If one takes a look at the 1999 Sam Mendes picture American Beauty and its overwhelming success both at the box offices and at the countless movie festivals all around the globe, one might start wondering what it was that made this relatively cheap (“only” 15 Million $ budget) film about a middle-class All-American father and his struggle with life in a consume oriented suburban environment so successful? The film not only grossed more than twenty times its production cost, but is also one of the highest critically acclaimed movies of all times. Many main-stream critics trace the films success back to its genre twisted plot, the outstanding performance of both its main and supporting actors and its broad appeal that, as Begeman has put it: “transcends genre, a narrowly defined audience, and cultural and socioeconomic borders.” The story of a burned-out average middle-class American who tries to regain his personal freedom through dramatic personal changes in his life, seems to provide just the perfect material for yet another short-lived movie experience whose half-life is comparable to those of the many “Help yourself” guidebooks published each and every year. But those superficial conclusions are as far away from the truth as the movie is from being ordinary. On the contrary, it seems that even more than seven years after its initial publication, film scholars and analysts have not yet managed to interpret the movie in its multidimensional entity. Without even trying to claim to have found the key approach to understanding American Beauty, this paper will focus on main character Lester Burnham’s quest for happiness and meaning in life and follow him through the movie’s structure and narrative in order to answer the rather simple question: what is this film about? Is it simply a critique of a materialistic American middle-class society that is driven by the superficial “suburban pressure to conform and to acquire” ? Or does it also offer deeper reaching motifs that needed to be examined in order to get to the core meaning of the film? To answer those questions, this paper will first provide a comprehensive summary of the films structure, narrative and characters by applying it to the analytical pattern of Syd Field’s “Paradigm” , putting its main focus on the character Lester Burnham and his interaction with his environment.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction and purpose of the paper
2. American Beauty; characters, plot and structure
3. Critical approaches
American Beauty as a critique of consumerism and materialism
American Beauty as a spiritual parable
American Beauty and the motif of paedophilia
4. Conclusion
5. Bibliography
Objectives and Thematic Focus
This paper examines the 1999 film American Beauty to determine whether it serves primarily as a critique of materialistic, middle-class American society or if it contains deeper thematic motifs. By analyzing the narrative structure and character dynamics, the work explores Lester Burnham's quest for personal meaning and happiness as a catalyst for narrative change.
- Analysis of the film's narrative structure using Syd Field’s "Paradigm".
- Critique of materialism and consumer culture in suburban America.
- Examination of spiritual themes including reawakening and redemption.
- Exploration of the delicate motif of paedophilia within the social context.
- Assessment of the protagonist's transition from a mundane existence to an enlightened state.
Excerpt from the Book
2. American Beauty; characters, plot and structure
These few disillusioned sentences told by off-screen voice narrator and main protagonist Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) introduce us to the story of his last year on earth, indicating that the narrative of the film will unfold in flashbacks. Combined with the very first sequence of the film that show a videotaped conversation between a young girl (Lester Burnham’s daughter Jane) complaining about her fathers lack of being a role model for her and expressing the wish that somebody should “put him out of his misery”, and the camera operator (her next-door neighbour and later lover Ricky Fitts) that replies by asking “Do you want me to kill him for you?”, the viewer is immediately likely to anticipate the following 2 hours of movie watching to be framed within another “murder mystery or detective film”.
Following director Sam Mendes’ audio commentary, this introduction refers to the 1950 Billy Wilder film Sunset Boulevard, whose similar style of narrating the story from the perspective of a dead character serves to introduce the “spiritual loneliness that is present in much of the film”. To conclude about the films genre from the beginning scenes must prove to be premature because, in fact, even after close re-examination, viewers have a hard time locating it into a fixed genre sphere. This paper agrees with Linda Aronson’s notion considering American Beauty a “metaphorical siege … in which a group of alienated people are trapped together in Middle America”. The alienated group -as Aronson calls it- basically consist of two neighbour families and one of the family’s children’s friends living side by side in one of the typical North-American suburbs that happen to resemble each other so much that it actually makes it non relevant for us to know where it is located.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction and purpose of the paper: Outlines the significance of the film's critical success and establishes the research goal of exploring the film's core meaning through narrative and critical analysis.
2. American Beauty; characters, plot and structure: Provides a comprehensive summary of the film's plot, character motivations, and narrative arc, applying the analytical pattern of Syd Field's paradigm.
3. Critical approaches: Investigates three major interpretive lenses: the critique of consumerism and materialism, the film as a spiritual parable, and the presence of paedophilic motifs.
4. Conclusion: Synthesizes the findings, arguing that the film's enduring success stems from its ability to critique artificial social norms and offer a lesson on finding happiness through confrontation.
5. Bibliography: Lists the academic sources, film scripts, and secondary literature utilized for the analysis.
Keywords
American Beauty, Lester Burnham, Sam Mendes, Consumerism, Materialism, Spiritual Parable, Suburban life, Alienation, Narrative structure, Paedophilia, Redemption, American Dream, Film analysis, Character development, Social norms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this academic paper?
This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the 1999 film American Beauty, focusing on its themes, characters, and the socio-cultural commentary embedded in its narrative.
What are the central thematic areas covered in the analysis?
The core themes include a critique of American consumerism, the film's function as a spiritual parable, and the exploration of delicate motifs such as paedophilia within a social context.
What is the primary goal of the author?
The goal is to move beyond superficial interpretations of the film to answer the central question of what the film is truly about—specifically, whether it is merely a critique of middle-class society or a deeper examination of human nature.
Which methodology is applied to study the film?
The author applies Syd Field's "Paradigm" to analyze the structure and narrative, while also utilizing various critical theory frameworks regarding materialism and social behavior.
What topics are discussed in the main body of the work?
The main body covers the characters and plot, a critical approach to consumerism and materialism, the spiritual journey of the characters, and the psychological role of paedophilic motifs in driving the plot.
Which keywords are essential to characterize this work?
Key terms include American Beauty, consumerism, spiritual parable, alienation, narrative structure, and Lester Burnham's quest for happiness.
How does the author interpret the role of Ricky Fitts?
The author identifies Ricky Fitts as a "Jesus figure" who serves as an enlightened guide for Lester, teaching him how to look past surface appearances to discover real beauty and truth.
What does the author conclude about the "American Dream" in this film?
The author concludes that the film presents the American Dream as being "poisoned" by the worst aspects of materialism and consumerism, ultimately encouraging viewers to look beyond status symbols.
Why is the "plastic bag" scene significant according to the text?
The author highlights the plastic bag scene as the midpoint of the film, serving as a metaphor for the conflict between appearance and reality, where one can see "the beingness of things."
- Arbeit zitieren
- Alexander Kasten (Autor:in), 2007, Lester Burnham’s pursuit of happiness: the film "American Beauty" and its socio-cultural and spiritual dimensions, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/91879
