The official poster of American Beauty shows only a woman’s navel with a rose beside it. It raised eyebrows due to how erotic and titillating it was while doing nothing much.
When the film was released in 1999, some viewers were upset that it didn’t entirely sell what it had promised through its posters. Instead, the film was a commentary on multiple things.
In fact, it can be interpreted in different ways, especially the ending of the movie and how Kevin Spacey’s protagonist Lester is made to bite the bullet in the end by an unnamed killer. But before that, a lot happens, which gives the film its famous still-debated ending.
In the end, Frank shoots Lester in the back of his head, and the film ends with the dead man recounting the world’s beauty and how grateful he is to have seen it. Frank shoots him because Lester is the only one who knows that he is a homosexual. But since he is terrified of society’s judgment, he can’t let someone who knows that secret live.
What Happens in the End of American Beauty?
The beginning of the end in American Beauty starts with Lester discovering that his wife Carolyn has been having an affair with Buddy Kane, a professional lawyer. However, he doesn’t look too distraught after that knowledge. In fact, he acts comically indifferent or rather almost smug.
The affair between Buddy and Carolyn doesn’t go anywhere because the married lawyer doesn’t want to deal with an expensive divorce. This sends Carolyn into a spiral that makes her feel like she is being played with. To make matters worse, her professional life as a real estate agent has also been stuck in a rut.
She returns home late that night, and while sitting in her car, she gets the gun she keeps in her glove compartment. Like a mantra, Carolyn repeats to herself while sitting in the vehicle that she won’t be a victim to herself.
At the Fitts, Frank finds footage of Lester lifting weights naked in Ricky’s room. This confirms his suspicions that his son is gay. But that’s not true, as Ricky had accidentally shot that footage. To make matters worse, when Frank watches Ricky at Lester’s place, he thinks they are indulging in sexual activities.
Frank confronts Ricky at their home and threatens to disinherit him and kick him out. Throughout the film, Ricky is frustrated with the military-like way of his father. So even though he isn’t a homosexual, he still agrees to the accusations and goads Frank into kicking him out.
Frank confronts Lester in the garage about it all. But Lester denies having an affair with Ricky. However, Frank mistakenly thinks that Lester is interested in him. So he tries to kiss him, revealing his own sexuality. But Lester refutes him as well.
In the meantime, Jane and Angela get into a verbal fight because Lester flirts with the latter. Ricky then enters and asks Jane, who he is dating, to elope with him to New York. While defending Jane during their spat, he tells Angela she is insecure, ordinary, and boring. This affects Angela, and she is later seen crying in the stairway.
Lester and Angela later have a conversation about beauty and looks. He tells her that she is beautiful, and they kiss. She asks him what he wants, and Lester confesses that he wants to sleep with her. When they are about to have sex, Angela reveals she’s a virgin.
This makes Lester stop because the confession disproves the image of experience and sexiness she had been portraying. The two of them instead talk and share a conversation. When Angela goes to the bathroom, Lester looks at a photograph and thinks about older times with his family.
Just then, he gets shot from behind his back in the head by Frank. Carolyn mourns his loss, while Ricky thinks the dead body is beautiful. The film ends with a montage of Lester’s life where he talks about being grateful for his life and finally seeing the beauty in the world.
Why Did Frank Kill Lester in American Beauty?
Frank is a closeted homosexual man who is very uptight. It’s clear that he was bottling up his feelings for a long time. The only time his hard exterior crumbles is when he thinks that he has found a fellow partner in Lester.
He is inspired by Lester’s ability to embrace his homosexuality without caring about the world. It’s all wrong, of course, since Lester isn’t gay. So when he gets rebuffed, he goes into the same shell that has protected him.
However, his secret won’t stay a secret if he allows the one man who knows about it to live. So to protect himself from society’s judgment, he kills Lester. After all, dead men tell no tales. It doesn’t matter to him that his secret is probably safe with him. He couldn’t live with the fear that such a secret would bring.
Why Didn’t Lester and Angela Sleep Together?
When Angela tells Lester she’s a virgin, a switch goes off in his head. From being just an object of his desire and lust, she becomes a thing of beauty. At that moment, he sees her as akin to his daughter, so he wraps her up in comforting words that assuage her insecurities.
Where Does the Ending of American Beauty Leave the Characters?
In the end, Lester gets a sort of redemption. Throughout the film, his lust for Angela is shown in a near-negative light, although some argue it’s also portrayed as daring. He redeems himself when he doesn’t sleep with her and instead assures her of her beauty and worth. In those final moments, he sees her as his daughter.
Jane and Angela’s only prisons are their teenage insecurities. Also, Jane is probably relieved on some level to find her father dead and not flirting with her friend anymore. Ricky’s prison was the hold his abusive father, Frank, had on him. If he did leave for New York, he would have escaped it.
In the end, Carolyn and Frank are the only two people who aren’t in any positive space. Frank is imprisoned by his innate homosexual desires that he is afraid to show the world for fear of being shunned. He may also face a literal prison due to his actions.
As for Carolyn, she is imprisoned by her materiality. The only way she measures success is through material means, and as per her, she isn’t successful enough. In the end, even though she is free of her marriage due to Lester’s death, she isn’t free of worldly desires. It also doesn’t mean that Buddy Kane will now be with her.
Overall, American Beauty deals with a lot of complicated themes. It explores non-conformity in more than one way. Lester’s lust for Angela, Angela’s provocative nature, Carolyn’s affair with Buddy Kane, Ricky’s false admission of homosexuality, and Frank’s trying to kiss Lester, are all examples of it.
All of them are trying to escape their societal confines. The film, taking place in suburbia, another 90s motif of imprisonment, is a jaded exploration of the failed American dream as well. Lester, in his death, was able to escape it. But others are still stuck.
Well, American Beauty is available online on Netflix, Max, Prime, and Hulu.
What are your thoughts about the ending of American Beauty?
Did Lester redeem himself in any way in the end? Did his death help him escape the mundane and monotonous life he hated? Did Angela finally gain self-esteem?
Let us know in the comments below.
