Films allow you to escape
your sheltered life and experience the wider world through other people's lives
- yet sometimes there isn't a significant difference between yourself and a
fictional character.
 |
| American Beauty (1999, Sam Mendes) |
American Beauty revolves around Lester Burnham’s mid-life
crisis and his pedophilic desire to seduce his teenage daughter’s friend. But you
forget the Lolita-like storyline as you realize the plot actually depicts
Lester’s rejection of societal expectations and his achievement of true
happiness. The film is complex as interstellar molecules while Alan Ball and Sam
Mendes are scientists that prove humans are flawed. Our quest for happiness is especially flawed
as we expect to become happier with ourselves if we obtain the acceptance and
admiration of our peers.
Lester’s wife, Carolyn, is
a Kris-Jenner-type mum with obsessed with maintaining a perfect image. Carolyn
could be a star on The Real Housewives of
the Suburbs (if it existed) with her plastic smile, teased up-do, expensive
SUV and immaculate home. She meticulously tries to conceive a perfect display
for her neighbors, work colleagues and herself. The color of her gardening
clogs even matches the handles of her pruning shears, which was “not an accident.” Beneath her ‘perfect’
façade, she is a miserable, insecure woman whose family hates her. Her idea of success and happiness is being
admired and respected by her peers - even if it means being deceptive. Carolyn sees more importance in convincing
people she lives a perfect, happy life rather than actually achieving true
happiness. Carolyn is so fixated with her image and
reputation she neglects her family relationships, which prevents her being
genuinely happy. She overlooks the importance of self-acceptance as she
conceals her insecurities and imperfections while also telling Lester and her
daughter, Jane, to do the same. You can’t help but scoff when she says to Jane,
“Are you trying to look unattractive?”
– because, to Carolyn, beauty (or at least the appearance of normality) is the
true indication of success and happiness. You might disapprove of her outlook as you ask, “Why the hell does she care so
much?” but – surprise! Carolyn is you.
On the other hand, Lester teaches
us a lesson on achieving true happiness by “not giving a fuck” and rejecting
society’s expectations. He practically gives the middle finger and tells us to
shove our conformism up our asses. At first glance, Lester appears to be living
the American dream with his nuclear family, well-paying job and
white-picket-fenced-suburban home. According to American beliefs, Lester should be happy but behind the curtains
we see his depression and resentment for his life. He is confined by Carolyn’s
compulsion for perfection while she keeps his “dick in a mason jar under the sink”. She even demands him to “at least pretend to be happy”. Unlike
Carolyn, Lester realizes his happiness shouldn’t be based upon other people’s
judgment and thus he dismisses his concerns about his social status and
reputation. He begins on a pursuit for happiness by focusing on himself and his
passions and ignores the disapproval from Carolyn and society. He smokes weed,
he quits his office job for a minimum wage job at a fast food restaurant, and
he also tries to pursue a sexual relationship with his teenage daughter’s
friend, Angela. Since Lester abandons society’s ideals of the American
dream, he is able to focus on improving his relationship with Jane. He realizes
happiness comes from a family’s love for each other. Although Lester dies, his life ends in
happiness – not tragedy - as he “can’t
feel anything but gratitude for every single moment” of his life.
In our
generation that is obsessed with getting “likes”, we can only hope to be like
Lester, to be like someone who isn’t worried about being a “loser”.
- freak out
