American Beauty

Connections Essay

The first and foremost theme of American Beauty is that it directly and subtly asks us
to look closer1 . At first portraying what appears to be the typical American dream, a
suburban house, white picket fence and a wife and daughter. Almost immediately we
see this to be untrue, it is merely a faade covering the true nature of the Burnham
family. The true thoughts and actions of the characters within the family, Lester,
Carolyn and Jane, are slowly revealed o us as this faade is pulled away. Carolyn and
Lester specifically offer a glimpse into the significant contrast of their opposing
masculine and feminine desires. A feminist lens imposed upon American Beauty
exposes the audience to the reality of dichotomous gender roles within 1990s
American society, shown through the contrast in masculine and feminine desires
displayed through the characters. This further exposes the audience to the shifting
societal standards of gender in the present, contrasted by those shown within
American Beauty.
These duel gender roles are on display from the very beginning of American Beauty
but they at first dont appear to be quite so contrasting. Instead both roles seem
aligned, both Lester and Carolyn appear to follow similar patterns, both bread
winners for the family, taking equal parts in the raising of Jane. However this
appearance of similarity is shattered when Lester unceremoniously quits his job after
realizing he has become somebody that he now hates. The archetypical white, middle
aged, suburban man living out his days in a dead end job. The dichotomy of Carolyn
and Lesters respective roles in the films becomes apparent. Whereas Carolyn is a
successful woman, running her own business, Burnham & Associates, with
aspirations of becoming even better. Lester has become obsessed with his own
nostalgic youth and the memories of that time, indulging in trivial materialistic
wants left over from that time such as the 1970 Pontiac Firebird. The car I've always
wanted and now I have it. I rule!2The supposedly typical roles of the male and female
within the American family are such that the male expected to be the breadwinner of
the family, the authority within the family, and a representative to the society. 2
Within the context of American Beauty we see at first that the only aspect of this
stereotype that Lester inhabits is that of a bread winner for the family, admitting
even to himself that Both my wife and daughter think I'm this gigantic loser, and.
1 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169547/quotes
2 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169547/quotes
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American Beauty

Connections Essay

theyre right.3. Late from this point after meeting Angela for the first time, we see
that he regresses even further form his responsibilities, his role of family man and
becomes a more base character, indulging in nostalgic trappings of his youth in an
attempt to recapture the life he feels hes lost. Along with this however is the way in
which Lester also regains a portion of his masculinity by becoming more assertive
and controlling of both Jane and Carolyn.
This form of regression in Lesters character is accompanied with the seeming
regression of Carolyn also. At first Carolyn appears as confident, independent and
successful in her life, she even owns her own company, Burnham and Associates.
This is in direct contrast to Lesters own life in which we see him to be far from the
ideal masculine image of a man. Due to this contrast it is shocking for the audience
when they are exposed to Carolyns own regression of character in response to
Lester. As Lester has become more confidant and assertive but also less responsible,
we see that Lester wishes to stay married at all costs so that he can continue to
maintain his new care free lifestyle. But I did support you when you got your license,
and some people might think that entitles me to half of what's yours. 4 This threat is
at once demonstrative of the new Lester and of Carolyns loss of true power within
their relationship, as if she were to file for divorce as she wishes its very likely Lester
would get half of what they own. This loss of power causes Carolyns own insecurities
to grow leading her to attempting to reclaim her power through both guns and an
affair with Buddy Kane, her rival. Sarah Fonders 5 puts forth the idea that rather than
Lester being a prisoner6 to his wife that he claims to be it is in fact Carolyn who is
very much the prisoner, trapped in an unloving marriage, if she were to leave she
would lose half of her worldly assets to Lester. The further we go into American
Beauty, the clearer it becomes that Carolyn is the real prisoner. 7 I agree with
Fonders theory of Carolyn being a prisoner to Lesters newly developed strong
3 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169547/quotes
4 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169547/quotes
5 http://decider.com/2014/09/08/american-beauty-15-years-later/
6 ^^ Same source as above
7 http://decider.com/2014/09/08/american-beauty-15-years-later/
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American Beauty

Connections Essay

masculine desires and his new found assertiveness, however I disagree in the fact
that I believe both Lester and Carolyn to be prisoners to each other, linked in a
relationship neither truly desire, but that which they can live without. While it is true
that Lester has a certain amount of power over Carolyn in terms of divorce, it is also
true that Carolyn is not as powerless as she believes herself to be. Carolyn has always
been in charge of the homemaking decisions interior design, car selection, dinner
etc. And prior to Lesters regression of character he was in effect spineless,
conforming to her feminine desires. Despite their prickly relationship they both are
forced to rely on each other. Lester so as not to lose his new life style through lack of
money and Carolyn depends on him not to divorce, their contrasting desires causing
deep conflict. Both are effectively trapped with the other out of necessity, both
holding forms of power over the other. CAROLYN: Lester. I refuse to live like this.
This is not a marriage. LESTER: This hasn't been a marriage for years. But you
were happy as long as I kept my mouth shut. Well, guess what? I've changed. 8 This
quote emphasizes how both Lester and Carolyn view their marriage, as distasteful
and unwanted but revealed to be necessary for both of them to maintain their
lifestyle. "Trapped by the ideology of the American Dream" (Structural 1)9.
A feminist lens applied to American Beauty reveals some startling truths about the
film that at first are unclear to a casual audience. This feminist lens shows the
audience the deep contrast between characters created by their conflicting masculine
and feminine desires, embodied in the conflict seen between Carolyn and Lester. Two
characters that display the mirror image of the stereotypical gender roles displayed
in the 1990s American Beauty. This mirror image is such that Lester rather than
being the strong, masculine, bread winner of the household as is seemingly typical of
men of the time period, is instead a lazy, self-absorbed free loader. In contrast to this
we see Carolyn, a strong, independent woman who owns her own business and
brings in the main income for the Burnham family. These reversed but still
dichotomous gender roles serve as a social commentary on the changing societal
norms present within society at the time as well as now. This social commentary is
important in that through the differing roles of Carolyn and Lester we see that the
concept of feminism is changing and that in a world still dominated by the masculine
8 http://download.portalgaruda.org/article.php?article=74041&val=4704
9 http://www.fredonia.edu/department/english/shokoff/AmerBeauty2.htm
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Connections Essay

ideal of strength, we see woman such as Carolyn move past this to seek their own
independence and future, but they are held back by societies current standards
represented by Lester as the dominant male character. This commentary contrasts
with todays standards in which the stereotypical gender roles presented during the
1990s are no longer so clear cut, no longer so intrinsically linked within our more
modern society.
Michael Davidson

Bibliograpy
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 27 July 2015.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Beauty_(1999_film)#External_links>.

"Analysis of American Beauty by Brittany Deschler." Analysis of American Beauty

by Brittany Deschler. Web. 27 July 2015.
<http://www.fredonia.edu/department/english/shokoff/AmerBeauty2.htm>.

Web. 27 July 2015. <http://download.portalgaruda.org/article.php?

article=74041&val=4704>.

"English 2 Honours. Feminist Lens. Web. 27 July 2015.

http://honorsenglish2014.blogspot.co.nz/2014/10/feminist-lens.html

Fonder, Sarah. "Fifteen Years Later, 'American Beauty' Is Just A Bad, Pretty Movie."
Web. 27 July 2015. <http://decider.com/2014/09/08/american-beauty-15-yearslater/>.

"Quotes." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 27 July 2015.

<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169547/quotes>.