Denial In American Beauty

In the pouring rain, the camera zooms in on the Burnham’s garage, where you can see a shirtless Lester Burnham doing pull ups through a window. The view switches to inside the garage, where the viewer sees the neighbor, Frank Fitts, approaching. All the while, eerie music becomes louder and louder. Lester makes eye contact with Frank through the window and opens the garage door via remote control. Frank slowly ambles in while Lester exclaims “Jesus, man, you’re soaked!” (American Beauty) Lester is clearly confused by Frank 's reasoning for being there, but then realizes the somber look on Frank’s face, prompting him to ask if everything is okay. Frank, ignoring the question, starts a conversation about Lester’s wife. Lester shares that his wife is …show more content…
Throughout the film, Carolyn believes her life is the picture perfect definition of “American Beauty” when, in actuality, she is failing at her job as a real estate agent and her family is falling apart. She begins an affair with the leading real estate agent in the area, known as “the King of Real Estate,” in order to fill the void in her heart, and to satisfy her sexuality, which her husband no longer fulfills. Carolyn and Lester fight constantly, and neither has a strong relationship with their daughter, Jane. In the moments before Lester’s death, Carolyn is seen sitting in the driver 's seat of her car while the rain pours down. She’s holding a gun in front of her while listening to a recording stating “I refuse to be a victim” (American Beauty). She turns off the recording, angrily puts the gun in her purse and repeats, “I refuse to be a victim” (American Beauty). Carolyn’s denial of the disfunction in her family causes her erratic and unacceptable behavior, to the point where she may have considered killing her husband, Lester. Ironically, once Carolyn arrives home, she finds her husband has already been