The Nineties: A Book

by Chuck Klosterman

The retroactive rejection of American Beauty has nothing to do with art. It’s a rejection of what could reasonably be classified as a problem in 1999. This, somewhat hilariously, is also why it was so acclaimed. When it was new, American Beauty seemed to address uncomfortable domestic conflicts other movies were unwilling to confront. Lester’s midlife crisis was viewed as a multifaceted existential concern. There was a sense his character pursued a dream many men silently desired. The modern reading is that Burnham’s behavior is the juvenile manifestation of unearned privilege. Bening’s career-driven character has an extramarital affair and is portrayed as shrewish and cold. The modern reading is that this depiction is sexist and that her character is heroic. Lester’s infatuation with the teenager is presented in the film as uncomfortable and tragically comic. It now seems criminal, disgusting, and ineligible for use as a comedic plot point. The fact that Burnham quits a lucrative white-collar job to happily work the drive-through window at a fast-food restaurant seems oblivious and insulting to the realities of class struggle. Almost every key point in American Beauty—dissatisfaction with a traditional livelihood, the invisible loneliness of a sexless marriage, the shame of homosexuality, the longing for one’s past, even the difficulty of buying pot—have come to represent pathetic dilemmas younger audiences consider opulent micro-concerns. Modern people hate American Beau...