beauty

The beauty that is found in something or someone can be a very difficult thing to describe. The definition in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary reads: “Beauty- the combination of qualities that make something pleasing and impressive to listen to or touch, or especially to look at”. In the film American Beauty a different type of beauty is depicted. Beauty is not merely defined by aesthetic means. The simplicity of beauty and the overpowering feeling that a person gets at the sight of it are given as guidelines to discovering the beauty found in conventionally unbeautiful things. Seeing this true beauty, as Ricky describes it, would be overwhelming and would make one feel like “their heart was caving in”. This is the beauty that is at the core of Ricky’s recordings; he tries to capture the pure simplicity of beauty on film.
When Ricky’s family first moves next door to the Burnham family, he is immediately drawn Jane’s inner beauty and thus attempts to film her. In the scene...