While many topics are explored and uncovered in the film, several dominant themes occur in American Beauty which are of great consequence. The first is the idea of looking closer. This recurring aspect of the film urges the audience to see that things are not as they appear on the surface. Examples include the seemingly perfect but actually dysfunctional family, the suggestion that someone else killed Lester, the fact that Angela turned out to be a virgin though she acted quite unvirginal, and the discovery that the homophobic Colonel is gay. The director and screenwriter purpos

The moral of the film? Appreciate life while you can; there is so much in it to appreciate.

efully made occurrences have an incredibly different outcome than perceived. The truth or beauty itself may be found in a place where a person never expected to find it, like in a plastic bag floating - the filmmaker tries to rid the audience of its preconceived notions about truth and beauty, which is crucial in understanding the next theme about beauty.

Beauty is, of course, another omnipresent, significant theme in American Beauty. The filmmmaker uses the film to ask questions about beauty to the American public, such as, what is beauty, where can it be found, how is it achieved, and so on. Each character has a dissimilar viewpoint regarding these questions about beauty. They each have their own idea or image of what is beautiful. The way each character defines beauty ultimately defines the characters themselves in the film. For example, Ricky's sense of what is beautiful makes him the most level-headed, able character, while the Colonel's inability to see anything as

Some common words found in the essay are:
American Beauty, Colonel Lester, Sam Mendes, Lester Angela, american beauty, Alan Ball, beauty found, truth beauty, beauty world, questions beauty,
Approximate Word count = 733
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)