Existentialism: American Beauty Essay

American Beauty is a ikon that sets in suburban America. The story is about Lester, whom is a middle-aged writer working in a magazine company. He was having a mid bearing crisis where he felt lonely and numbed by continuous unchanging routine of his everyday life. In the movie, his wife portrayed as a successful real estate agent, but she was also difference by her own midlife crisis in both her career and personal life. Lesters daughter, Jane Bumham had alienated her parents and was going through puberty. They have a saucily neighbor who is a U. S.Marine Corps Colonel Frank Fitts, and he has a son, Ricky Fitts, who is a drug dealer. Lester was going to digest fired from his company that he had worked for fourteen year. Lester managed to cut a deal by threatening the manager to give him a years worth of salary or else he would distribute the gossip news, which would corrupt the company. One day, he and his wife went to see their daughters cheerleading dance and during the per formance Lester saw Janes friend Angela Hayes. He then starts having fantasies of her. On the early(a) hand, his wife was also having an affair with a successful colleague.Disregarding his wifes life, Lester started to make changes in his life after hearing Angela complimented him and suggested that if he worked out, she would ilk him even more. Therefore, he started working out after universe fired from his job, and got a new job at a fast food restaurant. During work, he found that his wife was having an affair and he asked her for a divorce. On the other hand, the marine corporal, Frank, has trust issues with his son, since Ricky had a history of using drugs (smoking weed). One day, Frank starts to get suspicious about Rickys actions.Then when Lester called Ricky to get more marijuana, Frank saw them getting together in a room. He thought that they were sexually involved. In reality, they were just smoking weed. When Ricky went home, Frank abused him and mistakenly believed th at he was homosexual, which caused him to kick Ricky out of the house. So Ricky decided to ask Jane to runaway with him to newfangled York. At the same time, when Lester and Angela was getting intimate with each other, she suddenly confessed that she was a virgin. Lester realized that he shouldnt be taking advantage of her and Angela started crying, so he comfort her.After the incident, both of them bonded and shared their problems. On the last scene of the movie, it showed Lester holding an old picture of his family reminiscing the past then Frank suddenly showed up with a gun and shot him. The movie, American Beauty, portrayed many an(prenominal) existential fields from philosophers the likes of Franz Kafka, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Jean-Paul Sartre. In the beginning of the movie, Lester indicates he pull roundd like a dead man. He goes through the same routine everyday, which is similar to Franz Kafkas character Gregor Samsa in the short story Metamorphosis.Before Gregors tra nsformation into a metamorphosis, he was a salesman for a long period of time where he felt that had lost his character, goals and even estranged himself from his family. Lester and Gregor have committed themselves to the company, which caused them to be alienated by their families. In the beginning of the movie, Lesters daughter critiqued her father as a loser and his wife also looked down on him. Gregor had similar situations, he was also alienated because his job required him to travel, and in that respectfore, he couldnt spend time with his family.According to Kafka, one has to go through alienation because that awakens us to blossom into a new life. He believes that an mortal have to balance themselves between individuality and society. Even though Gregors transformation gave him a new life, it was too late for him to live for himself. On the other hand, Lester was lucky enough to experience the change when he heard Angelas suggestion to get fit. This tip encouraged Lester t o adjust his lingering and melancholy life. He starts working out and live for himself, instead of living up to other peoples standards.Kafkas view of existentialism is that an individual has the duty to find balance between leisure and work. Lesters character has some similarities as Kafkas life. Kafka was employed at an insurance company, where he had experienced the suffering from working in the dull cubical office. He used writing as a way to escape from the tedious life he had, and it was the only method that could explore his creativeness. Even though Kafka was non an existentialist, his writing depicted many existential themes and shared similar thoughts with other philosopher like Friedrich Nietzsche.Friedrich Nietzsche is a philosopher in the late 18th century. He has a great impact towards existentialism. His existential theme is about individuality and constructing identity. Through his book called Gay Science, Nietzsche indicated that there were more liberation and fre edom after religious wars and persecution ended. He believed that people were getting detached with religion. Even though the movie American Beauty did non have any religious related themes, it still portrayed the theme of liberation.It was