The beauty of American society, as seen in the film American Beauty, is its dys functionality. The theme of the movie is to take control of your life, regardless of what the consequences may be. This is shown through the portrayal of the character Lester and his decision to change his life and “carpe diem”, seize the day. Although his decision ultimately led to his death, his resolve to take charge of his life can be seen as the overall theme of the movie.
Coupled with this theme is a hidden notion for a need to look closer at what is given. The significance of Lester’s decision to change his life is that he didn’t actually need to change things the way that he did. What he needed to do was to look closer at his life and his family to discover where the problems he was facing were stemming from and to fix those problems rather than turning to outside influences. This is a very important theme because it applies to everyone in the movie, not just Lester. Don’t blame everything on someone else, look closer at yourself and fix yourself first.
Putting the symbolic meaning of Lester’s decision and the theme of the movie aside, there are many other objects and actions in the movie that have symbolic meaning: 1. the red rose petals – the red rose petals appear countless times throughout the film and can be seen to represent lust, innocence, desire, and false happiness. These rose petals could also stand for youthful freshness, red conveying the element of danger and sin inherent in the fantasies of Lester’s in which they appear. 2. death – death is seen in many ways in the film.
The Essay on Life After Death 6
The Afterlife is an area of human consciousness we all enter upon leaving the physical world at physical death. Throughout history we've questioned if there is a life after death. Along the way, our religions and various philosophers offered beliefs and opinions to answer this commonly asked question. However, many of the answers contradict each other making it hard to figure out. "Belief in life ...
There is the scene where the hearse is driving down the street which is an obvious symbol. There are physical deaths in this film, but they are, in all their violence and injustice, simply not as bad as those who are rotting from the inside out. The people in the movie all have their own respective problems, but together, they represent the zombies that we meet everyday; those people who wander around aimlessly and confused. The characterizations range from the totally alive and actualized gay couple Jim and Jim to faded housewife Barbara Fitts who is a startling example of a person decomposing from the inside out. She is the worst case of living dead, the rest are just variations on a theme.
3. the floating plastic bag – representative of the simple beauty that is taken for granted. There are countless times that one can see random objects floating around carelessly in the wind, but it takes the beauty of an individual to recognize and appreciate this beauty, as was done with Ricky. The bag can also be seen to represent freedom, a joy that is at the heart of the dreams of most Americans. 4. Ricky & his camera – Ricky, who finds beauty in plastic bags floating in a whirlwind among the leaves and eventually in the reflective pool of blood running from a perfectly white kitchen table, is a symbol of escapism, vision, and courage with a little insanity to make it more intriguing.
Ricky spends his time videotaping what the rest of the world neglects to see, and in doing so is able to find beauty where others can’t or won’t. This uncanny ability enables him to appreciate all that life has to offer. He is the one that you would initially think would be the one to go completely insane, when in fact, he turns out to be far too adept for all that and is left in the most stable place at the movies close.
