“American Beauty” is a fantastic movie

Twelve years ago American Beauty was premiered in theaters all over the United States. It is a movie that talks about desire, self-disgust, experience against youth, and routines against extraordinary events with delightful wit and intelligence. Full of controversy and truth American Beauty is on its way of becoming an American classic. 

In the first place, American Beauty is an artful uncommon comedy filled with controversial ideas about happiness. American Beauty is all about happiness and how its pursuit leads us to unknown places. We can observe how Lester is dragged into a sexual fantasy with his daughter’s best friend, but it is this same fantasy that makes him reach out for more and learn to love himself, and by doing this he actually learned to love life all over again. This film enhances the idea that happiness can be seen as the only thing worth living for. For example at the end of the movie when Lester is murdered we cannot observe that fact as a complete tragedy, because we know he was able to understand and meet true happiness just moments before he was killed. It is perpetual unhappiness that damages ourselves the most. This is one of the greatest problems in our society nowadays, people get so used to being unhappy, that their struggle for happiness is nothing more than a mere attempt to cover the holes that let their misery out, like with Carolyn Lester, who pretends to be this perfect wife with a perfect husband, but in the knowledge that her whole life is a complete fake. American Beauty depicts how in our pursuit of happiness, many misleading roads can be taken. 

In the second place, American Beauty displays the eternal struggle for power. American Beauty portrays down to perfection the struggle of men against women. Carolyn Burnham and Lester are in an eternal fight to see who will become the head of the house. This movie talks about parents and sons, this generational gap that can either build lifelong relationships or destroy them. Like with Frank and Ricky this gap manages to destroy both of them, Frank continuously stalks his son searching through his stuff and Ricky breaks his father’s trust by selling drugs. American Beauty shows the struggle within oneself and our identity. Frank fights his homosexuality back by killing Lester, because he is not capable to accept the fact that his true self has been exposed. It is a powerful movie filled with overflowing emotions. 

Lastly, American Beauty is definitely one of those movies whose impact is easily felt, but incredibly difficult to describe. It explores and criticizes a lot of issues in contemporary culture making it possible for us to identify ourselves with at least one of its characters, due to the circumstances they are encircled in. You can be either in love with the wrong person, or fighting a war against yourself. American Beauty describes that moment in which you discover life is actually worth living exquisitely, “...and that's the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and... this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... and I need to remember... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in.” This film invites the audience to start looking far and beyond, it asks you to stop being a mere observer in your own life. It is due to the fact that it is so brutally right about everything that when it is over you are left with a distressing feeling that you have to start doing something, anything to feel alive. 

American Beauty is a movie that talks about happiness, power, freedom, love or the lack of it in a superbly manner. This movie is an indescribable experience, it is one of those movies that interacts with its audience, causing a great impact in it, because it our search of self and happiness that keeps us tangled most of the day most days. Due to its sensitivity, intelligence, wit, and sensibility; American Beauty is on its way to becoming an irreverential classic.