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American Beauty: Visualizing Characters


American Beauty: Visualizing Characters
Gaya Nam

American Beauty focuses on the 1990’s perception of beauty and relationships, as we go through
Lester Burnham’s life when he begins to view his younger daughter Jane’s best friend, Angela, attractive.
Throughout the film, Conrad Hall, the director of photography, and Sam Mendes, the director, work
collaboratively to single out each character during every scene, by focusing on every person in a creative
manner. After Lester meets Jane’s friend, Angela, Lester acts much differently around the two girls.
As Lester’s obsession with Angela grows, and he starts experiencing sexual dreams about her,
his physical attraction to her grows more obvious, making Jane suspicious. During the scene, he picks
up Jane’s phone book and dials Angela while his daughter is taking a shower. As soon as she picks up,
Jane walks out and causes Lester to frantically walk away. The scene is split in half by the wall,
separating the hallway and the bathroom. The scene benefits from this because it shows how sneaky
Lester is after he quickly realizes that Angela has picked up and Jane is about to come out. We can see
both of them in the scene going in opposite directions, which helps set the context and action occurring.
This was the perfect demonstration of showing two character’s perspectives and actions during one
scene, while also visualizing how they interact in the same space, Lester frantically exiting the room
as if nothing happened, and her daughter realizing that Angela is on the phone.


Another similar example is when Lester’s new neighbors, Ricky, and his father, are greeted with
flowers in the morning by two other men. Ricky is a suspicious, weird teenager who has the tendency
to record Jane and her family. His personality is much more of an introvert, therefore, this scene displays
his characteristics perfectly, in contrast to other characters, by placing him in the back as he quietly
observes his father and neighbors brief conversation. His dad, on the other hand, stands in the
entryway, the center of attention in the scene. This shows that Ricky is the type of person who usually
stays away from confrontation, dialogue, or any interaction with other people in general.
Mendes does a great job, by separating each character in the scene, and visually
symbolizing their personalities.


Overall, American Beauty does an amazing job of showing each character’s traits. The film also uses clever ways to separate characters, which actively illustrates for the audience how they typically react to given actions or obstacles thrown their way.

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