“It’s a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself. Makes you wonder what else you can do that you’ve forgotten about.”
– Lester Burnham (American Beauty)
This was another one of those movies that snuck up on me. It is a long one, but if you have the patience and the appreciation for a strong and powerful message, I highly recommend the movie, American Beauty. This is another that doesn’t have much action, but if you see the message, it has plenty of adventure.
American Beauty follows a family that, by all outward appearances, seems normal, healthy, and financially well-off. They make good money, live in a nice house, have two family-friendly vehicles, a white picket fence, and a blossoming garden. Anyone walking by would see all this and think it was the American dream personified. But that is where the dream ends.
I will not go as far as saying it was a nightmare, but it becomes immediately clear that a dream is not the right description. Sure, everything looks nice and desirable, but for each member, that is not quite the case. In reality, they are all miserable. They hate everyday life, they are bored, lonely, misunderstood, and unappreciated….by each other. So why would I consider American Beauty motivational or inspirational?
It is the father’s character. I sees what is happening and feels powerless….until he doesn’t. He starts trying things. He starts doing things that he wants to do. He makes choices that he wouldn’t have made before. The best part, things start making him happy. He starts to enjoy life once he starts doing things that make him happy.
American Beauty shows us a middle-aged man with responsibilities that is so focused on maintaining the status quo that he doesn’t realize it is driving both him and his family into the ground. Once he starts doing things that make him happy, there is a noticeable shift in both him and the people around him. His wife starts trying things. His daughter starts trying things. I don’t want to spoil anything further.
I will tell you this. The main takeaway for me was to enjoy as much as you can as often as you can. Tomorrow is always a maybe. It is not guaranteed or owed. Do things for the right reasons, not because people tell you they are right, but because you know in your heart that they are right for you.
Journeyman's Legacy 