’American Beauty’ And The Psychology Of The American Dream
Have a house of our own, an attractive, emotionally stable partner who is madly in love with us and with themselves, three healthy children and two dogs; or maybe, a cat?… A car, a successful job, attractive salary with benefits, paid vacations… Oh yes, and a kind boss who doesn’t demand too much.
These are some of the idealistic expectations not always achieved of almost everyone who aims to achieve a standard of living more or less in line with what marketing has wanted to convince us. Could these ideals be just a dream passed down from generation to generation? Or is this actually the life expectancy that most people long for? Too good to be true? It’s possible.
The movie American Beauty by American director Sam Mendez shows us how, regardless of the period of life, people are in a constant struggle with themselves and with others to find a place in society that allows them to feel that their life has meaning.
This psychological film allows us to reflect on how we focus on our individual ideals, forgetting that sometimes it is necessary to work together to achieve them.
This narrative shows us reality seen from the perspective of the main character; Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) , a man in middle adulthood to whom life shows in more ways than one that the decisions we make can dramatically change what happens to us and that we cannot take anything for granted. Somewhat uncertainly, Lester understands that it is we ourselves who have the power to give a beginning and an end to the situations that overwhelm us
No one imagines themselves immersed in a neurotic relationship with someone who represents not only competition but also constantly reminds us of what we are not. With a disoriented teenage daughter who has grown up to realize that you are not the hero she once believed in and with whom you seem to have no minimal degree of kinship; a mortgage, with zero possibilities for growth at work and with high levels of stress just beginning your forties, especially when you did everything you thought was in your power to achieve it, (yes you did).
The movie American Beauty shows us through what we are shown about the Burnham family, who Financial success does not always equal a full and happy life And obtaining what we one day want is not always an indicator of success. That is to say, “not everything that glitters is gold.”
Today’s society seems to be programmed to desire these things. There is a large amount of media that distorts the perception of what really matters to achieve people’s true common goal: their own happiness. Wrongly, there are those who consider that the value of things is determined by the price.
Lester’s existential crisis
Lester’s central problem is the existential emptiness in which he finds himself when he is not satisfied with what he has (a daughter, wife, home, job, etc.) and when he is unable to satisfy the expectations and goals that he and his wife have. society has imposed on him according to the role to play: being the head of the family, an exemplary father, a successful businessman, etc.
Among other things, Lester, He realizes he has lost something and is determined to find it Lacking apparent reasons to make a change and just when he seems to resign himself to the course of life he himself chose, he finds that “something” that he had lost; a reason.
The feeling of feeling that you can still achieve things to achieve your own happiness gives you a different perspective on what you thought was hopeless. The possibility of achieving what seemed lost (her happiness) allows her to take back the reins of his life and with this the decisions necessary to change his vision of the world and of himself; He begins to do what he really wants for himself and not for others. That’s when Lester you lose something that is undoubtedly a guarantee for failure: you lose fear
The fundamental questions
Everything has a limit; It is important to be aware of what ours is and, what is more important, to know the limits of others in order to establish before them and ourselves the guidelines that will define the success or failure of our decisions, always seeking to be consistent with them.
Where do I come from? Where am I going? Who am I?… The plot of American Beauty reminds us that it is easy to distract ourselves and divert our attention from what is actually vital to us, that “something” that makes us everything has a meaning and a purpose. That answer to the most important of questions, why?
The decisions we make today will undoubtedly have an echo in our future in the short, medium and long term. It is essential to be honest with ourselves and be clear about what we intend where we want to go, how we are going to achieve it and how far we are willing to go to make this happen.
But, above all, be clear about the purpose and meaning of what we do. If we do not have defined the why? We will hardly attach value or meaning to everything we possess; Only we ourselves have the power to achieve effective change in our lives.
