... ubiquitous and endlessly repeated images of youthful, slender, and beautiful bodies in advertising represent an impossible feminine ideal, perpetuate a singular monolithic aesthetic, and establish the primacy of appearance to women's lives"(Kelly 2003). Within the context of its many layers and on many different levels, the film American Beauty speaks to this issue of beauty. American Beauty is a clever and dynamic film that uses the strengths and weaknesses of its characters to examine American society and culture while at same time, exploring existential ideas of truth, beauty, existence, happiness, life and death. Director Sam Mendes described the script as, ... A highly inventive black comedy. It was a mystery story with a genuine final twist. It was a kaleidoscopic journey through American suburbia, and a hugely visually articulate one at that. It was a series of love stories. It was about imprisonment in the cages we all make for ourselves ...

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