How are the characters in American beauty

Impacted by society?

Charles Redif

Student number: 1200423

FMIP BA7

Research Report

Word count 4561 (including citations)

 ABSTRACT

This essay is an insight into how society affects the characters in the film “American
beauty”. This report explores the question from an array of many different
viewpoints. The American dream has an effect on the characters in the film leading
them into false hopes and loss of identity. The characters dreams and desires they
possess are not there own but manufactured for them by society and all follow
society’s rules and dictates, which shape and control the lives they live. It will explore
how the repression effects the characters mainly Lester and explains why his
obsession for Angela is a representation of how the media has shaped our views and
ideals. It delves deeper into exploring the statement that to what the characters see in
the film, “Nothing is quite what it seems and we live in a society where we are filled
with false hopes and desires”.

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Table of Contents

Table of illustrations ..................................................................................... 4

Introduction .................................................................................................. 5

Chapter One : The American dream ............................................................. 6

Chapter Two : Construction of personality .................................................. 9

Chapter Three : The media’s effect on society ........................................... 12

Conclusion .................................................................................................. 14

Bibliography ............................................................................................... 16

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Table of illustrations

Fig. Description Source

0 Image on title page of Lester in bed, fed up of his American beauty [DVD]
life

1 The intro sequence to American beauty American beauty [DVD]

2 A plastic bag blowing in the wind American beauty [DVD]

3 Lester in his dream sequence American beauty [DVD]

4 Angela in Lesters dream sequence American beauty [DVD]

5 Lester sitting in the auditorium, blanking out the American beauty [DVD]
rest of the world.

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Introduction

American beauty, the 1999 film directed by Sam Mendes is a film about various
characters who inhabit a 90’s suburban setting who all are following their dreams and
desires, Through the film we are introduced to the struggles and conflicts present
when living in a constructed society. This essay will explore how the characters
Conforming to social norms and following society’s rules has led to the characters
loss of identity and how society has impacted each of the characters in the film,
primarily the character Lester Burnham. After watching the film it is clear that the
filmmaker is constantly conveying the message that nothing is not quite what it seems
and that false hope and deceit is present everywhere among the society we live in and
in the society the characters are among. Does American beauty change the ideal for
the viewer, and how does the filmmaker present the characters to be affected by social
constructs.

The American dream is one of the primary reasons why the characters in the film are
misled into chasing the dreams which society has manufactured for them. Post-
modernist, Jean Baudrillard’s simulacra theory and the idea that we are living in a
world which is “Hyper-real” lends a hand into explaining how these ideals are
changed for the characters and how the film-maker is showing this through visual
medium and semiotics. The theory also explains various other factors including the
use of “empty signs” to explain why characters act the way they do and the constant
message the film is representing is that nothing is exactly what it
seems.(Baudrillard,1981)

(Freud,1930) in his works “civilization and its discontents” and Karl Marx’s theory
of “alienation”(1930) explain Show the characters (mainly Lester’s) identity’s are lost
because of societal constructs and allows the reader to look at the subject matter
through a Marxist point of view.
Freud’s further studies of the ego explains Lester’s up-rise and why he changed his
personality and what was suppressing him for this long that he had lost his desires and
ambition. Lacan’s study of desires and the “gaze” all help us understand why the
characters in American beauty desire things in the way we do and how our desires are
not truly ours but manufactured for us by society. Lacan’s Mirror theory is also a
huge aid into exploring how the characters desires are manufactured by society and
how the individuals in the films evolve into abiding its society’s dictates and laws .

Laura Mulvey’s expansion of Lacan’s development in her essay about the Male gaze
delves deeper into how the media and society have portrayed woman in a way that
males and females adopt the “male gaze” highlights how the characters traits and
desires in the films have evolved through the manipulation of the media.

As well as a postmodern and sociological view on how the characters in American

beauty are impacted by society the filmmaker also uses camera angles and symbolism
to portray how society has sculpted the characters into the way they are.

