(Thesis) The film American Beauty gives people a totally different view of the “typical” suburban family, and tries to peel back lies many people try to live. It gives you a totally different view of today’s family. (Brief synopsis) Lester Burnham is no longer happy with his work or his family life. He doesn’t get along with his wife Carolyn or daughter Janie, and they hate him. He begins to think, in an effort to reclaim his life and happiness, of only himself. In the end, he still loves his family, but loses it all. Lester Burnham hates his job, hates the way is life is turning out, and doesn’t get along with his family. His wife and daughter hate him, and they hardly talk without arguing.

"When I first read it I recognized something right away in Lester," Kevin Spacey says. "There are many things in a job we don't really like. There are relationships that are over. Everybody recognizes the desire to break free."

This sums up why many people seem to connect to the film. And no suburban family myth is sacred in American Beauty. One would like to think no family is as dysfunctional as this one, which is why I think the destruction of these myths goes into exaggeration. Everything that could be wrong, is wrong.

Lester’s wife is having an affair, his next door neighbors on one side are a strange boy, Ricky, who sells marijuana and uses a camera to get closer to people, his forgetful mom, and his dad who is a retired Marine Corp. Colonel trying to hide being gay. His other neighbor is a gay couple. Lester quits his job and goes to work at a burger joint, buys the car he always wanted, and begins to buff up for Janie’s high school friend. Carolyn is overly obsessed with work and success, and Janie wants absolutely nothing to do with her family.

The best scenes in the movie to demonstrate the disintegrating family ties as well as the changes Lester goes through are the scenes at the dinner table. There are two, one at the beginning and one closer to the end. In the first, Lester is rather quiet and submissive, and so is Janie. Both seem to give into the power Caroline tries to exert. However, in the second one, Lester demands to be heard, getting the attention of Caroline and Janie. He is tired of being ignored, and is reclaiming his life.

It’s a movie about families falling apart, rather than coming together. It exposes lies that some people try to live, and I think watching this film makes one think about those things. That is why it is culturally and socially important. Even though in some ways it is a cynical way to look at things, it makes society think about how they’re living their lives. Each character goes against the grains of that ideal family, of the happy suburban life, and gives every person who watches it at least one character to relate to.