Dysfunctionality and Crisis in the American (Beauty) Family

Nothing can more auspiciously grip the American film audience than a reflection of its own familial dysfunctionality. In recent years, the subject of the mid-life crisis and its effects on family life have grown popular as the baby-boomers, and the generation that followed, nears the realization that maybe all that they dreamed of accomplishing never came to pass.

American Beauty raises several issues in respect to the traditional family and the contemporary roles of parental figures. This film explores two families that reach their apex and are searching for a new road to journey. Not only does Sam Mendes's directorial debut address the traditional family, it also analyzes the modern notion of dysfunctionality. Among the accomplishments of Alan Ball's wonderful maiden script,

American Beauty received many great honors from film academies world wide, including an Oscar for best picture, best screenplay, and best director.

The tagline to the film, "... look closer," begs the audience to scrutinize the film under a microscopic eye. When examining an American Beauty, a certain breed of rose from which the movie secures its namesake, one would, at first glance, recognize the deep red color and near perfect form of the flower. But upon closer inspection noticeable aberrations would appear and one may then find that the American Beauty is not a perfect symmetrical flower, but a chaotic gathering of rose petals, some wilting while others blooming fully. The two families in

American Beauty attempt to maintain an air of normality via traditional family functions, such as an organized nightly dinner and watching the television in the family room together, but find that the role of dysfunctionality in the contemporary family too great a strain to continue the structural integrity of the family system. The Burnhams and the Fittses revolve around the blond-hair, blue-eyed Angela Hayes, the proverbial center of the American Beauty. She assumes this role through Lester's fantasies in which Angela is always accompanied by deep red rose petals. But she is even plagued by her own crisis of being ordinary versus unordinary. Angela portrays herself as a female wanted by all men and that she is very experienced sexually, even though near the end of the film the audience discovers that she is a virgin. The American Beauty discovers that she is actually ordinary, especially because she tries too hard to appear unique. However, Lester leads her to believe that ordinariness is in the eye of the beholder.

Lester's crisis arises from his reaching the point of mid-life, a familiar phenomena for most people. He begins to realize that his wife and daughter do not respect him as husband and father and observes that they "think I'm this gigantic loser. And they're right. I have lost something." Lester feels "sedated," but points out that "it is never too late to get it back." From this point forward, over a year's time, Lester attempts to retrieve his youth, to turn back the clock and live life to its fullest extent. During the half-time show at a high school basketball game where his daughter is performing a cheer-leading routine, Lester notices Angela Hayes and instantly becomes infatuated. This obsession sparks an entirely new direction for him to travel, leading ultimately to his quitting his job at

Media Monthly Magazine and returning to youthful practices such as smoking pot, flipping burgers at a local fast food restaurant, and trading in his Toyota Camry for the car he always wanted: a red 1970 Pontiac Firebird. His journey to self-actualization creates an anomalous reaction in the family, forcing both his wife and daughter to adapt in any way possible. The moment when Lester's trek of self-actualization is complete comes when he discovers his wife's adultery as she and the Real Estate King come through the Mr. Smiley's drive thru. He tells her that he wants her to be happy, but she interjects for him to "Stop it." He retorts, exclaiming to her his freedom, "You don't get to tell me what to do ever again." His final epiphany arrives, moments before his murder, when Angela asks him: "How are you?" After a moment of contemplation he answers with an experienced smile: "I'm great."

Lester's wife Carolyn's dysfunction and crisis stem from her high appearance of vanity and low self-esteem. Her fear of failure and desire to seem normal create moments of silent anguish for her family members. Near the beginning of the film she questions Jane's style of dress with the comment, "Are you trying to look unattractive ... congratulations, you have succeeded admirably." Her career as an inadequate real estate agent has made her cold and solely career-driven. Her lack of sexual prowess with her husband forces him to search for other modes of pleasure, namely one that is self driven. Carolyn's search is for self-empowerment-she wants sole control of her existence which is why she attaches herself to Buddy Kane, the Real Estate King after attending a job function. Buddy amazes Carolyn with his over-self-confidence and his adage that one must "project an image of success at all times" in order to be successful. Her awe is soon translated into an affair and her own journey towards self-empowerment begins. But her travels are cut short by her being caught in an adulterous relationship and no self-esteem building cassette tapes can save her.

