American Beauty: A Controversial Masterpiece

American Beauty is about a father who has a midlife crisis when he becomes charmed by his daughter’s teenage best friend. Directed by Sam Mendes, the movie won 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor for Kevin Spacey. The last award was a little bit controversial because of the charges against Kevin Spacey. Spacey was accused of sexual assault and charged in court. As he is playing a character who is sexually attracted to a teenage girl in the movie, the charges against Spacey make this film uncomfortable to watch for some audiences. 

The Burnham family, father Lester, mother Carol, and daughter Jane live in a suburban neighborhood. Their garden is well taken care of, their furniture is modern, and their roses are red and shiny. Everything looks perfect from the outside, but no one is actually happy in this family. Lester is suppressed by everyone he knows, Carolyn is obsessed with her work and success, and Jane is a teenager who is not happy with her appearance. The relationship between them is terrible, they don’t respect each other, they don’t like each other, they live a dull life, and have nothing in common. 

However, The Burnhams' life takes an unexpected turn when they have a new neighbor. Ricky Fitts who is an eccentric character moves next door with his retired Marine colonel Frank and his withdrawn mother Barbara. Rick documents his surroundings and he works at catering jobs to cover his marijuana dealing. 

Soon after, the image of the hypothetically happy family is broken when Lester meets with Angela Hayes, who is his daughter's friend. Angela is a cheerleader in Jane’s school and while she is dancing in a school performance, Lester loses himself in dreaming about her. He becomes obsessed with her and sexually desires her. At this point, this desire turns him back into life and he says: "I feel like I've been in a coma for the past twenty years. And I'm just now waking up." He wants to direct his life again and wants his individuality back. He quits his job, starts taking care of himself, buys his dream car, and lives just as he wants with his newfound freedom.

On the other hand, Carolyn has an affair with a business rival of hers, Jane and Ricky become lovers which causes a rift between Angela and her. The tension not only rises between the girls, but it also rises between the Fitts family. Frank gets suspicious of a romantic relationship between Ricky and Lester. As the characters’ secrets, desires, and disappointments are revealed, their lives are unexpectedly entwined. Lester finds out that his wife is cheating on him when she comes to the working place of Lester with her lover. Frank wrongly assumes a sexual relationship between Lester and Ricky and throws Ricky out of the house. 

Various characters face their own internal struggles as the drama unfolds and the narrative reaches its climax. When Frank comes to Lester in a vulnerable state, Lester rejects his romantic advances and comforts him in a friendly manner. Lester finds out that Angela is vulnerable and as she offers him solace, he realizes her innocence beneath her appearance. Then, suddenly, Lester gets shot in the back of the head by an unknown assailant and he dies. Jane and Ricky find his dead body, Carolyn mourns, and Frank turns back home with clothes covered in blood and a gun in his hand. Lester narrates the end of the movie by saying that even after his death the beauty in the world still exists. 

American Beauty delves into human nature with all its darker aspects, explores the human desires’ complexities, the pressures society puts upon people and the search for meaning in life besides questioning the definition of true happiness. It has been the subject of criticism because of its distant and sarcastic tone since its release, however, when it is considered that it does not only entertain, but also makes the audience question the meaning of their existence, and helps them gain a new perspective about the different aspects of human nature, American Beauty is nothing but a masterpiece.