Lester Burnham Essay

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The second movie I watched for this project is called American Beauty. Lester Burnham is the main character. He is a husband, father, and advertising executive. Lester's wife Carolyn Burnham is a realtor who is, in general, dissatisfied with her life. Lester’s and Carolyn’s relationship is strained for many reasons. Lester also has a daughter named Jane. She is a typical teenager suffering from boy problems, self esteem issues, and friend problems. In the movie, Lester comes to the realization that his life is boring and he is viewed as a loser by almost everyone. There is one exception, his daughter’s friend Angela is a narcissistic young girl who portrays herself as a sex object. It is infatuation at first sight for Lester when he sees Angela at Jane’s school. Throughout the film, Lester has inappropriate, sexual, fantasies about Angela. Lester and his family get new next door neighbors. They have a son named Ricky who is obsessed with recording just about everything he does and sees. Ricky’s father, Frank, is a colonel in the Marines and runs a …show more content…
Carolyn meets another realtor, Buddy Kane, who at first is her competition, but later on they have an affair. Once starting the affair, Carolyn is convinced she finds herself wanting more to life than what she has. In order to ‘get control’ of her life she buys a gun and takes it to a shooting range, which adds to her psychotic break. Lester also decides to change his life. He meets Ricky, who ends up being Jane’s boyfriend, and he reminds Lester of what it is like to be young, free, and to have the whole world open to him. After smoking marijuana with Ricky, and realizing his life needs to change, Lester quits his job, trades his car for a 1970 Pontiac Firebird. His infatuation over Angela leads him to working out and trying to be physically attractive. Ricky and Lester become good friends, Ricky, being Lester’s pot
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