Existentialism: American Beauty

Existentialism American Beauty American Beauty is a movie that sets in suburban America. The story is virtually Lester, whom is a middle-aged writer operative in a magazine company. He was having a midlife crisis where he felt lonely and numbed by continuous force outuring routine of his everyday life. In the movie, his wife pictured as a successful real estate agent, but she was also going through her de runr midlife crisis in both her career and personal life. Lesters girl, Jane Bumham had alienated her parents and was going through puberty.They have a saucy neighbor who is a U. S. Marine army corps Colonel hound Fitts, and he has a son, Ricky Fitts, who is a drug dealer. Lester was going to get 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 sabotage the company. One day, he and his wife went to see their daught ers cheerleading dance and during the performance Lester maxim Janes friend Angela Hayes. He then starts having fantasies of her.On the other hand, his wife was also having an closeness with a successful colleague. Disregarding his wifes life, Lester started to make changes in his life afterwards hearing Angela complimented him and suggested that if he worked out, she would equal him even more. Therefore, he started working out after being fired from his job, and got a new job at a fast food restaurant. During work, he found that his wife was having an routine 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 some Rickys actions. thusly 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 w ent home, Frank abused him and mis give innly believed that he was homosexual, which caused him to kick Ricky out of the house. So Ricky decided to ask Jane to runaway with him to New York. At the same time, when Lester and Angela was getting intimate with for each one 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 comforted 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 existential nationals from philosophers like Franz Kafka, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Jean-Paul Sartre. In the beginning of the movie, Lester indicates he lived like a dead man.He goes through the same routine everyday, which is similar to Franz Kafkas acknowledgment Gregor Samsa in the short st ory Metamorphosis. Before Gregors transformation 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 society, 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 therefore, 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 individual have to balance themselves mingled with individuality and society. compensate 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 go across the change when he heard Angelas suggestio n to get fit.This tip encouraged Lester to adjust his dull 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 province to find balance between unemployed 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 cubelike 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 big(p) reach 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 freedom after religious wars and persecution ended. He believed that people were getting detached with religion.Even though the movie American Beauty did not 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 misunderstanding. 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 Spoke 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 address 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. Before 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, nothing 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 spirited individual.He was able to confront his wife and make hi s own decisions without being afraid of her feel down on him Its a great thing when you realize you still have the ability 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. alike(p) to Kafka and Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre also emphasized the importance of individuality.He believes that existence comes before essence, people creates their own destiny and it is not God that controls our fate (206). He also explained that human constitution 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 change his life. Sartre also indicated that individuals should take responsibility towards their actions. Lester broke away from the society and left his past life to construct a new character without other people 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 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 child instead he tried to flirt with his childs friend. From Sartres book Existentialism is a Humanism, he wrote Our responsibility is thus much greater 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 co nsequences Frank will be facing, or what kind of responsibility he will get after the murder. The director leaves the decision to the audience 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. eccentric Solomon, Robert C. Existentialism. 2nd. New York, NY Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.