American Beauty

American Beauty Free Essay

Beauty is everywhere, and every person can explain and describe it by relying on his personal feelings, emotions, and experience. The beauty is in freedom and the ability to make the desired choices. Everyone has individual borders of freedom and a degree of acceptance in choosing how to act under different internal and external circumstances. This idea is broadly developed in the film American Beauty directed by Sam Mendes in 1999. It depicts a story of a middle-aged man Lester Burnham who realizes the fact that he has been stuck in his life routine. The feeling of freedom has been lost by the main character but life sends him signs of the ability to return abandoned feelings and emotions. The film is full of symbols, and red color has been chosen as a symbol of freedom. Of course, this symbol may be interpreted from different points, and various sides can be revealed as the notion of freedom is broad and rich in attitudes to explanation. Therefore, the red color pierces the storyline and creates a controversial interpretation of every related sign and symbol in the film.

Briefly speaking about the plot of the movie, it should be said that the main character Lester Burnham realizes the fact that his entire family life is not real and all the members of the family pretend to be happy and satisfied. Being fed up with this falsehood, Lester decides to change his life and gets rid of everything which is undesirable and makes him act under pressure. In addition, he falls in love with his daughter’s classmate. Besides, his new neighbor inspires him to quit the job. Using the squeeze play, Lester gets good compensation and easily starts working in a fast-food restaurant. Altogether he decides to get fit by performing some exercises and running. Lester also does not mind smoking some weed for relaxation. He does not listen to his wife and daughter as he realizes that he does not care about their opinion. Finally, starting to live the way he has always desired he was killed because of foolish circumstances. Nevertheless, Lester died a smiling and happy man who seems to have gained his freedom after all.

The film is worth watching and analyzing as it is full of symbols and metaphors. The red color plays a special role in revealing the film’s idea. It may be interpreted as a symbol of freedom and exoneration. Red roses in the yard, red rose leaves in Lester’s imagination about his daughter’s friend Angela, a red front door, and, finally, red blood at the end of the movie. Every red object is connected with a certain period of life, emotions, and feelings adding some symbolic touch to the whole story of Lester’s life. The red color goes throughout the movie and creates the image of something free but sometimes forbidden; altogether with the feeling and desire for change. Besides, this color is associated with passion, love, strong feelings, and emotion as well as with something prohibited. Consequently, the symbolism of the red color is worth viewers’ attention as it has a great impact on the common idea of the movie concerning the life changes of the main character and his attitude to them.

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The first noticeable red sign in the movie is presented by red roses in the yard in front of the Burnhams’ house. The symbolism of the situation lies in the fact that Lester’s wife takes care of the flowers. They may be interpreted as a sign of her freedom, former youth, and beauty. Their neighbor Jim notes the beauty of the flowers: “I just love your roses. How do you get them to flourish like this?” (“American Beauty”,1999, 2:56) This comment emphasizes the physical beauty of the red roses and may be transferred to Carolyn, Lester’s wife, who still takes care of herself and looks good. In other words, the red roses from the yard symbolize the beauty of Lester’s wife Carolyn. Nevertheless, it should be noted that Carolyn cuts the roses as if she realizes that her youth and beauty will not last long.

Another red sign is represented by the bunch of red roses from the yard which is now on the table in a vase. Though they are in the water, they will never grow and flourish more. The symbolism of this situation lies in the fact that the Burnham family is having dinner. They pretend that everything is fine but their conversation is rather tense and dramatic. Consequently, the cut roses may be interpreted as the beginning of the end of Burnhams’ family life. However, it seems to be perfect: smiling husband and wife, teenage daughter, pretty house with white fence and green lawn. But the truth is that all their life is not real anymore. The daughter blames Lester, and Lester blames his wife: “What? You’re Mother of the Year? You treat her like an employee” (“American Beauty”, 1999, 8:25). In the end, this situation makes all the people’s secret thoughts free even if they are negative.

The red color in the movie also may be treated as a symbol of passion and desire to experience it. That is why Jane’s classmate Angela appears in Lester’s imagination surrounded by the red rose leaves. Another erotic fantasy about Angela is placed in the bathroom where the young girl is taking a bath full of red rose leaves. In this case, the red color is associated with such strong feelings as passion, desire, and love. Altogether, as the fantasies are about a school girl, the red color may be interpreted as a signal of attention and prohibition or even taboo.

The red front door is under a special viewer’s attention in the scene when Carolyn broke up with her lover, took a gun, and headed to the house. On her way home, she constantly repeats: “I refuse to be a victim” (“American Beauty”, 1999, 1:45:54). In this case, the red door is interpreted as a way out of the problematic situation for Carolyn. Only after entering the front door of the house, the woman will be able to resolve the conflict. Consequently, independently of the ways of solution, Carolyn will get her freedom which is waiting for her behind the red door.

Another prominent red sign in the film that affects the viewers is the red spot of blood after Lester has been shot. The red blood on the white wall is possibly the most essential image in the whole film as it leads the audience to the conclusion that Lester’s life ended. Nevertheless, the facial expression makes the viewers think that Lester died being a happy man. Moreover, he held an old photo of his family in front of his eyes and smiled. He has gained inner peace and fulfilled his wishes. Consequently, the red color led the main character to the end of life but being a free and satisfied person.

To sum up, the notion of freedom is very broad and may be explained from various and sometimes controversial points of view. The movie American Beauty directed by Sam Mendes and released in 1999 depicts a story about a middle-aged man Lester Burnham who realizes that he is fed up with daily routines and boringness. Many viewers find Lester’s way of life familiar to their personal lives. That is why this movie is meaningful for the audience as it reveals different controversial life issues such as personal freedom, the ability to be flexible, and the ability to feel the beauty in simple things. In addition, American Beauty depicts the story of an average man who has decided to start over. The main character seems to be an ordinary person with a family, a working place, and a house. Nevertheless, he is not happy. The character of Lester is a composed image of a middle-aged man who gained socially accepted goals instead of fulfilling his dreams. Consequently, the importance of the film lies in picturing the possible sequence of events in case of a rapid and careless fulfillment of personal desires.

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