freedom that saved Lester from being drowned by his miserable life, especially when he was being disregarded by his wife and alienated from his daughter. In addition, in the end of the movie, Ricky Fitts, the neighbors son was released from his father because of a mis understanding. He was trapped under his abusive fathers rules and control. When Ricky was living under his father, he was like the last man in Nietzsches short story Thus verbalise Zarathustra. The last man lacks passion and has no drive they do not like to hear the world contempt applied to them.Let me then handle their pride. Let me speak of them of what is the most contemptible but that is the last man (Soloman, 73). Lester also has similar characteristics of the last man. B efore his transformation, he even confessed that he was living a life of a dead man. Nietzsche saw the last man among the middle class and he was afraid that they would be suffocated by the dreadful office space. This greatly relates to Lesters working environment and the suburban area where he lived. Everyday felt like yesterday, no occasion changes.There is no creativity or passion in Lesters life and Nietzsche believed that people should be pushed and encouraged to break the cycle. Lesters transformation speaks of Nietzsches existentialist theme we philosophers and free spirits fell, when we hear the news that the old god is dead. As if a new dawn shone on us (68). The new dawn that Nietzsche mentions in his book have similar portrayal in the movie, which is Lesters transformation of his new life. From a miserable and coward person, Lester changed into a new courageous and free blue individual.He was able to confront his wife and make his own decisions without being afraid of h er looking down on him Its a great thing when you realize you still have the cleverness to surprise yourself. Makes you wonder what else you can do that youve forgotten about (American Beauty). Overall, Nietzsches theme reveals that people have the ability to make their own decision and put their destiny into their own hands just like what Lester did with his life. Similar to Kafka and Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre also emphasized the importance of individuality.He believes that reality comes before essence, people creates their own destiny and it is not God that controls our fate (206). He also explained that human nature did not emerge because God created us. Sartre did not believe in God therefore, he believed human created the existence of human nature, like how Lester altered his life. Sartre also indicated that individuals should take accountability towards their actions. Lester broke away from the society and left his past life to construct a new character without other peop le to disapprove his decisions.However, he also threw away all the responsibility as a father and husband. Lester quit his job and got a lower salary job, which left his wife in charge of the mortgage. Even before the transformation, the family relationship between Lester and his daughter drifted apart causing them to ignore each other. He failed to take a responsibility as a father and nurture his minor instead he tried to flirt with his childs friend. From Sartres book Existentialism is a Humanism, he wrote Our responsibility is thus much great than we had supposed, for it concerns mankind as a whole (208).He believed that an individuals action could have a huge impact on others, just like how the neighbor, Colonel Frank Fitts killed Lester at the end of the movie. Frank has to live carry that guilt forever. It was his decision to kill and therefore it would be his responsibility to accept the blame. However the movie did not indicate what consequences Frank will be facing, or what kind of responsibility he will get after the murder. The director leaves the decision to the interview to decide what his fate is going to be. Lester did mess up his family and take no responsibility during his physical and mental transformation.In the end of the movie, when Angela, his daughters friend, told him that she was a virgin, he realized that he could not take advantage of her. This message reminded him that she was just a teenager that needed attention. He took a parental responsibility by comforting her and explored her frustrations, which applied to Sartres theme of taking responsibility while making alternations in life. Through out the movie, American Beauty, it has exposed many existential themes that connected to multiple philosophers including Franz Kafka, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Jean-Paul Sartre.All of them emphasized the importance of individuality, passion and creativity, which was depicted in the movie, especially on the main character, Lester. He altered his life and cured his mid-life crisis. It was through existentialism where he was released from the trap of society and the controlled environment. In the end of the movie, every character found an answer towards the purpose of life. Even though Lesters life ended getting shot in the head, he was actually happier than he was before and managed to live the life he wanted. Reference Solomon, Robert C. Existentialism. 2nd. New York, NY Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.