Questions about "American Beauty"

Semiazas

Semiazas

A teacher mentioned to me that there were certain meanings behind the title of the film American Beauty and also behind the name of Kevin Spacey's character Lester Burnham. Wondering if anyone knew what they were?
This hasn't been set as work so you're not helping me cheat, he just mentioned it and I'm curious
 
Not entirely sure off the cuff.

I can tell you that their next door neighbours who move out at the beginning are called The Lomans in a reference to Death of a Salesman. The film is intended to be a dark, modern day re-imagining of Death of a Salesman.
 
I've actually found some stuff :)

The title refers to the rose of course, which while aesthetically pleasing tends to rot, which means that when the audience "look closer" they see something rotting underneath the perfect facade.

And the name Lester Burhnam is an anagram of "Humbert learns" (Humbert being the character in Nabokov's "Lolita")

I didn't know about the Death of a Salesman thing, that's really interesting :D
 
Semiazas said:
I've actually found some stuff :)

The title refers to the rose of course, which while aesthetically pleasing tends to rot, which means that when the audience "look closer" they see something rotting underneath the perfect facade.

And the name Lester Burhnam is an anagram of "Humbert learns" (Humbert being the character in Nabokov's "Lolita")

I didn't know about the Death of a Salesman thing, that's really interesting :D
Click to expand...

And that would fit Spacey's character because he fantasizes about his daughter's friend. Its actually what motivates him to be more assertive, hoping he would win her over. But this changes when he genuinely likes who he's become. He learns to be himself and doesn't fall into a scandalous relationship with the daughter's friend which is not what Humbert did in Lolita.

And American Beauty should have been obvious that the facade they try to keep in public fades in and out behind the closed door. But as you pointed to, the image wilts like the rose. American "beauty" is only beautiful for so long.
 
Interesting about the anagram, didn't know that.

Another point on this movie. The color combination of Red/White/Blue is, well, everywhere.

Lester's folders that spill out of his briefcase are red and blue with white papers. The house is white, with blue shutters and a red door. And so on. The color combo permeates the film like chicken-pocks on a 4th grader who caught it for the first time.
 
One could make the argument that American Beauty was about the fading image of the American dream. Behind teh red white and blue lies a tarnished image that once was vibrant. The Death of a Salesman idea would fit here as well because that is all about the fading of the American Dream. Kevin Spacey works at a fast food restaurant which is not synonymous with such a dream but he is content as if to say the American dream has changed; its no longer the white picket fence with the blue shutters and the red door but whatever you dream it to be. But as Spacey's character is an embodiment of this new "dream" I wonder what the symbology is of him dying at the hands of an ex military guy, the ideal patriot..
 
CHamburger said:
And that would fit Spacey's character because he fantasizes about his daughter's friend. Its actually what motivates him to be more assertive, hoping he would win her over. But this changes when he genuinely likes who he's become. He learns to be himself and doesn't fall into a scandalous relationship with the daughter's friend which is not what Humbert did in Lolita.
Click to expand...

Really? I'll admit to not having seen it in a year or so but I don't think that he learns to be himself.

The Humbert Learns thing is certainly interesting and it fits with him backing out of sexing up Mena Suvari at the last moment. But I see that more as the final act in this total transformation (quitting job, smoking pot, working out, hitting on younger girls...etc) that he can't quite commit to. His downfall doesn't actually come as a result of anything of his own doing and that's where the tragic irony comes in: Lester doesn't really learn to be himself or, through his antics, get shot. His death is the one event during the film which is an act of random coincidence and I think that's the point that the film is ultimately trying to put across.

EDIT: Thinking about it, the great thing about American Beauty is that I can read back this post and my interpretation of the film might have shifted. It's one of the most deliciously inviting films for criticism and investigation.
 
NickClapper said:
Really? I'll admit to not having seen it in a year or so but I don't think that he learns to be himself.

The Humbert Learns thing is certainly interesting and it fits with him backing out of sexing up Mena Suvari at the last moment. But I see that more as the final act in this total transformation (quitting job, smoking pot, working out, hitting on younger girls...etc) that he can't quite commit to. His downfall doesn't actually come as a result of anything of his own doing and that's where the tragic irony comes in: Lester doesn't really learn to be himself or, through his antics, get shot. His death is the one event during the film which is an act of random coincidence and I think that's the point that the film is ultimately trying to put across.

EDIT: Thinking about it, the great thing about American Beauty is that I can read back this post and my interpretation of the film might have shifted. It's one of the most deliciously inviting films for criticism and investigation.
Click to expand...

I always thought it was about mid-life crisis for both men and women (both main characters living it and acting out). The three sub-plots are about secret desires with a taboo element, mirroring an aspect of the main characters.

Poor Lester. :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top