In the movie American Beauty, Lester and Carolyn are the epitome of this concept. Carolyn, especially works extremely hard to put on an act for everyone else and portray her "perfect" home with her "perfect" family and "perfect life". There are many reasons their marriage is failing but one of the major causes is that, Lester, one day breaks through the idea of living this artificial life and begins to appreciate the real world and the potential for beauty in all things. He realizes that Carolyn is totally wrapped up in maintaining an image of success. She is so invested into this that she soon loses sense of what her real life was once like. Her family becomes nothing more than a prop to maintain her image of perfection. For example, when Lester and Carolyn are talking to Buddy Kane this exchange takes place, Lester says, "It 's okay I wouldn 't remember me either," Carolyn laughs nervously and says, "Honey don 't be weird," Lester then replies, "Okay honey I won 't be weird. I 'll be whatever you want me to be," and after he kisses her wildly he adds, "We have a very healthy relationship". This is an example of how Lester realizes that his marriage to Carolyn is nothing but a show for her to put on for everyone …show more content…
It is nearly impossible for a marriage to be smooth throughout its entirety. However, if the bond is strong enough these bumps will not damage the marriage, they will however force the couple to learn from their experiences and grow closer together as one. Too many people in today 's society give up on a marriage as soon as things start getting tough. Many of these failed relationships may have succeeded with more effort and dedication for saving the love they once have. However, there are also cases where two people either never were or are one day no longer meant to be. People go through changes in their lives and sometimes those changes are too much for their partner to bear. For example, this idea is expressed in the movie, American Beauty. While Lester and Carolyn may have been in love once at this point they have become much different people. They are miserable together and live joyless lives. Perhaps they could seek marriage counseling to try to work out their overwhelming differences. However, more than likely the counseling may work for some issues they would soon find themselves just as miserable as before. From an outside perspective it can be seen that Lester and Carolyn do not have the "typical" marital problems. Even though at some points they are fighting over "typical" marital problems such as money or the raising of their daughter, their anger spawns from a much deeper place. Their