10 Movies That Were About Nothing More Than Dirty Old Perverts

3. American Beauty (1999)

Things aren't so good for Lester. He hates his job and his wife Carolyn is a successful real estate agent. Their daughter Jane is sixteen years old, despises her parents and has emotional problems. Their new neighbours consist of former marine Frank and his introverted wife Barbara. They have a teenage son - Ricky who is a secret stoner. His upbringing has been very strict. Dirty Old Pervert Lester falls for Angela - one of Jane's young friends and consequently has the mother of all midlife crises. He quits his job, works in a fast food restaurant, buys a Pontiac and begins to work out when he overhears Angela saying to Jane that he would be handsome if he had the right physique. He also has recurrent sexual fantasies about Angela - usually involving red rose petals and he begins smoking marijuana - provided by Ricky (who is having a thing with Jane by this stage). Things begin to get very weird. Lester discovers Carolyn is being unfaithful. Through a series of circumstances, Frank becomes convinced that Lester and Ricky are having a gay affair. He kicks Ricky out of the house after some goading, and Ricky and Jane head for New York. To the viewer's astonishment, Frank makes a pass at Lester. After he rebuffs Frank, Lester finds a distraught Angela who also tries to seduce him. But by this stage, Lester has had enough of this crazy world and his conscience won't let him 'go there' with Angela. American Beauty is a hard film to analyse due to its heavy symbolism and complex narrative. Lester masturbates forlornly in the shower. He is sexually estranged from his wife Carolyn who finds herself liberated carrying on behind his back. His sexual desire for Angela has been interpreted as a sublimation of his sexual feelings towards his own daughter from whom he is alienated. Everyone in the film seems to be defined by their sexuality - their personalities and their actions are all driven by this. Lester feels repression of his manhood so he quits his job and regresses into a fast food job to rid himself from the stench of failure. What elevates him above everything in the movie is that he is not deluded and he possesses a strong sense of self awareness. So he is a Dirty Old Pervert for lusting after Angela, but he is fully aware of this, and because of that fact - his painful consciousness of his crappy life, Lester actually appears as a sympathetic character despite his perviness. Spacey did a good job of acting Lester - low key enough to let the other performers shine and he is very believable in his role. In the end, we discover that when faced with the prospect of having potential sex with Angela, he backs down - thus negating his status as a Dirty Old Pervert in the final frames.