Their daughter Jane is likely to be the most normal character in this film. Filled with teenage angst and hatred for her parents, Jane fulfills the role as an adolescent daughter on the verge of setting out on her own. She is disturbed by Lester and Carolyn's departure from the traditional role of parents and wants no part in their affairs. She is pulled into the dysfunction via her father's infatuation with her friend Angela. Jane herself begins to be attracted to the boy Ricky Fitts who moved in next door. Her self-esteem falls under her mother's attack after her cheer-leading event when Carolyn, believing that she is delivering a complement, says: "I watched you very closely and you didn't screw up once." Jane's desire for her parents to "have their own lives" is for obvious reasons, namely the dysfunction that would surely ensue. However Jane does find a source of happiness in the neighbor's son Ricky, who is somewhat like herself. In the end, Jane asks Ricky to kill her father for her, which echoes the opening moments of the film, but then retracts her statement by telling Ricky that she wasn't serious to begin with.

On the other side of the fence crisis blooms within the Fitts family as they move into a new neighborhood with some very interesting neighbors. Colonel Frank Fitts's crisis begins when his homosexual neighbors, Jim and Jim, bring the Fittses a basket of fresh cut flowers from their garden. Frank soon becomes prey to his natural homosexual tendencies which he avoids by playing the part of a stereotypical homophobe. He fights his shameful feelings throughout the film by denouncing the homosexual lifestyle any time an ambiguous event arises. When Jim, Jim, and Lester are jogging together, Frank asks his son if it was a Gay Pride Parade coming. But even Ricky notes that his father is not a bad man, but only a "sad, old man." Frank feels that he is being a good father by protecting Ricky from the life of a homosexual. When he watches his son go over to Lester's house to sell him some marijuana, Frank misconstrues the partially blinded scene for one of Ricky prostituting himself to the homosexual neighbors. Upon Ricky's return, Frank beats him and threatens to kick him out of the house. Ricky sees the opportunity to leave the dysfunctionality of his home permanently and falsely admits that he does perform sexual favors for money. After Ricky leaves, Frank goes next door to Lester to admit that he is homosexual and seek comfort. Frank attempts to kiss Lester after he claims that his marriage is just for show, "a commercial for how normal we are when we are anything but." Frank is thwarted, however, when Lester tells him that he's "got the wrong idea." This action forces Frank to kill Lester in order to keep his shame a secret from ever becoming known. Barbara, Frank's near catatonic wife, does not receive as much attention as the other characters in the film, but she is instrumental in representing the dysfunctionality in the Fitts family. She is forgetting simple things and also sits and stares into space. Her mind is going and all of this is most likely the result of Frank's cold unaffectionate nature. Frank's family is the commercial to promote normality when the entire family is anything but. His son and his wife are complex props to produce the All-American family portrait.

Ricky Fitts is a representation of the completed journey. He is scared of nothing, he is self-sufficient, and he is ready to leave his family at any time. Even though he seems odd when he films everything, the reasons are very logical. He is coping with the unbeauty of his family by finding the beauty in the world around him. He is an outcast in both society and the film for being so confident in himself. Ricky does not need to impress anyone so everything he does is for his own benefit. Ricky's only desire throughout

American Beauty is to attain the affection of Lester's daughter. He offers to Jane the chance to see true beauty-the beauty in life and the beauty in death. Ricky even sees the beauty in Lester's murdered body and the small smile it bears. When Jane asks Ricky if he's scared of their impending migration to New York he tells her that "I don't get scared." Through his family experience, he is ready for anything that the world could possibly throw at him.

The family, as portrayed in

American Beauty, displays how the contemporary familial system is attempting to cope with dysfunction and personal crisis. Gripping the fading values and traditions of previous generations, the current family systems try to obtain the image of normality. Dysfunctionality takes an important role in the modern family, shaping everyone from the mother and the father to all the children and often those associated with the family.

American Beauty pieces together the many facets of this argument and many more making this film a masterpiece.