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Chapter 1 (American dream)

In American beauty All of the key characters in this film present us with their
fantasies, hopes and desires, at the start of the picture Lester Burnham longs to have
sex with his daughters friend, His wife is determined to become the queen of real
estate, His daughter Jane is not happy with her body and wants to get breast implants.
These dreams represent what we think we want, what we think will improve our
miserable lives, however at the end of the film the characters all get a taste of their
dreams but then come to realization that the dreams they had are nothing but illusions
and they instead bring to light the corruption which has masked the beauty and
meaning of life. I will be exploring how each characters actions and desires play a
vital role in the films representation of the American dream.

American Beauty suggests that society is constructed in a way that represses its
inhabitants into living a where we lose sense of who we are even though it appears as
if they are living “The American dream”. The film starts with the opening sequence of
Lester waking up on an average day introducing his street. The sequence of clips and
Lester’s narration over it feels composed almost like a slideshow, he opens with “This
is my neighborhood, this is my street” (American Beauty,1999) the filmmaker assembled
this sequence together in this way to mirror how society is structured. Lester carry’s
on to say in the monologue “in a way, I’m dead already.” (American Beauty,1999) This
further illustrates Lester’s repressed nature and loss of identity; this character is used
to represent middle-aged males living in 90’s American suburbia.

Figure 1

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(Freud,1930) in his works “Civilization and its discontents” discusses how us as
human beings accept pain and repression in order to avoid more pain, this can be used
to help further understand why Lester adopts such a repressive nature .Freud argues
“most people do not want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility and
people are frightened of responsibility.” This beautifully illustrates Lester’s struggles
at the start of the film and how society has put us in a place were people do what they
are told and feel that striving for what they truly want is forbidden and frowned upon
from society. Later on in the film when Lester quits his job and start to rebel he says
to Carolyn “Lets sell our souls and work for satan” (American Beauty,1999) In this line he
is referring to society i.e his super-ego as Satanic being and has attached a stigma to
the construct of society.

(Marx, 1930) in his theory of alienation also lends a hand to show why Lester feels
like he lost a sense of identity. He argues that workers lost to the sea of capitalism
“cease to be autonomous beings in any significant sense”(marx,1930) In other words
Marx would argue that Lester’s “uprise” against his workplace was due to the
estrangement form the process of his work, another factor leaving this male suburban
demographic feel like they have lost a sense of self of purpose. The job Lester has is
yet another factor leading to his repression

Jean Baudrillard’s theory of simulation and simulacra describes that our world has
been taken over by signs and representations however the original source has lost
most or all meaning when these empty signs refer only to one another.this process is
referred to as simulacra, Baudrillard explains “We live in a world where there is more
and more information, and less and less meaning.” (Baudrillard 1994, p.2)

Baudrillard’s theory helps explain how in American beauty the dream has lead to the
characters to having a loss of Identity. In the film Angela, Jane’s best friend
constantly try’s to convince people that she sleeps around and constantly puts on this
“cool girl” front Throughout the film. This front Angela is putting on is what
Baudrillard would argue is an empty sign She repeats the line in several scenes
“There’s nothing worse in life than being ordinary”(American beauty 1999) this
shows she is insecure with who she is and craves authenticity. This because of what
the persuasive influence of the media caused us to be unable to differentiate between
the real and imagined definition of ordinary, Baudrillard illustrates an example of a
“fake hold up” (Baudrillard 1994) he explains if you plan to rob an establishment with
fake weapons and demand a ransom, the public will immediately think it’s real he
explains “Artificial signs will become inextricably mixed up with real elements”.
Baudrillard coined this state the “loss of the real” and leaves us in a society of hyper-
reality, Baudrillard argues “it is a generation by models of a real with origin or reality:
a hyper-real this is where we are left with illusions of things that never existed.

