BA1b Critical Essay

Jonathan Foulston
The Use of Symbolism and Colour in American Beauty
A Semiotic Analysis
From the beginning of film itself, symbolism has been included in many popular films to convey
meanings and motifs that cannot be expressed through dialogue or aural representation. A great
example of how imagery in film is used to connote themes and implications is Sam Mendes 1999
classic, American Beauty. As its tagline, look closer, suggests, the Academy Award winning film
features a lot of interesting symbolism to express deeper meaning to subjects that are touched upon
during the narrative. The film cleverly uses colour, particularly red, to accentuate themes and to
reveal characters personalities and feelings. Additionally, all of the signs presented during the films
progression can be linked to the ideology of the story itself.
In American Beauty, a frustrated middle-class father, Lester Burnham, becomes disinterested with
his materialistic life and subsequently finds himself experiencing a mid-life crisis. He decides to quit
his job to explore his own desires and make use of his new-found freedom whilst simultaneously
becoming increasingly infatuated with his daughters best friend. The film focuses on the downfall of
marriage and centres on the themes of materialism, passion, repression and beauty.
Despite knowing that Lester is going to die from his narration during the opening of the film, his
eventual demise is hinted continuously during the two hour classic through symbolism and colour.
The film begins with a comical, light-hearted look at the tribulations and adversities of nineties
suburban America but gradually deteriorates into much darker territory. Regardless of Mendes
witty script and the casts exceptional acting, American Beauty is a story that is capable of being told
through its visuals alone. Its carefully selected imagery is supplied to voice concerns about social
issues and to commentate on the state of Americas society during the late nineties.
The first thing to mention is American Beautys repetition of the colour red and what it implies. The
denotation of the films use of red says little to nothing but the connotative meanings are much
deeper and more complex. Traditionally, the colour red implicates passion, love, danger, blood and,
ultimately, a lifeforce. Therefore by applying this connotative interpretation of red to the films
implanted ideology, we can declare that it signifies the passion, love and lifeforce of the characters.
When the audience first sees Lester at his office desk working1, the red items in the room are
shrouded and hidden from plain sight which elaborates on how his work and life forces him to
repress his own passions and his lifeforce there is very little colour in his mundane life. His
existence has become more of a routine rather than a time of opportunity, spontaneous escapades
and fun. Lester is miserable. However, as the film moves on, we see red playing a much larger role in
his life through the results of his outlandish behaviour, his outfits and the settings he inhabits. After
Lester is inspired by Ricky to live more and care less, he invests in the red firebird car2 he had always
wanted, as well as a red remote controlled car3, and gets a new job at a fast food restaurant adorned with red - where he is equipped with a scarlet uniform4.
The gradual incline of the colour red connotes that Lesters passions are becoming much more than
just internalised desires and are no longer a fantasy. Lester is finally in control of his own existence
after being restrained by the shackles of materialism and a real life, as such, is making its way into
the foreground. Mendes uses this transformation of colour to show that Lester has remembered
the things he wanted and has realised what was lacking in his life. He is no longer miserable and this
is exhibited through the increase in emphasis on the colour red in the palette of the film.

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Jonathan Foulston
In the final scene of the film, Lester is brutally murdered in his own home by Colonel Frank Fitts.
Lesters untimely death bears a lot of metaphorical significance through the abundance of red
imagery during the scene. His blood is splattered across the kitchen table and adjacent white wall to
signify the release of his literal lifeforce. As Jean-Luc Godard famously said - its not blood, its red.
The image of Lesters smiling face being submerged in a pool of his own blood5 connotes just how
incredibly content he was at the point of his death. The film ends with Lester stating I guess I could
be pretty pissed off about what happened to me but it's hard to stay mad when there's so much
beauty in the world which further proves this proposition. His spirit is finally no longer repressed or
hidden by the pressures of keeping up appearances and making things out to be better than they
actually are within the constraints of social Suburban America.
The colour red possesses various different meanings to the other central characters of the film, also.
To Colonel Fitz, the raging ex-Marine, red represents sexuality; for when he attempts to kiss Lester
to release his confined desires, Lesters bright car can be seen in the background6. For Jane, red is
related to the themes of individuality and self-love. Like many films representations of teenage girls,
she struggles to see the beauty in herself and instead focuses more on her appearance - for
example, Jane is seen browsing breast augmentation websites early in the film. Suitably, her
meaning of red is shown through the way she appears. During the aforementioned scene, she is
shown wearing red lipstick and a shirt with red sleeves, dots and stripes7. Last but not least, Buddy
Kanes billboards and signs have a red background8 to exhibit how he is the object of Angelas
desires and the individual responsible for releasing her repressed sexuality.
However, the colour red is just as prominent in the film through the repetition of rose imagery. In
American culture, roses are the ultimate symbol of love, life and death. They represent romance and
charm. However, when Lester becomes dazed and fixated on Angela at his daughters cheerleading
squad dance, he transcends into a dreamlike state and imagines Angela undoing her jacket to reveal
a plume of bright vermilion rose petals drifting towards him from her upper-chest area9. This daze is
the catalyst that incites the downward spiral of events that take place during the rest of the film and
roses are present during all of these key scenes. Therefore, it could be said that the roses symbolise
the reason why Lester had to be killed; essentially, it was beauty that killed the beast.
In this respect, it can be said that the prevalence of the colour red in the film connotes the imminent
death of Lester due to his new change in lifestyle choice. During Lesters sexual fantasies involving
Angela, such as the famous ceiling scene and the bath scene, rose petals are always present to serve
as a recurring motif. They also can be found situated at the dining room table10 where Lester argues
with his daughter and on the coffee table11 where Lester has his feet rested once, his wife, Carolyn
has discovered his brand new expensive car. It is clear that the roses are always present in the most
important scenes for a purpose and this also includes the place of Lesters death. A vase of freshly
pruned roses can be found next to his head on the kitchen table to symbolise the death of his hopes
and aspirations12.
The image of the rose signifies the lust that Lester craves from Angela and his dissatisfaction with a
monotonous existence. It also exemplifies the danger of developing feelings for a minor and the
consequences of infidelity. Furthermore, the roses bear different metaphorical significance to Lester
and his wife. Carolyns idea of an arrangement of roses is one that is pristine, neatly clipped and
even almost identical to one another. This represents a sense of beauty that is manipulated to an
ideal of perfection. Whereas Lester always sees them in their petal form which connotes a rougher,
rawer beauty. The roses represent beauty in its various forms, both methodical and chaotic.

