Semiotic Analysis of American Beauty
American Beauty, through its use of symbols and the title of the film itself, makes us examine the characters and their philosophies (American dream, their concepts of success, beauty, etc.) both as they are and as they are perceived. Nobody in the movie is really what they seem. In the end, the creepiest (Ricky) is the nicest, the successful wife is a shaky mess, and the American beauty is pretty straightforward.
Red rose pedals, featured multiple times in American Beauty, are a symbol of love, sensuality, and vitality. However, it is important to note that throughout most of the film, the red roses are implicitly an illusion. Red roses in the context of an illusion come to represent a reality covered in sugar.
By sugar coating I mean that which covers natural stimulation (taste, sight, touch) by “sweetening” it. In all but one of the scenes, the red peddlers surround Angela, covering her naked body in a way that makes what lies beneath that much more attractive, through the use of sensual reds and the sensuality of mystery. Not to mention the extreme spectacles that often accompany Lester’s dream scenes.
However, in the scene where Lester finally gets what he’s been wanting, Angela has no red peddlers around her. Unlike her breasts in the first scene that were covered with vibrating pedals, this scene exposes her body for what it is, we like that Lester starts to feel that Angela may not have been all she was crazy about. It’s not that Angela isn’t beautiful, it’s that no one could live up to the divine expectations that Lester’s wild fantasies created.
After Lester discovers that Angela is a virgin and is not at all what he thought she was, he goes out into the kitchen and takes a picture of his family. As Lester looks at a photo of his family that says “man, oh man …”, a bucay of red roses (exact to the ones shown above) is displayed for about 5 seconds. These roses, unlike all those shown above, are real, not a dream. Also, unlike the roses shown above, they are associated with her family and not Angela. In this context, roses do not represent a layer of sugar, but a true love, sensuality and vitality. Seconds later we see a pool of red blood. Shortly afterwards we experienced, through a video montage that is Lester’s life passing before his eyes, the love, sensuality and vitality that the image represented.
The issue of things not being what they seem is not isolated from Lester’s point of view of Angela. Several times throughout the movie Carolyn says that you have to project success at all times to eventually succeed. Lester also tells Ricky’s dad that their marriage “… is just for show.”
Many of the characters seem obsessed with the way people perceive them, but show little interest in the reality of things. Ricky’s father, who hates homosexuality, and lets it be known several times throughout the film, eventually becomes interested in men sexually. Carolyn and Buddy are obsessed with looking “successful” and making others think they are part of a “normal” family, it is the struggle to appear that way to both of them that makes them emotionally unstable and separates them from their families.
American Beauty, through its contrast of reality and perceived reality, makes us examine what is American beauty, the American dream, and how real are the promises these narratives offer.