American Beauty

Sam Mendes’ American Beauty, at first, evinces the perfect picture of the ideal middle class suburban American life. The Burnham family appears to have everything anyone would want- success, money, status, and with that, presumed happiness. However, reality contravenes this façade and paints a much darker and more sinister truth. Throughout the film, several interpersonal communicational concepts are incorporated to depict the elaborate layers of the characters and their relationships in the film. The truth and beauty that have always been present are eventually realized by one of these characters, Lester Burnham, as he ventures on his journey to find true happiness.


The big house and white picket fence with everything matching and the dishes sparkling belies the harsh reality underneath. A suburban couple is in denial about their midlife crisis and their teenage daughter's depression. The neighbors who move in next door have an emotionally disturbed teenage son, and the Marine Corps veteran father’s austerity transgresses to the point of being abusive, a product of his denial. The film reflects our cultural undercurrent of repressed sexual urges that surface in twisted manners. It underscores the search for the joy, love, and passion that people lose in their youth and the power of denial.

Lester and Carolyn Burnham are, on the outside, the perfect husband and wife, in a perfect house, in a perfect neighborhood. They live behind a mask for society to view them as normal. They wish to be part of high society, but really they are not. Lester, an ordinary looking married man and father in his forties, is in search for happiness. Lester is in a loveless marriage. Caroline is so immersed in her real estate career, that Lester often claims that Caroline doesn't even acknowledge him. Furthermore, Lester's daughter, Jane, abhors her parents and thinks her father is pathetic. Moreover, Lester has dedicated fourteen years to his occupation, and suddenly, he is...