Lester’s wife Carolyn is obsessed with wealth and it’s more important to her to
anything else in the world including her husband Lester and her daughter Jane. When
Lester has an argument with her, he shouts “This isn’t life, this is just stuff, and it’s
become more important to you than living.” Is where the audience can clearly see that
Lester has now seen through the illusion that society has told us what the measure for

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success and happiness is. Baudrillard in his book America fittingly said “Americans
may have no identity but they do have wonderful teeth” (Baudrillard, 2010)
This further more is illustrating the point that they have lost touch with who they
really are in the sea of materialism.

Baudrillard uses Disneyland as an example in works simulation and simulacra, he

explains Disneyland simulacrum as it tried to hide the fact that there is no reality
behind it, it is trying to hide the fact it doesn’t exist. This is very much like the society
American beauty is trying to portray a society where its people have a warped illusion
of what is actually the truth.(Baudrillard 1994)

The relationship between Jane’s lover, Ricky Fitz and his father Colonel Fitz is an
interesting one as Ricky always tells his father what he wants to hear to stay on good
terms. In this relationship we can apply the simulation and simulacra theory if we see
the father and son as society and its people. The society (Colonel) is telling it’s people
(Ricky) what is acceptable and what is not but at the end the people (Ricky) breaks
free by not conforming and seeing past these “signs”.

At the end of the film Ricky lies to his father but this time against what he wants to
hear. His father wrongly accuses him of being a homosexual and kicks Ricky out the
house because of what his regarded social circle (Nazi) and his upbringing in the
army has imprinted in his mind even though he is a repressed homosexual himself.

Figure 2

There were always clues that Ricky saw these past signs from the start, for example
when he shows Jane the tape of the plastic bag blowing in the wind, and he was
considered by society as “a creep” Jean Baudrillard in his works “America” could aid

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in explaining how the plastic bag in the film is scene as beautiful, he conveys “Smile
and others will smile back. Smile to show how transparent, how candid you are. Smile
if you have nothing to say. Most of all do not hide the fact you have nothing to say
nor your total indifference to others. Let this emptiness, this profound indifference
shine out spontaneously in your smile.” even though Baudrillard in this quote is
talking about human interaction, it still explains the importance and “shine” of
“emptiness” and sheds a positive light on the matter, the pureness and absence of
simulacrum. This is very much similar to how Ricky see’s the plastic bag in this
scene, Ricky in the scene says to Jane “you want to see the most beautiful thing I ever
filmed” (Baudrillard, 2010)
Like Baudrillard, Ricky can see the beauty in the emptiness and the lack of signs.

Chapter 2 (Construction of personality

Freud’s Psychoanalytical theory of The Id and the ego can be applied to help illustrate
how the characters in the films personalities are constructed by society. Freud starts
by explaining the Id which is what we are born with, our wants and desires from the
unconscious. At the beginning of the film Lester’s feelings are contained by his super-
ego which meant he had to conform to social norms, this is what society is telling him
to do, this is something that we aren’t born with but is however determined by the
society you grow up in (Freud and Strachey, 1962)
. In the film Lester’s wife Carolyn is constantly trying to tell Lester what he should be
doing and how to be, she represents society, alternatively his Super-ego.

What’s more Lester’s super-ego also affects his honesty about his relationship,
at the start of the film when the Burnham’s are a function Lester lies about his
relationship and says “we have a very healthy relationship” .This is his Super-ego
suppressing his real feelings and what is suppressing him at the start of the film before
his up-rise. Note how Lester is sarcastic in this scene when he is delivering the line,
this is because at this point he is aware of the oppression and wants to break through.

Furthermore at the start of the film in the opening sequence Lester is shown
masturbating in the shower, somewhere private where he will not be judged by his
super-ego. He then masturbates later on in the film When Lester is released from his
mental entrapment but this time in bed next to his wife, the super-ego. This was
another device the filmmaker has used to illustrate Lester’s up-rise against society.

