“American Beauty” is a movie that demonstrates the beauty of life through many significant signs, symbols, and images. The characters do a wonderful job at portraying a perfect, suburban life that ends up not being so perfect after all. The characters may not have presented physical, religious encounters, but they portrayed many sacramental moments from the beginning to end. If an individual views this movie from a hermeneutic lens, it is near impossible to not see the sacramentality of the movie. The characters: Lester, Carolyn, Ricky, Jane, Angela, and Colonel Frank clearly demonstrate these sacramental images of life.
First, Lester demonstrates the sacramental imagination through his spiritual awakening. He is the typical white, suburban husband who works the boring 9-5 job. He is unhappy with himself and his family, and has lost the meaning to living his life. The first site of Angela starts up a lively spirit inside him; a spirit that now seeks a forbidden desire. A sacramental moment is when Lester is laying in bed, and finally starts to communicate with Carolyn and tell her how he is feeling. He started living life like a teenage boy, such as: he gets a new car, listens to new music, works out, and eats healthier. He is not going to live doing everything to please her, but now he chooses to please himself. In an ontological way, his life moments take place with god’s presence beside him. He realizes the beautiful moments are sacred moments. Lester states,
“It's hard to stay mad when there is so much beauty in the world…. And I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life…You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. Don't worry ... you will someday.”
Everyone will experience death at some point or another in life, and looking back they too will cherish the beautiful moments of life. Lester looks back and realizes he took all the precious moments for granted such as: communicating with Jane, his wife’s smile, and his wife’s own beauty.
Next, Angela portrays a sacramental image of “American Beauty.” Throughout the movie, the red rose petals are constantly surrounding Angela’s body. The roses
represent desire, sin, lust, and evil to Lester. Angela wears red lipstick indicating sin and temptation. Angela follows societal norms striving to maintain a cool, perfect image. She acts like a superficial blonde, but in the inside feels like an ordinary girl. And she does end up representing an ordinary girl in an ordinary world. She is not this sinful, seductive girl who gives into temptation; rather she is a young, pure, beautiful girl. For instance, in the end she is wearing the white top appearing like an innocent young woman.
On the other hand, Carolyn gives into temptation, but she is also very similar to Angela. She portrays a successful, suburban career woman with an optimistic life perspective. She controls her marriage with Lester and with the lack of communication it ends up falling apart. When her perfect life image is threatened, she begins to fall apart as well. Like Lester, she seeks a temptation, and someone to make her feel desired. She commits adultery with Buddy and enjoys the fun, the romance, and the compatibility. When Lester finds out, Carolyn feels regret seeking reconciliation for her sins. She truly loved Lester, but she did not stay true to the sacrament of marriage. Carolyn embraces Lester’s shirts and then falls to the floor like a devastated child who wants her normal, ordinary life back.
Lastly, the hermeneutic lens is the lens of Ricky’s camera. Ricky’s camera objectifies Jane yet graces her with beauty. Jane feels ugly in comparison to the beautiful Angela, and she has body image issues like any ordinary teenage girl. Ricky’s lens records her real beauty by revealing her true identity. While the camera is on, Jane does not have to act, but rather she can just be herself. She lets the real moments such as: the fights, the crying, the gossiping, and the family moments are viewed by Ricky. Ricky uses this lens to record lives of others because he does not enjoy his own life. His father is too strict with too many rules and his mother is sick. He would rather watch the sacramental moments such as: the plastic bag in the leaves, the homeless woman walking, or the mother taking her daughter to school. Ricky says, “It’s as if God is looking right down at you-it’s beauty.” The lens catches the moments for God, and God is watching over everyone through this hermeneutic lens. He sees everything including the bad moments and the good moments, but the beauty overpowers the evil.
What defines “American Beauty”? It is the beauty of reality, an imperfect world. It is a world that is not based on material possessions, but it is based on the real world. The world contains homeless people, imperfect marriages, adultery, homosexuality, and guns. The movie catches the sacramental images, moments, and relationships through the hermeneutic lens of God. The world is full of so much beauty and the beauty should be cherished throughout ones life onto their death.
Copyright
Priscilla C. Raj
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