Just interested.
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DavidStHubbinsUSA — 10 years ago(November 10, 2015 08:26 AM)
The title of the film refers to a breed of roses that while pretty and appealing in appearance, is often prone to rot underneath at the roots and branches of the plant. Thus, the tagline "look closer" tells the viewer that when they look beyond the "perfect suburban life" they will find something rancid at the root.
I know I cheated.
Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man. -
gonemoab — 10 years ago(November 10, 2015 09:54 PM)
I don't know what you mean by "cheating"; it's a good answer.
Caroline's desperate desire to be in the upper echelons of her business, and social circles denotes a superficial self-image one that lets her deny her lack of self-confidence. The expensive trappings she acquires, but can't afford, display an ambition to superiority, but she doesn't have the engine to power it. She listens to the psychobabble self-help seminar tapes, but she can't keep from doubting herself. And the vapid hollowness of the American suburb where nearly everyone is concealing "something rancid at the root" is the macro-scale manifestation of the American dream, the American Beauty.
Lester decides to look inward and evolves by admitting who he really is inside, what powers him, and what he has to accept in order to reach satisfaction. At his death, I don't know whether to cry or smile (like Ricky did). He was seeing the American Beauty in the faces of his happy family as they once looked, once before. He smiled saying "man, oh man!" just as he died in an instantaneous, blissful condition.
Log Lady lives
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london777 — 9 years ago(September 08, 2016 11:07 AM)
The title of the film refers to a breed of roses that while pretty and appealing in appearance, is often prone to rot underneath at the roots and branches of the plant. Thus, the tagline "look closer" tells the viewer that when they look beyond the "perfect suburban life" they will find something rancid at the root.
Two years later another good film used a similar botanical metaphor as its title:
Lantana (2001)
Lantana is a shrub widely found in Australia which entices with its attractive flowers but spreads fast, killing other plants, and can entangle the unwary.
I wonder if the makers got the idea from American Beauty? -
Jonwartea — 10 years ago(December 03, 2015 04:23 PM)
We, as Americans, are sold on this white, suburban, picket fence, materialistic lifestyle that is suppose to be the pinnacle of happiness and beauty. However, if you were to look deeper into these families and what happens behind closed doors you would find that not everything as appears.
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brendan_stuart — 10 years ago(March 19, 2016 02:59 AM)
I interpret it as an ironic, disconnected representation of 'the American dream'. We all have a mental image of the traditional American dream: a suburban home, nice car, a happy marriage, happy children playing in the yard, nice garden, waving to the neighbours, etc. What the film shows is the pain and suffering that can happen behind the doors of the Dream. The title draws attention to the American dream, while being wholly dissonant to the film's meaning. An oxymoron, perhaps.
Everybody is projecting themselves as different people as a way to get approval, except for Ricky and Jane, and Lester after meeting Ricky. Carolyn preens herself, makes sure people notice her working her garden. Ricky's dad hides his homosexuality and sadness over his wife's state behind excessively strict military bearings and homophobia. Angela hides her own body issues behind sheer overt sexuality, and being friends with a person who makes her feel better about herself (whether she was telling the truth or not about her virginity to Lester is irrelevant, it's her projected image that is).
All of them projecting their image of 'beauty' in their view of the American Dream -
wylierichardson-966-922691 — 9 years ago(April 14, 2016 08:53 AM)
It says in the 'trivia' section that the title refers to a type of flower that may be superfically pretty, but actually rots quite easily, at the base. That was clearly a metaphor for the suburban life and marriage depicted here.
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AndrewGS — 9 years ago(January 19, 2017 08:34 AM)
Although not completely clear, to me the title seems pretty cynical, trying to claim that Americans (or segments thereof) consider artifice, status and struggling for normality to be beautiful when actually they hurt and strain people.
Ricky and eventually Lester claim that there is genuine beauty and yet seem uneasy if not bitter about their own lives - maybe that suggests that life in general is great but American values distort it.