That is the center of the argument the narrative poses. Roses gives the impression of lavishness and success, but they're commonplace, so really its value is quite minimal. Think about when and where they show up in the film: when Carolyn prunes them in her yard, when Lester lusts after Angela, in pretty much every room of the Burnham home. These characters are essentially "roses", in that they personify the empty extravagance the flower represents.
The true beauty in American Beauty is the antithesis of the rose. While Lester, Carolyn, and Angela and virtually every other character spend the whole film pretending to be someone they're not, Jane and Ricky spend it being nobody but their authentic selves. The true beauty in American Beauty , according to Anker, is the seemingly ordinary, the humble, the thing that doesn't command attention, the genuine, because these things actually provide what the rose only claims it will: love, happiness, contentment.
From Catching Light :. And thus is resolved their long war of the roses, in which the competing glittery visions of American beauty have all proved hollow, even fatal. What they held so dear and staked their lives on is trumped by a true, radical notion of beauty that delivers, despite its unspectacular humility, all the ecstasy and meaning promised by the delusion of beauty for which they have recently expended their lives. So, what is American Beauty?
It's not the rose. It's not the fantasy. It's not this idea of perfection and success. This time Alan Ball utilizes the roses as a symbol for sexual lust that Lester has towards Angela.
Lester first sees Angela at a high school basketball game and immediately falls in lust with her. He fantasizes that she performs a sexy striptease in the arena just for him. Lester felt overwhelmed by them and was shocked back into reality. Furthermore, the camera only focuses on the petals, while the thorns are associated with Carolyn in the opening scene. Thus, the petals underscore the beauty and purity of Angela which attracts Lester.
The effects of roses on Lester are similar in the next few fantasy-scenes, emphasizing his forbidden attraction to Angela, the relationship that Lester cannot have due to societal expectations plus the presence of Carolyn and Jane. Towards the end of the film, roses are used together with other symbols to manifest the individual American Dream and the beauty in life.
For Lester, the American Beauty comes from the arrival of Angela. This is manifested in the last fantasy-scene where Lester pulls out a single petal from his mouth after kissing Angela. The fact that the petal comes from his body implicates that he has found the meaning of his life which finalizes the process of rebirth. He has gone beyond the materialistic world and sets the pursuit of happiness as his new goal.
Since then the rose is always present whenever he is enjoying his life including the last scene where he stares at the family photo before he gets shot. The red color of his blood matches with the red rose, indicating that he attained his vision of American Beauty despite his dead.
Roses are also used to manifest the American Dream of Carolyn. Alan Ball focuses more on the red color of the rose since Carolyn is oriented to the materialistic society. Here, the rose serves as a physical attribute manifesting her superficial vision of the American Dream.
This gives a sense of what it feels like for Lester as his life flashes before his very eyes. He is looking back on his fondest memories in his closing moments. However, does this perhaps say something more? These minute windows into a past we have never seen or been a part of until now. This is what Ebert was alluding to in his critique of the film. As Lester dies, he snatches from life those few things that make you the happiest — or the most content.
Just like the plastic bag floating through the wind in final shot, he is concerned with only existing, being whisked along on this thing called life — and he was there to enjoy the ride. Think of it like a Fight Club for the middle-class. Really well done. People must find their own satisfaction in things that are intangible — I really commend Dale on writing about this. Great exploration into how unstable the symbol of redness is within the movie.
A color that could represent erotic as well as the blood of violence. Great work! Great movie with a great message. In this film the charachters goes for 2 point of view : Outer Beauty and Inner Beauty.
IMO this film is one of the best film ever done, it has to be watched by everyone it really opens up a world that was probably inner before! American Beauty is a type of rose and rose stems tend to rot. Their flowers, however, may remain healthy-looking and beautiful even as the bottom of the plant is dying. This film is amazing and its title and content is open to so many interpretations. This article is a really fantastic exploration. I wrote an essay about American Beauty in my philosophy class, and how the color red could be affiliated with the concept of existentialism.
It is interesting how the color red could be associated to not only death, but lifee as well. Wonderful article. I wrote an essay in my philosophy class about American Beauty and how the color red that appears throughout it could be affiliated with the concept of existentialism.
Wonderful and thought-provoking article. American Beauty is one of my favorite movies ever! Anyway, I was really interested in what you had to say about the movie.
Very well written article! Really liked your analysis on the motif of red in the film—even your ability to point at something as seemingly insignificant as a bag floating away in the wind and turn it into something significant to consider in the overall context of the film is pretty impressive.
Thanks for the read! I was immediately intrigued by the title and this article did not disappoint. I think the blue also serves great importance in that film both stylistically and intellectually. Anyways, great article!
This film is fantastic every single time. Love that they used red to attract attention to so many different things that all somehow relate. Great analysis!! Great analysis on a great film. Your points are clear, relevant and very interesting, all supported by an excellent writing style. Well done! Thanks for this. American Beauty could be seen as slightly creepy but that is only because it tries to break through boundaries which society has created, the movie glamourises normally taboo subject such as smoking weed, a married man having desires for an underage girl who is your daughters friend, selling weed, voyeurism, idea of working out to just look sexy, homosexuality, fighting back against corporations, the idea of not being successful but happy.
All these things are viewed negatively by society in some way. But American Beauty succeeds in showing it in a positive light. I really love your insight into the now almost iconic imagery this film has. It has this certain tangible atmosphere to it that I have not seen from many other movies. It really brought a good start to the age of film in the 00s, which was greatly centered on psychological explorations.
Mendes, along with contemporaries like Fincher and Nolan, all delve into a more psychological and typically dark analysis into the human psyche. Great read! I loved your insight on this now iconic and brilliant film.
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