“I’m one twisted fuck? No, I’m just an ordinary man with nothing to lose.“
Lester Burnham (played by Kevin Spacey) is an everyman – his life’s in a rut, it’s been a long time since someone asked him how he is. At the precise moment he starts to feel good about himself again his fucked up neighbour shoots him.
Not your average feel good movie but watching American Beauty again made me realise what a life enhancing movie it is. This time I watched it on my own and was interested in what director Sam Mendes said of the movie in an old Time magazine interview :
“I really do hope it’s a very private experience watching the film. It’s not a public statement, it’s a very private, interior film and much of what is good comes out of the moments of solitude, where a character is left alone and you as a viewer can share those moments with the character “.
That’s certainly how I felt. The characters are all lonely and isolated in their own ways. It struck me that loneliness is not something to overcome but something to live and come to terms with.
As I wrote these words, listening to a Last.FM shuffle, the dulcit tones of Morrissey on the Smiths’ ‘William, It Was Really Nothing’ was singing “I don’t dream of anyone except myself“. Perfect timing.
“loneliness is not something to overcome but something to live and come to terms with.”
I like this statement of yours. I’m not that “I’m lonely and nobody cares about me.” type of person but in fact i find myself to be always lonely even when I truly do not want to. But through loneliness I start to appreciate and understand how big of impacts those few peoples that really care about me. Guess loneliness is really nothing you should overcome.