is the use of red to convey the idea of lust and
attraction that Lester experiences when he is awakened from his coma by Angela.
This color can be seen scattered throughout the film in the form of roses or even just
a red painted car. It foreshadows a type of passion. In the dinner scenes, we can
always see a bouquet of roses in the middle between Lester and Carolyn
symbolizing the lust and desire for something or someone else between their
relationship. Additionally, the use of vibrant colors in Janes room symbolizes the

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potential she possesses as a young girl who doesnt necessarily conform to the
American Dream as her mother and father mistakenly did.
Mendes also separates dream from reality throughout the film as Lester
becomes increasingly infatuated with Angela. These scenes are characterized by a
change in music that reflects Lesters mood at the time. In addition, the camera
tends to pan to different parts of Angelas body and then back to Lesters face to
show the erotic nature of the dream and Lesters pleasure.
The technique of perspective is also used extensively, especially when the
relationship between Lester and Carolyn is under scrutiny by the film. Camera
angles often view Carolyn from below making her seem powerful. In contrast, Lester
is often viewed from above, showing weakness. These angles serve to symbolize the
roles played by these characters in their relationships with each other. Another way
that the director shows this is in the way the two characters are actually shot in the
same scene. Carolyn is seen towering over Lester, especially in dinner scenes.
The final technique that I believe makes this a powerful movie is Mendess
surprisingly offensive scenes. He makes no effort to sugar coat because his intention
is to create discomfort in his audience. Moments such as when Lester almost has sex
with a 16 year old girl and then shifts to a father figure create a feeling of very deep
discomfort within the audience. Mendes does this to magnify his message of the
hyper sexualization of women in a way that the audience will not soon forget.
In addition to this message of hyper sexualization, Mendes strives to convey
multiple social commentaries on issues within our society. One such issue is the
notion of there being an ideal beauty. Jane personifies this idea perfectly in her

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struggle to compare with Angela. She almost does not understand the reason that
Ricky would take such a liking to her, and she enjoys the attention. This is also a
moment of extreme discomfort as Jane smiles when realizing for the first time that
she has been stalked by her next door neighbor. This highlights the need for
attention, and just how easily it can be misconstrued and corrupted in the mind of
someone who is made insecure by percieved societal values of what is
extroardinary. In the end, we see this happening to Angela as her many sexual
escapades come out as simple calls for attention do to her denial of normality. She
then searches for validation in Lester, something even more perturbing than finding
solace in the gaze of a stalker. Mendes makes this connection to expose just how
everybody struggles with insecurity and the need for attention at some point in
their life, but the ideal beauty does not exist.
In addition to Janes confused mental state, she has do deal with a family
dynamic that is uncomfortable to say the least. Also, right across the street we see
Rickys family dynamic that is similarly abusive. Mendes is highlighting two families
that can cause irrevocable damage to their children, but in different ways. Jane is
mostly emotionally abused by her parents. The only time we see her physically hurt
is when her mother slaps her on the face. Most of the time, Jane is subject to the
unstable relationship of her parents, her fathers desire for her best friend, and her
mothers dissapointment with her rejecting the American Dream. In contrast, Ricky
endures a physically abusive and emotionally void relationship with both his father
and his mother. This causes him to reject the conventional wisdom of his parents in
a similar way to Jane. By showing this parallell, Mendes is highlighting not only

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different types of abusive family dynamics, but also that they all exist in seemingly
peaceful neighborhoods, often times in high concentrations.
Finally, Mendes chooses to highlight a social issue that is, at least 15 years
ago, not highly contested in any public media. Homosexuality is present throughout
the film, and is introduced originally with the Jim couple. Colonel Frank reacts
mostly negatively, but is then slightly taken aback when Ricky expresses contempt
for homosexuality in a fit of rage against his fathers intolerance. Later we see that
Franks intolerance is merely a cover for his own feelings toward men. Mendes is
using this as a way of expressing the fact that much of intolerance comes from fear
of what ones self is capable of.
American Beauty is a beautifully and deeply disturbing film with a social
commentary that is not soon forgotten. It highlights the irony of what is percieved as
American Beauty by showing the behind the scenes of American families instead
of the highlight reel that everyone is so infatuated by. This was one of my favorite
films simply because of how many things I felt. It is a film that I can still feel even a
week later as I write this essay. It is sufficient to say that if you happened to fall into
a coma reflective of Lesters 20 year mental hiatus, you will return to reality quickly
and disturbingly after watching this film.

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