American Beauty: The Troubled Pursuit of Happiness and Self-Worth Yasser Owino 12th Grade

In everything we do, we seek to find happiness and meaning. While they aren’t necessarily what we always find, we strive to find it even if it’s the smallest shred of it. That couldn’t be farther from the truth in the gripping film American Beauty directed by Sam Mendes. The story is about Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), a forty-something husband and father who is depressed and has a midlife crisis. Lester is at a point in his life where he feels imprisoned in himself. He feels insignificant to wife Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening) and daughter Jane Burnham (Thora Birch). Lester meets Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari) who is her daughter's friend, and he becomes infatuated by her. He finally decides to take control of his life by quitting his job, buying a sports car and everything else he’s ever wanted to do. His desire for a younger girl rejuvenates him to want to feel like a young person again, yet this change is only one part of a decadent and problematic lifestyle that is also in evidence among the other characters in the film.

Carolyn has become so materialistic and Lester is beginning to notice that she is not the woman she married. She has changed and is more focused on her success than their marriage. It’s clearly evident when...