Before quitting his job, Lester had chance to save his job but instead submitted a
statement “My job consists of basically masking my contempt for the assholes in
charge” This again strengthens the argument that the super-ego was repressing what
his Id wanted to do however he is required to follow social norms in order to keep
his job.

The mechanism of the super-ego works because of the fear of being mentally
castrated, (Benshoff, 2011), would argue that this is because of society’s image of
the successful, model male, he argues representations of men : consequently and
consistently work to represent “real men” as agents sexually desired by women, and
to eradicate or denigrate any possible homo-erotic or feminized aspects of

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 masculinity.” This fear of castration and loosing the image of “the real man” is why
Lester is still being controlled by his super ego at the start of the film.

Lacan expands on Freuds theory of the Id the ego and the superego in his theory “the
real”. In Lacans Expansion of Freuds psychosexual development theory, he explains
the human psyche is split into three different sections which control all of our
desires and thoughts Lacan states that “to Desire, a function central to all human
experience, is the desire for nothing nameable”. The first part of the model is the
real, this is the initial stage and occurs in us when we are very young, ending
roughly when the child is six months old. This is when we only possess basic human
needs and the desire to satisfy those needs. Lacan argues that this is the only time in
our life when we are “whole” or “complete” before we transition into learning
language. (Lacan and Miller 1973)

The second stage of Lacans theory is the Imaginary order, this is the transition from
our innate desires to “demand”. It is the crucial narcissistic stage in development
where we fantasize by creating images in our head about having the objects we
desire and how we want to be as people. Lacan mentions Another key thing to
remember is that The imaginary order is with us throughout the whole of our life
and is not only exclusive to when we are developing as human beings. This is when
our urges become signs. (Lacan and Miller 1973)

This is also when Lacans theory of the mirror stage can be applied, The mirror stage
is when an image of ones body is seen through a mirror or the primary care-giver
and thus the child now has a sense of “I” as they gain a sense of identity. Lacan
argues that is the stage when we establish our ego. (Lacan and Miller 1973)

The final stage of Lacans theory is The symbolic order, This is when signs and
language become meaningful this is when we learn the rules of society such as
linguistic communication, ideological conventions and acceptance of the dictates of
society. According to Lacan when we accept the Laws of society we find it easier to
deal with others. (Lacan and Miller 1973)

What’s more, Lacans extends on the three sections of the psyche and sections them
into further stages branching off of Freud’s psychosexual theory: The ideal ego and
the ego ideal. The ideal ego is the ideal image oneself which they want to become this
is as associated with Lacans Imaginary stage. (Lacan and Miller 1973)

The ego Ideal also known as “the big other” is when we try and impress the “others”
gaze. this the ego which drives a person to perform and achieve to the best of there
ability, This is associated with Lacans Symbolic order. (Lacan and Miller 1973)

Lacan’s Theory in many ways can be used to help explain how the characters in
American beauty are impacted by society. Lacan further continues his point and
argues that “The object of mans desire, and we are not the first to say this, is
essentially an object desired by someone else.” Lacan explains that our desires are
created for us by culture and society, The characters in American beauty all have
desires which are all in someway manufactured by society and therefore hoping to
achieve their ideal ego which is not really what any of the characters want but what

10
 society has told them is what they want there for all the characters are chasing
dreams and desires which are imaginary.

At the start of the film, Lester is presented as a repressed man who has lost all of his
desires, In his opening monologue Lester says “I have lost something, I’m not exactly
sure what it is but I know I didn’t always feel this sedated”. (American Beauty,1999)
While the monologue plays, Lester is sitting in the back of the family car, slumped
over his briefcase while his wife Carolyn drives with his daughter in the passenger
seat. This is the opposite position to the common suburban mans ideal ego. This
illustrates Lester has lost his “Ego Ideal” and all drive to become his “ideal ego”,
instead he is mentally castrated and feels like he has lost all meaning because of the
repressed nature society has left him in. (Lacan and Miller 1973)

