The movie showed some typical American family values. “A passing comment reminds viewers that life is more than the possessions”. Through the death of “Lester”, the movie shows that death is what a man deserves for being bad in his life. His neighbor’s son, “Ricky”, was nearly the only character that showed the typical suburban family values. He always uses a video camera to film scenes. He tries to see the beauty in everything he sees around him. But mostly, the movie doesn’t portray American family values (“Beauty”). What is bad about this movie include:
- “Sexual Content”: Lester was sexually obsessed with his daughter’s friend, “Angela”. There are scenes of Lester’s fantasies of her. Those scenes include partial nudity and a sexual encounter that was about to occur. “Carolyn” cheats on her husband, Lester. She and her lover, “Buddy Kane”, reserve a room in a motel, and a sexual scene take place there. The scene contains some nudity. Lester’s daughter, “Jane”, also had her sexual affair with Ricky. She even uses his video camera to make a videotape of his nude body. She gets nude regularly by her room’s window so that Ricky can watch her from his room. Also, many dialogues in the movie contain candid sexual meanings (“Beauty”).
- “Violent Content”: “Colonel Fitts” physically abuses his son, Ricky. Lester shows extreme rage at home. And most notably, Lester kills himself with a gun (“Beauty”).
- “Crude or Profane Language”: The “f-word” and the “s-word” are used many times during the movie. The crude language consists primarily of insults that have sexual meanings. Also, “Christ’s name is also abused” (“Beauty”).
- “Drug and Alcohol Content”: Although Ricky’s character doesn’t show too much evil like other characters, it turns out that he deals with drugs. He even sells some of his stuff to Lester (“Beauty”).
The Psychological Evolution of Lester’s Character
Lester is an unhappy man who feels like he doesn’t get enough attention from his boring wife, Carolyn, and his disobeying daughter, Jane. He sees no beauty in his life. Suddenly, he starts to find what he considers the missing beauty in his life after he sees Jane’s friend, Angela (Greydanus).
After that, he decides to turn his life upside down and live according to his own decisions. He tries to make his body shape better by exercising to grab Angela’s attention. He “quits his job and blackmails his boss for a year’s pay. Then he buys himself a spiffy 1970 Firebird, and gets a job at a fast-food joint”. But pressure keeps going strong on him. After that, he decides to end his miserable life by killing himself (Greydanus).
The Lifestyle of Characters and the Pressure That It Creates on Their Sexual Life
- Lester: He is a typical man from a “middle-class” family. It’s not expected from someone like him to have an affair with a teenager (Greydanus).
- Ricky: A tight relationship connects him and Lester because they are neighbors and because Ricky sells drugs to Lester. This creates pressure on Ricky’s relationship with Jane because she is Lester’s daughter (Greydanus).
- Colonel Fitt: He is an “ex-Marine”. The nature of such a tough job creates pressure on his homosexuality (Greydanus).
- Carolyn: She is Lester’s wife and Jane’s mother. She cannot do anything but hide her secret relationship with her business partner, Buddy Kane (Greydanus).
Works Cited
“American Beauty.” Plugged in Online. 2009. Web.
Greydanus, Steven D. “American Beauty (1999).”Decent Films Guide. 2009. Web.