Does Lester Burnham's quote sound like a line from a comedy? Roger Ebert seems to think so. He has said the film is a "comedy because we laugh at the absurdity of the hero's problems, and a tragedy because we can identify with his failure--not the specific details, but the general outline." Even though Ebert clearly packages American Beauty into the cookie cutter drama/comedy, the allowance he leaves in the last phrase should lead a person to reevaluate the film's category.

Comedy is defined as "inciting within the viewer humor and mirth and ending happily (Konigsberg 59)." Moreover, dark comedy allows laughter to be "somewhat muted by our realization of serious implications and perhaps even by an unhappy ending (Konigsberg 59)." The dark comedy definition fits American Beauty quite beautifully. The average person, however, would not equate muted laughter and an unhappy ending with comedy. We are left

Red, happiness and beauty are all metaphors that define American Beauty as an allegorical film. Leaving the movie, the audience realizes it was not a Lolita remake. The movie instead offered an insightful view into the definition of beauty. Like Lester, maybe we all have a little "waking up" to do.

Lester is not the only character struggling with outward appearances. His wife, Carolyn, is struggling with her own perfect ideas. The importance she places in materialistic items becomes clear in an argument with Lester halfway through the movie. Carolyn, while yelling at Lester to keep the couch clean, points out that the couch is "a four thousand dollar sofa upholstered in Italian silk (American Beauty)." She struggles to maintain a perfect imagine throughout the movie. When Lester embarrasses her in front of an admirable colleague, Carolyn nervously laughs, trying to make Lester's behavior seem permissible and funny.

After watching the movie trailors, moviegoers expect a Lolita remake. American Beauty is linked to Mena Suvari's character Angela, who becomes an item of lust for Lester. But on a deeper level, the title is not about Angela but about the perfect American life. Angela personifies everything Lester cannot have. On the surface one imagines Lester's lust socially unacceptable since Angela is the same age as his daughte

Some common words found in the essay are:
American Beauty, Mena Suvari's, Lester Carolyn's, Angela Lester, Roger Ebert, Beauty Lester, american beauty, Angela Jane's, Lester Burnham's, red roses, vase red roses, vase red, konigsberg 59, allegorical film, lolita remake, dark comedy, lust lester, beauty lester, red blood,
Approximate Word count = 909
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)