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Jonathan Foulston
The rose could also symbolise the virginity of Angela. Despite Lester being unaware of this until a
pivotal scene towards the end of the film, the audience may have been conscious of this thanks to
her connection to the image of the rose flower. It is well-known that flower is a widely
appropriated metaphor for the sanctity of virginity in America so this ideology would not have been
unfamiliar to Mendes as an outsider of the country and it could have played an important role in the
development of the visual metaphors of the film. A rose could almost sum up the films ideology in
that they are beautiful and romantic but yet they also possess hidden thorns which tie with pain and
damage similar to how situations appear to be perfect from an outside perspective but are entirely
different from behind closed doors.
American Beauty also follows a strict red, white and blue colour scheme throughout. During the
introduction, the Burnhams home and eloquent garden can be seen whilst Lester informs the
audience of his suppressive life. Their house is white with blue window panes and a red door13.
Additionally, red roses are present and growing tall against the families pristine white picket fence.
In a film titled American Beauty, it is safe to assume that the colours red, blue and white represent
the colours of the American flag. The use of this regimented colour palette clearly suggests that
Mendes is commenting on how he views suburban America and, more importantly, it connotes the
pressure of submitting to a repressive existence and conforming to materialistic values. Also, if we
follow one of the films dominant ideologies, The American Dream and its false nature, this theory
becomes more prevalent. It seems that Mendes uses the film as a method to criticise the
disillusionment surrounding Americas suburban bliss.
Sam Mendes has previously been described as a Brit who seems to have his pulse on the American
psyche and this quote rings true whilst watching American Beauty. It can safely be assumed that,
through the chosen colour scheme, Mendes is placing blame on America for their coercion of
misaligned priorities and how America has come to care more about appearances and possessions
than life and beauty.
For example, after Lester learns the error of Americas ways, him and Carolyn begin to share their
first tender moment in years but Carolyn halts the act as soon as she realises that Lester is about to
spill beer on her, white and blue, $4000 couch14. Lester snaps and informs her that what she
prioritises isnt life, its just stuff and it has become more important to her than living. Therefore, it
is undeniable that Mendes intended the title of the film to be intrinsically tongue-in-cheek and ironic
as he believes that America has lost its sense of beauty and awe.
American Beauty is a wonderful example of colour and symbolism being provided to imply deeper
meanings to its characters motives and feelings. The film encourages its viewers to look closer
into what is seen first-hand at face value. The colour red is effectively used as a central motif to
convey themes of lust and passion whereas the image of the rose is utilised to speak volumes about
the characters desires and goals. Furthermore, the colour scheme of red, white and blue serves as a
social commentary on the way in which the American population chooses to live their lives.
Oscar Wilde once said that mere colour can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways and this
statements message could not be any more prevalent than in the execution of this film. Ultimately,
Mendes uses colour and symbolism to encourage us to find beauty in our own lives and favour
making memories over participating in materialistic practices and making scenarios out to be better
than they actually are.

BA1b Critical Essay

Jonathan Foulston
Sources:
Morton, J. The Meanings of Red. Available at: http://www.colormatters.com/the-meanings-ofcolors/red (Accessed: 5 March 2016).
Barham, D. (2014) American Beauty: The Color Red and the Power of the Visual Image. Available at:
http://the-artifice.com/4american-beauty-color-red/ (Accessed: 5 March 2016).
Screenshots:

1 Lesters Office

2 Red Firebird Car

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3 Red Remote-Controlled Car

4 Lesters New Workplace

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5 Lesters Death

6 Colonel Fitts Reveal

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7 Janes Lack of Individuality

8 Object of Angelas Desires

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9 Lesters Awakening

10 Roses on Dining Room Table

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11 Roses on Coffee Table

12 Roses on Kitchen Table

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13 Red, White and Blue Colour Scheme

14 White and Blue Couch