How Our Culture is Represented in American Beauty

  

In 1999, Sam Mendes released his comedic drama film that was nominated for 8 Oscars and won 5, including Best Picture. The movie, American Beauty, is about two families whose members are all trying to achieve happiness in different ways. To achieve happiness, the characters go either with or against society’s norms.  This takes place throughout the entire movie and explores the different ways people search for happiness, along with the positive and negative results of their actions. The theme of American Beauty is that the pursuit of happiness is the driving force in everyone’s life, but is overall an impossible task to complete unless it is through death. The film explores how each character is set on achieving happiness and how it is always the most important thing to them, no matter how it affects other people around them.

American Beauty was made in the very late 1990’s and was also set in the same time period.  The film reflects the time it was made in several ways. First off, homosexuality is touched upon in the film and is not accepted by certain characters. In the late 1990’s, homosexuality was not as commonly welcomed as it is today and as a result the characters did not accept homosexuality. Another key signal of the time it was made in is how Carolyn Burnham cheats on her husband Lester to achieve happiness. This could be a result of the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal that took place in 1996. That shows that even our president at the time is on a search for happiness and may try to reach happiness by participating in unethical actions. Finally, all the characters seem to be financially stable. Although they still need to work for a living, money does not seem to be a problem as long as they have a steady job. This representation could be a result of the current economy. The time the film was set in was before the recession of the 2000’s and in 1998 the United States announced that they had seen the first budget surplus in 30 years. Finally, during the late 1990’s, technology was on the rise. Ricky Fitts is a great example of the rise of technology in the time period as he records everything and has an impressive collection of technology. All in all, the film being made in the late 1990’s had a great impact on the story and overall representation of American Beauty.

In the film American Beauty, the conflict is that characters cannot find happiness. The source of conflict is shown to be school and work, but the real sources are the members of society and how our modern society is operated. The characters try to achieve happiness, but they can’t because of society’s rules and norms. The film displays our society in a negative manner, but the film does this so that it can attempt to teach the audience a lesson that we need to be reminded of. This lesson is that that sometimes we need to break away from society’s norms in order to be happy. To add to that, the film tries to remind the audience to break away from society’s norms and accept those people who are trying to be happy. The film not only points out a problem in our society, but also provides a solution in how to fix it. The film tries to relay that happiness cannot be achieved due to our society and as a result, challenges us to change and challenge the norms. For example, Lester was very unhappy with his job and as a result, he disobeyed the authority of his employers and went to go work at a fast food restaurant. However, he was seen as a loser while working at the burger joint. His wife viewed him as unsuccessful and during Lester’s interview; the manager viewed him as unsuccessful because she thought he didn’t belong at a burger joint with his experience. Although it didn’t seem to bother Lester, it showed that society has to be more accepting towards those looking for happiness. If someone’s idea of happiness is working at a fast food restaurant, then they should be able to do that without judgment or being viewed as unsuccessful. Another great example is Ricky Fitt’s father, Colonel Frank. Colonel Frank is portrayed as an extremely homophobic man throughout the film, but it is revealed at the end that Colonel Frank is homosexual himself. However, he is not happy or comfortable due to the rules of society, rules that even he feels that he must obey. This character is a perfect example of how our society is flawed. We rely on society to determine who we are as people, rather than allowing ourselves to be true to ourselves. People are more concerned about their image and how other people are going to view them than they are about their own happiness. The film tries to point out that our culture needs to change in order for everyone to achieve lifetime happiness. We need to stop letting other determine who are and be more accepting to whom an individual believes they truly are.

All in all, American Beauty is a complex film about several individuals trying to pursue happiness in their lives, but society and sometimes themselves hold them back. The concept of the American dream is a driving force in many American’s lives and is the cause of immigration and the drive for success. American Beauty displays how the American dream is a sinister view because in order to be self made and successful, the film shows that you must give up your happiness as a result. Although everyone chases this false dream, no one can reach their desired goal of happiness and society’s image of success. The film portrays happiness as an impossible task. Although Lester achieved happiness, he was killed as soon as he discovered how to be happy. As a result of the theme explored in the film, the audience is given the hints and clues in how to change their lives and the culture we live in so that everyone can be happy. Society must drop the professional business type image of success and be more accepting of people trying to achieve happiness in their own way. Whether it is working as a fast food cook, taking up unusual hobbies like filming everything, or shooting a gun, everyone deserves to be happy.