Research Project: Freud, Batallie And American Beauty (1999)

The film American Beauty (1999) directed by Sam Mendes is an ideal text to look at in relation to Freud`s theory on Fetishism and Bataille`s theory on Eroticism. The narrative of the film is full of references to sexuality and desire. As we see the story develop the relationships between the characters are polarized, this puts the audience in the unique position of knowing. Whilst the characters within the scri pt are unaware of certain aspects the audience is let into all the secrets, desires and longings that the characters feel. This leaves the viewer in the position of the voyeur, gleaming pleasure and satisfaction from the apparent disruption to other people's lives.

For purposes of this research I will begin by looking at the characters within the film`s narrative individually and at times focusing on how they interact with one and other. Firstly I would like to take look at Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) and see how he is coping with his middle aged predicament. Lester is a married man, he has a daughter a good house, a decent job but his life has become boring and monotonous. He is no longer the career animal he used to be, now in his late 40`s he is looking back to his youth with longing. What he once had is what he wants now, although what he does have now on the surface seems ample but beneath is far from satisfactory to Lester.

This change in Lester is triggered by his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) who is constantly seeking to emasculate her husband. She treats him like a child, sits him in the back seat of their car, any sexual desire she once had towards Lester she does not have/ display any-more. Carolyn even goes as far as having an affair with another man in order to satisfy her own desire; Lester eventually finds out and manages to turn the situation in his favour. The narrative of American Beauty is full of images of metaphorical castration involving Carolyn towards her husband, which is an area I would like to research further. Baker (2006, p.80) highlights Lester`s plight `Lester Bernham, a forty- something male drifting through parenthood and marriage. Lester is another victim of white male dispossession and `emasculation``. As his fear of masculinity is tested we see him bolster his masculine identity by building a fetish. As Freud (1927, p. 353) writes `We can now see what the fetish and what it is that maintains it. It remains a token of triumph over the threat of castration and a protection against it.`

The love Lester once had for his wife becomes replaced by fetishism for his daughter's best friend Angela (Mena Suvari). She is represented as the classical view of feminine beauty, pale perfect skin, long blonde hair, a perfect figure, no real flaws can be found in her looks. The way Lester looks at Angela in film could be seen as indicative of Freud`s theory on fetishism. Laura Mulvey (1975, p.6-18) expands on the concept of visual pleasure gained from the knowledge of the male gaze/scopophilia used,

`In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness. Woman displayed as sexual object is the leit-motif of erotic spectacle: from pin-ups to strip-tease, from Ziegfeld to Busby Berkeley, she holds the look, plays to and signifies male desire.`

When Lester is left in a social situation with Angela he begins to sexually fantasize about her. The director Mendes enables the use of mise-en-scene to emphasize Lester`s fetish. These scenes always seem to occur in a disjointed reality in accordance to the linear narrative of the piece. Everything stops in Lester`s world; the only thing he can see is Angela and her beauty and her sexual prowess. Her body is shown fully, well lit on a dark background so she is very much in the front of the frame, make-up and costume become very provocative, figure movement is seductive with diegetic mood music(porno music?) pulsating in the background setting the scene as a fetishistic daydream. These daydreams occur when they meet.

The fetish Lester holds in relation to Angela could be seen as erotic. My second key theorist is George Bataille, his work states the longing for continuity between two discontinuous beings. This eroticism displaces the ordinary, it disrupts everyday life and processes- such as work, thus losing track of time and reality. Bataille (1986, p.16-7) writes `The transition from the normal state to that of erotic desire presupposes a partial dissolution of the person as they exist in the realm of discontinuity`. This area of `discontinuity` would be sexual intercourse between Lester and his fetish, young Angela. Lester longs for this continuity that he has lost in his marriage between himself and his wife. He now uses the desire and fetish he feels towards Angela to fill the gap he has lost in his life, the commitment and love of his wife.

Lester`s new life as a single man begins when he finds out about his wife having an affair. Now he goes through a cathartic period where tries to begin reliving times of his youth. He starts smoking cannabis, listening to his favourite music, quits his job in an office and gets a part time job in a fast food restaurant. He buys a fancy car with his savings, he does all the things that he believes will make him feel better as a man. These material possessions he purchases help mask what he is really going through. This situation Lester finds himself in is what some people would call a 'mid life crisis'.

Freud has another theory which I think could be applied to American Beauty. This theory is the `Oedipus Complex`, Freud states (1931, p.31) `During the phase of the normal Oedipus complex we find the child tenderly attached to the parent of the opposite sex, while its relation to the parent of its own sex is predominantly hostile.` This is certainly seen in American Beauty, the films narrative shows how Lester`s daughter (Jane) is against any notion of a relationship between her friend and her father. Why would Jane find this a problem? The idea that `the child is tenderly attached to the parent of the opposite sex` is displayed on screen. Jane is represented as a jealous child, her father is being distracted by her friend and she does not like this. Society has told us what is right and wrong in terms of relationships between families but Jane consistently shows anger towards her mother and disgust towards her friend Angela.

