The Movie American Beauty and Augustine Confessions

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Recommended: The concept of stereotypes

A stereotype of life is that when people are teenagers they go through a phase where they test the waters with their parents and start to rebel a bit. The teenager thinks he/she is all-knowing, which would be impressive since philosophers grasp for wisdom all of their lives, and think what their parents tell them is not relevant. The story in movies usually ends with the teenager having a revelation or growing up and realizing his parent’s were right and gains respect and love for them. In a sense he comes back home, which reflects the story of the Prodigal’s Son (Luke 15) in the Bible. Augustine uses this allegorically to explain the human condition of life. Humans travel away from their vocation of “being,” and have to travel back from nothingness to themselves so that they can be fully human again. This is a common theme among works, including the movie American Beauty. This movie displays several themes that are covered in Augustine’s Confessions, some being the ideas of authenticity/inauthenticity, ordered/disordered love, and intersubjectivity, or friendship. In the books of the Confessions, Augustine praises God and confesses his sins while telling the story of his journey. The first half of the Confessions describe his journey away from himself, which include giving into his personal pleasure. The fifth book is when he has a revelation, and the rest of the Confessions gives the account of the process of getting back to himself, or being fully human. It is a path that took a large part of his life, but it in the end, he accepts his vocation of “being”. The Augustian form of the prodigal son path is one of losing oneself and finding yourself once again. The way that one becomes inauthentic is that the person follows what ... ... middle of paper ... ...re the authentic version of Caroline, the authentic version of his daughter, and to be his true self. Through realizing this, he is able to see the beauty of creation in life. He ends by stating, “I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life.” At this moment we realize Lester has determined how to use ordered love. Throughout the movie he tries to find himself through disordered love by indulging in things like an expensive car and lust for Angela. But in the end, he realizes he has to use these things to enjoy and appreciate the time that he was given in this beautiful creation. Works Cited American Beauty. Dir. Alan Ball. Perf. Kevin Spacey, Annette bening, and Thora Birch. DreamWorks SKG and Jinks/Cohen Company, 1999. DVD. Augustine, F.J. Sheed, and Michael P. Foley. Confessions. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 2006. Print.

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