The 1999 feature film "American Beauty" by Sam Mendes explores the American culture in depth on the areas that it falls down, via the characters actions. Right from the opening shot there is a sense that the title holds a sarcastic undertone, with its unusually small size and location on the screen. The movie expresses some of the American societies current ills, with the standouts portrayed being; the increasing superficiality, the obsessive right to bare arms, commercialism, materialism and the increasing separation of families. The director presents all of these issues by creating five totally different main characters that all fit under certain stereotypes and play their role in the film perfectly.

The normal views and beliefs in every society always change and have "good" and "bad" concepts. The American culture living in the fast lane currently falls strongly under the latter category with "American beauty" expressing some of...