Symbols In American Beauty

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American Beauty is a film made in 1999 that involves drama and complicated romance. There is a family that the movie revolves around, involving three main characters. The dad and also the narrator, Lester Burnham, the mom, Carolyn Burnham, and their daughter, Jane Burnham. Each character has flaws and failures, and it ends in an unexpected, yet expected, tragedy. Although this movie is filled with conflict, the goal for each character to achieve is happiness. American Beauty has many hidden stories to each character, symbols, and has motifs in almost every scene.
Each character has parts in the movie that relate to pursuing happiness. Lester for example, realizes it's impossible for him to be happy. Throughout the film he pays close attention to his desires and finds happiness in the most absurd ways. He does drugs, finds underage love, and gets a …show more content…
An example of this is when Lester would look around the house at old family photos. It was shown many times, when Lester was sad. Another motif was the music that played in scenes that were creepy romantic, or to build tension. The music had a happy / suspenseful feel to it and was the main theme song. Along with the symbols found in the film, the red roses are a motif. They reappeared every time Lester though of Angela. He was picturing love between him and her, but in reality those roses have thorns that can prick. Those thorns are a constant reminder to step back and watch what you're doing. A general motif was the color red. There was a red door, red roses, red car, red walls, red table cloth, red lips, and red blood on the wall.
Happiness is one of the main themes found in American Beauty. Happiness is the state of being happy, and to be happy means to feel or show pleasure of contentment. The characters in the film all are different, and have hidden emotions and stories. There are many subtle symbols and motifs to tie back to the development of the

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