The fact Lester likes Angela also raises issues of incest due to the fact that this girl is so close to his daughter. They are the same age and go to school together; Angela frequently visits the house to see Jane and is a presence is his daughter's life. The relationship Lester desires could be seen as having the relationship he lacks with his daughter. Freud (1991, p.317) writes, `The girl's Oedipus complex is much simpler . it seldom goes beyond the taking of the mother's place and the adapting of the feminine attitude towards the father.`

Freud also wrote about sexual repression in terms of what is perceived as the correct sexual route in life. In essence what society constructs as being `right` or `normal`. Paul Kline (1984, p.22) writes when explaining Freud`s theory of repression `that repression is an unconscious process: the individual is entirely unaware of it.` This `process` Kline mentioned is displayed in American Beauty, we have a character Col. Frank Fitts (Chris Cooper). This character displays no homosexual traits that have been constructed by society; instead he displays alpha- male attributes which are more commonly associated with male heterosexuality.

This man was once a Colonel in the U.S Marines, something he asserts on several occasions throughout the film when introducing himself. He also drives home the message to his son (Ricky) that being homosexual is wrong, at one point stating to his son "I`d rather you be dead than be a faggot". Why is this important? Later on in the film Col. Fitts makes a drunken pass at Lester, his heterosexual next-door-neighbour, the audience is let in on Col. Fitts big secret- he is gay. `a "real man" must never resemble women, or display strongly stereotyped feminine characteristics` Brannon 1976 (in Alexander 2003). The importance of this insight shows the audience why he has such prejudice against homosexuals.

Col. Fitts displays characteristics of denial, and shame at his true feelings. Col. Fitts has just moved into the new neighbourhood. We see represented as a strong male character in terms of the way he speaks, often throughout the film introducing himself as "Colonel Frank Fitts, United States Marine Core." asserting his male dominance. The `Don`t ask don`t tell` policy that was enforced in the U.S armed forces could have played a part in Col. Fitts feelings towards himself and homosexuals. This policy denied bisexuals and homosexuals to openly speak about their sexuality, this was founded upon suspicion it may affect the effectiveness of military units out on the field.

He is the head of his family and is very much the driving force behind the Fitts homestead. His wife is passive and shows no real emotion or physical feeling towards her husband. As we watch the film it becomes clear that his wife is almost a cypher he uses to hide his homosexual identity. Richard Borris (2003, p.352) figures "There`s no love, there`s no physical effection, there`s nothing except co dependence and self-pity for not being hetro" Col. Fitts has became so afraid of his sexuality that he has built a family and a homophobic belief system he lives his life by to affirm his masculinity.

Col. Fitts also shows disgust towards his openly gay neighbours, this hate is manifested by the fact that they can be openly gay and happy, where as Col. Fitts himself is suffering from internalized homophobia. The reason he denies his sexuality boils down to the point that he has the idea people might not think of him as a man. He may have forced his own military background upon himself again to create the vision of an all-male. Frank Fitts also owns a large gun collection suggesting masculine power he feels by surrounding himself is such paraphernalia. To come to a conclusion Frank`s hate towards homosexuals could be attributed by the denial of his own sexuality, and fear of his own emasculation.

I find it helpful to think about Freud`s notion that human (our) sexual instincts and desires are constructed by modern society, thoughts of what is right and wrong therefore forcibly represses our sexuality. Col. Fitts is in a sense of denial about his sexual feelings. When Col. Fitts makes a failed pass at his neighbour his reaction is extreme. `The emphasis on heterosexual virility is really a reaction- formation. His avowed jeering contempt of homosexuals, pansies, queers, poofters, queens, is a reaction- formation` Kline (1984, p.23). Col. Fitts goes one step further, upon realisation that his secret is out this drives him to murdering the only other person who knows about his sexuality, Lester.

Conclusion Freud and Bataille`s theories on fetishism, eroticism and sexuality can all be attributed to this film. Although this text I have studied is fictional the film is a drama, the drama is supposed to be believable. With all the aspects in the film in mind I believe that American Beauty is representative of modern society and the construction of sexuality and what is `right and wrong`. These circumstances are displayed in the films narrative through, relationships, affairs, fidelity and divorce. Other attributes displayed are sexual repression, identity and desire. What I have achieved by looking at this film is analysing the differences between what society perceives as 'right' in relation to what is acceptable in modern society.