Lester then meets his daughter’s friend, Angela who is young yet still seems to be
sexually mature and represents ultimate beauty in the eyes of society. Lester at this
point has now discovered a new “Gaze” to impress and Angela is now what he desires
and Lester now starts to develop into his ego ideal. (YouTube, 2016)

Figure 3

In one of Lester’s dream sequences we see Lester from behind moving through a
dark corridor opening a door and moving closer forward, some would argue the
reason Lester’s face is not present in this part of the sequence is to represent his loss
of identity almost lost in the state of “the imaginary”. When Lester finally reveals
what’s behind the second door we see a faint silhouette covered by smoke of a girl
sitting in a rose-petal filled bathtub. The next shot shows Lester from the front
however his face is still clouded by smoke until he gets closer and realizes Angela,
his face is then clear to the viewer. Lester now has purpose, the smoke clearing from

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 his face once he got closer to Angela represents how he has a sense of purpose and
identity now he desires Angela, he has transitioned into the state of “the symbolic”
therefore finding drive to pursue his ego ideal. When he finally gets closer to Angela
she says to Lester “You’ve been working out haven’t you?, I can tell” this
furthermore strengthens the argument that Lester is working to impress her gaze and
has change himself to what society tells him is the correct way to look if he wants to
achieve his object of desire.

Lacan would argue that its not Angela herself that Lester desires more so the ideal
which she represents, Lacan argues that if we find a person who emulates the
qualities which we desire then that could also fulfill the desire. In the film Lester’s
ideal ego is to be young again therefore Angela is a perfect match in Lester’s eyes
according to Lacan’s theory.

Lester created an ideal-ego for Angela which is some she could not be, it was
imaginary, he realizes this at the end of the film when Lester stops seeing Angela as a
sex symbol which represents all beauty but instead treats her like a daughter and takes
on the father role when she tells him she is a virgin and he realizes that ideal-ego he
created for her was purely imaginary. (YouTube, 2004)

Chapter 3: The medias effect in society

Laura Maulvey expands on Lacan’s theory of the “Gaze” and her expansion could be
used to understand what Lester represents in regards to his obsession with the Idea of
Angela, the representation of all feminine beauty. Laura Mulvey founded the term
“The male gaze” this is the term given to the way we all perceive women because of
the way the media has portrayed woman. She argues that even females watching films
in our society see it from a male’s perspective because of the men controlling the
camera. Mulvey argues that this has led our society-objectifying woman and has
drastically changed the way we see women in the media today and in real life,
Mulvey argues, “Men do the looking and women are to be looked at.” And blames the
media and television industries for the inequality we face today as well as the ideals
we have planted in our heads. (Mulvey,1975 p3)

Figure 4

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Mulvey’s theory can be used to demonstrate how Angela is almost used as a
metaphor for the media and its impact on society and people. In the scene at the
school basketball match where Lester first spots Angela when she is cheerleading,
the routine the girls are partaking wouldn’t be considered by most as “sexually
arousing” and is presented by the film-maker at the start of sequence as nothing
other than a normal routine before the match. However when Lester notices Angela
a spotlight shines onto her which of course is imaginary and in his mind however
this spotlight could be used as a metaphor to represent the “male gaze”. Note how
after the spotlight appears in the scene and the “Male gaze” (the spotlight) is present,
we start to see Angelas dance as something else, we start to see it as something
sexual through Lester’s point of view, the male.

The film-maker demonstrates this gaze by simultaneously cutting to and forth a

close up of Lester behind a black backdrop and then him alone in the audotorium
and Angela who is no longer dancing in a innocent cheerleading manor but is
moving her body in an erotic manner, Mulvey explains “The determining male gaze
projects its phantasy on to the female form which is styled accordingly” Angela’s
sudden change of mannerisms when metaphorical “the male gaze” (spotlight) is to
represent what men see and what the media are showing our society. Mulvey would
argue that The black backdrop represents the fixation to the female body we have
when we watch media today as we ignore all other factors and focus on the female
body. Mulvey argues that “the male gaze” which society has created has ended up in
society “Producing obsessive voyeurs and peeping toms, who’s only sexual
satisfaction can come from watching, in an active controlling sense, an objectified
other” This is what Lester in this scene represents the “obsessive voyeurs” our
society has created who all still remain to have wife’s and family’s yet have a over-
riding obsession with the female form.

