American Beauty, appearances can be deceiving

American Beauty, directed by Sam Mendes in 1999, it is an American film that criticizes, with a certain satirical air, the society of the time. However, it has ended up becoming a classic, so We can perfectly apply the social portrait he draws to any current Western society..

It should be noted the choice of the title, which already anticipates what we are going to witness: the North American ideal of beauty. American Beauty meticulously draws the established canon, the imposed mold of the “perfect family”. However, from the first minutes we realize that all that beauty is nothing more than a simple appearance, ephemeral, superficial and that carries dangerous consequences. We are facing a totally carnivalesque society, where each character is assigned a role and must adapt to it.

The ideal family model

The action takes place in a quiet neighborhood of single-family homes, the focus is on the Burnham family formed by:

Carolyn, the mother, a woman focused on the world of appearances who aspires to professional success.Lester, the father, main character of the movie, He is an apathetic being who has settled for a life he does not like. and his only moment of happiness is masturbation.Jane, the teenage daughter full of complexes who will have to face the problems of his age in a family completely devoid of feelings.

Finally, these characters will find, in one way or another, their liberation before sex; Sex involves that natural side, not artificial and wild that we try to repress in society.

Soon, they will arrive in the neighborhood some new neighbors, another broken family. At the head stands out the Colonel Fitts, soldier and father of a family, who has developed a strong denial as a defense mechanism: a model has been imposed on himself and he must comply with it and follow it to the letter, even if this entails the loss or denial of his own being.

On the other hand, his wife is a totally submissive characterbarely speaks and is obsessed with cleanliness. They have a teenage son, Ricky, Complete opposite of his father: falls outside of society’s standards and see beauty where no one else finds it.

Society, a great masked ball

American Beauty shows us the consequences of a completely dehumanized and materialistic society that contrasts with the most intimate concerns of the being. Seek a critical look at our reality, where we play roles, we constantly put on masks to try to fit the mold.

As Eugenio Trías described in his work Philosophy and carnival Our society is a great masquerade, where we do not have just one identity, but a multiplicity of them..

Masks that change over the years: son, father, grandfather… All of this, to form a lifestyle, a aesthetics based on appearances and artificewhich began to be drawn after the Second World War with the promotion of american way of life.

It is interesting to see how those masks become blurred when sex appears on the scene, when individuals let themselves be carried away by passions. From Lester to Colonel Fitts, including teenagers Jane and Angela (Jane’s friend), they succumb to desire and reveal their true desires and insecurities.

Roses as a metaphor for beauty

Beauty is the key to the film and the roses are a metaphor for it. Since ancient times, they have been considered a symbol of perfection. But the rose is a treacherous flower, with a delicate and fragile appearance due to its petals, which contrasts with the hardness of its stem and thorns. In the same way that North American “perfect families” are so only in appearance.

At the beginning of the film, we see Carolyn cutting the roses in her garden and how the neighbors praise their beauty. By cutting those roses and putting them in a vase, we turn them into something artificial, something whose sole purpose is contemplation.; although, over time, they will wither, losing their petals and, therefore, their beauty. Roses are a constantthey will give clues to what is happening in the lives of the characters.

Angela’s characterJane’s teenage friend, is linked to the rose. Responds to the North American beauty prototype: blonde, pretty, thin, leader of her cheerleading squad… and exerts a strong influence on Jane.

She likes to feel desired and admired by men, she would do anything to achieve her dream of being a model. However, she is full of insecurities, her life is based on aesthetics, and the image she projects of herself bears little relation to her reality.

Rose petals have sexual connotations, therefore, it is not surprising that they are linked to the character of Angela. Furthermore, those petals fall slowly, revealing the ephemerality of beauty.

The price of perfection

In short, we are looking at a film that look for a reaction from the viewerseeks discomfort and reflection; wants a critical look at our daily lives. It immerses us in the minds of the characters, their deepest desires, the relationships they have with each other and how they relate to the world at various stages of life. The conception of canonical beauty contrasts with the idea of ​​beauty that the character of Ricky has, who, curiously, is the one who lives most outside of what is established.

It is interesting to highlight the role that music plays and how it surrounds us in that atmosphere., how the characters select certain music depending on the moment they are in. We see it, especially, in the scenes that happen in the cars. In the car, there are no masks, they can be themselvesloneliness frees them and the power that driving gives them is accompanied by the music chosen for the occasion, it is the moment of unmasking, of being yourself.

American Beauty presents us with the harsh consequences of our contemporary society, how Fear is the main culprit that makes us try to keep up appearances and not accept ourselves as we are.. We deny it, we hide it and we put on countless masks to be able to adapt and survive in the established mold. Definitely, looks are deceiving.

You might be interested…