MovieChat Forums > American Beauty (1999) Discussion > Is Lester Burnham supposed to be a sympa...

Is Lester Burnham supposed to be a sympathetic character and generally a "good" guy in this movie?

posted 9 months ago by TheMan18 (13052)
12 replies | jump to latest

Despite his flaws and (was him flirting with Angela immoral and was it also, as was asked already, bordering on if not outright being 'illegal' too, and does that make him "bad" in any way even if the girl, possibly a year underage (was she supposed to be 17?) 'consented' to it like being in his intimate company and wasn't forced into anything, even if by law its still wrong?) at times moments when he wasn't in the right or fully likable?

And SPOILERS - did you feel sorry for him when he got shot and killed in the end?

How would you describe him and are we meant to root for him and at least understand him, cheers.

[–] jacotodd47 (1901) 9 months ago

He's just a guy that reached the mundane, boring point of his life. Married with a child, full time job he hates. Fat and out of shape.

It takes Angela to inspire him. Suddenly he can feel his youthful desires coming back. The fact (at this point) that ANgela may be underage is irrelevant. She inspires him, she gets him going. He ends up realizing he hates his job. His marriage is a joke. He's tired of his wife and daughter pushing him around.

I know this - not from personal experience, but from watching my friends (some relatives as well). I call it being de-masculated.

So I was happy for Lester. Happy to watch him get going again. I didn't like when he touched Angela. I felt it was ok to be inspired by her, however, not in a million years should he touch her (21 is the cut off in my world). I liked that after she told him she was pure, he didn't go any further with it.

Then he kind of sits back in a melancholy moment looking at his life again, and the gay guy kills him. I did feel sorry for Lester.

So yeah, to close out, I wasn't so much rooting for him, I felt happy for him because he gets going again. He's inspired, he's working out, he leaves his miserable job. It was too bad - he starts feeling good about himself again and his life ends on the whim of a lunatic.

[–] BKB (10077) 9 months ago

Yeah, the neighbor and his son were interesting characters for certain.. The son probably bordered on being a sociopath to some degree with the spying on the girl with Binoculars and filming her was kind of weird and intrusive, sort of like what we see in modern day with people being so self absorbed with their Smartphones filming anyone and everyone

[–] jacotodd47 (1901) 9 months ago

Well, actually, I thought they were both weirdos. The Father, spending his life hiding the fact that's he's gay. And the son, with his strange, piercing stares. I did like the fact though he was independent (the son). He figured out a way to make a buck - then he had the guts to take off with, I forgot her name - Lester's daughter.

Lester on the other hand, I can relate to that guy. I've seen men in his situation over and over again in my own life. One must say, watching others (married with children, totally de-masculated) inspired me not to go down the same path.

[–] BKB (10077) 9 months ago

This movie won BEST PICTURE back in the day if I'm not mistaken?

[–] jacotodd47 (1901) 9 months ago

Off the top of my head - I swear on the soul of my dog I'm not looking it up- this is what I believe in terms of Oscars...

It won for Best Picture

Kevin Spacey won for Best Actor

Annette Bening was nominated but lost for Best Actress

Sam Mendes was nominated but lost for Best Director

It won for Best Screenplay (ALan Ball?)

I don't think any of the youngsters were nominated (Mena, Thora, whomever played Ricky Fitts)

The Colonel may have been nominated (Chris Cooper?)

If you feel like looking it up - let me know how I did.

[–] BKB (10077) 9 months ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accolades_received_by_American_Beauty#Selected_awards_and_nominations

Best Picture Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks Won
Best Director Sam Mendes Won
Best Actor Kevin Spacey Won
Best Actress Annette Bening Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Alan Ball Won
Best Cinematography Conrad Hall Won
Best Film Editing Tariq Anwar and Christopher Greenbury Nominated
Best Original Score Thomas Newman

[–] jacotodd47 (1901) 9 months ago

Oh, so Mendes won? I thought he lost to Speilberg that year.

Yep, best pic, best actor, best screenplay - yep I got the guy right, too. Cool.

AB nominated but lost, yep, got that.

Missed on the rest of them.

I'm surprised the Colonel didn't get nominated. He was really good in that role.

Ok, thanks for looking it up. Nice chatting with you this morning, best wishes.

[–] mechajutaro (2788) 9 months ago

"The Father, spending his life hiding the fact that's he's gay. And the son, with his strange, piercing stares"

What are your thoughts on The Holy Spirit then?

[–] jacotodd47 (1901) 9 months ago

Holy Spirit?

I don't know what you mean.

Or was that a joke I missed?

[–] whynotwriteme (7725) 9 months ago

Lester was supposed to be the put-upon everyman who gets fed up with the system and social restrictions and just says to hell with it and does what he really wants to: reliving his youth by flipping burgers, smoking dope, pumping iron and chasing a high school cheerleader.

1999 was definitely in the pre-Woke and pre-#MeToo era AND the pre-Spacey scandal era. This kind of lusting after young girls was not looked at in the same way it is today, as something almost Satanically evil. People back then believed that a mature man could look lustfully at an attractive, physically mature late-teenage girl without it being an indication of perversion.

Anyway, at the end, he doesn't go through with having sex with the cheerleader, so he was redeemed of any pedo accusations in the audiences' eyes.

I'd say he was definitely intended to be a likable anti-hero rebel type that bored, middle-aged family guys were supposed to get a vicarious charge out of watching, and yes, although I wasn't a huge fan of the movie as a whole, I did feel sorry for Lester when he was killed.

[–] liscarkat (18541) 9 months ago

A man looking lustfully at an attractive, physically mature late-teenage girl is most certainly not an indication of perversion. It's just natural and normal. On the other hand, actually attempting to do something about it physically is illegal, though not necessarily immoral. When I was in my mid twenties my girlfriend was the legal adult age of eighteen, and without any doubt a grown woman, both physically and mentally. I didn't know her two months earlier when she was still seventeen, but I seriously doubt she was any different then.

[–] whynotwriteme (7725) 9 months ago

A man looking lustfully at an attractive, physically mature late-teenage girl is most certainly not an indication of perversion. It's just natural and normal.

I'm not saying it actually is, but society seems to have developed the point of view that it is.