Figure 5

Furthermore The music in this scene also changes when the “Male gaze” (the
spotlight) is active, the audio changes from a brass band playing happy music like
that of a marching band to an intense, driving theme which becomes Angela’s motif
for the rest of the film whenever she is imagined in Lester’s head. The change of
music in this scene also illustrates how Lester’s gaze represents that of the media as
Angela’s motif only plays when she is imagined on screen thus it not being a pure
but a warped, fake representation of what she really stands for and what women
really stand for.

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(Creed, 1998) In her works highlights and argument which suggests that creeds
finding may not be completely reliable, Creed writes “ D.n rodowick(1982),
(creed.1998 p.12) who argued that her approach was too reductive and that her
analysis of the female character on the screen and female spectator in the auditorium
did not allow for the possibility of the female desire outside a phallocentric context.”
This suggests that Creeds works may not reliable but ultimately it does help in
explaining how Lester behaves in this scene.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion Jean Baudrillards theory of hyper-reality and simulation and simulacra

further strengthens the argument that the film-maker is constantly representing that
we live in an illusive society and everything is a copy of a copy, nothing is its
original source and our desires are certainly not pure nor exclusively desired because
of deception which these “copies” have left.

Analyzing scenes such as Colnol Fitz and Ricky Fitz playing out the metaphor for
the society as its people really highlighted how the film-maker is trying to portray
how society has put ideals in our head which effect our personality’s, wants and
desires.

It is clear from the research carried in the paper that the characters are affected by
society in a way which deceives them into living in an repressed nature,
manufacturing hopes and dreams which all society has created for them, it is until
the end of the films the characters finally realize this .

Further strengthening the argument that characters are all repressed by society were
Freud and Capitalist Karl Marx’s findings. Marx’s theory on alienation shows us
how workers under the thumb of society lose control of their inner-self because of
the repression but also clearly points out how the social constructs achieve this.

Freud’s Theory of the ego clearly demonstrated how and why Lester’s up rise
occurred against society “The super-ego” and strengthened the argument that
repression existed in Lester and the characters because of society and its deceptive
nature.
After exploring Lacan’s addition to this theory and applying it the characters in
American beauty highlighted how the desires the character possess are not truly their
own through his intricate models such as the mirror stage model. The “Ideal ego”
also aided us in understanding the reasoning behind Lester’s “Ego Ideal” and further
strengthened the argument that the characters are impacted by society in a way
which led the characters to false hopes because they are conforming to social norms.

Laura Mulvey’s research also highlights society’s manipulation through the media
and “male gaze theory” assists in clarifying why Lester saw Angela in that way and
how the film-makers representation of that scene can be seen as a metaphor for “the
male gaze”.Mulvey’s theory was a crucial expansion to the study as it also
demonstrated how society is not just naturally formed but sometimes manipulated

14
by its puppeteers. But also had arguments against which were valid but still leaves
Mulvey’s argument plausible.

The research carried out was effective as it helped us understand the film from a
sociological, Postmodern and Marxist view and also helps us as viewers understand
the deeper message which lies within the film and how some part each characters
journey can be reflected in almost all of us.

Above all This study found out that the characters in the film where all impacted by
society in several different ways mostly due to the desires which weren’t truly there
own but manufactured for them. The loss of the real and existing in hyper-reality
explains that the characters in the film have a loss of identity because all we are
living is a copy of a copy causing us to lose a sense of self. And the effects media
had on the characters definitely effected their actions because of the “male gaze”
and allowed us to also view it form a feminist’s perspective.

15
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