 Mendes called American Beauty a rite of passage film about imprisonment and escape from imprisonment . The monotony of Lester 's existence is established through his gray , nondescript workplace and characterless clothing . In these scenes , he is often framed as if trapped , " reiterating rituals that hardly please him " . He masturbates in the confines of his shower ; the shower stall evokes a jail cell and the shot is the first of many where Lester is confined behind bars or within frames , such as when he is reflected behind columns of numbers on a computer monitor , " confined [ and ] nearly crossed out " . The academic and author Jody W. Pennington argues that Lester 's journey is the story 's center . His sexual reawakening through meeting Angela is the first of several turning points as he begins to " [ throw ] off the responsibilities of the comfortable life he has come to despise " . After Lester shares a joint with Ricky , his spirit is released and he begins to rebel against Carolyn . Changed by Ricky 's " attractive , profound confidence " , Lester is convinced that Angela is attainable and sees that he must question his " banal , numbingly materialist suburban existence " ; he takes a job at a fast @-@ food outlet , which allows him to regress to a point when he could " see his whole life ahead of him " . 
 Mendes called American Beauty a rite of passage film about imprisonment and escape from imprisonment . The monotony of Lester <a href='null_genetive' title='1'><mark>'s</mark></a>existence is established through his gray , nondescript workplace and characterless clothing . In these scenes , he is often framed as if trapped , " reiterating rituals <a href='null_relcl' title='2'><mark>that</mark></a>hardly please him " . He <a href='uninflect' title='3'><mark>masturbates</mark></a> in the confines of his shower ; the shower stall <a href='uninflect' title='4'><mark>evokes</mark></a> a jail cell and the shot <a href='drop_aux' title='5'><mark>is</mark></a>the first of many where Lester is confined behind bars or within frames , such as when he is reflected behind columns of numbers on a computer monitor , " confined [ and ] nearly crossed out " . The academic and author Jody W. Pennington <a href='uninflect' title='6'><mark>argues</mark></a> that Lester <a href='null_genetive' title='7'><mark>'s</mark></a>journey is the story <a href='null_genetive' title='8'><mark>'s</mark></a>center . His sexual reawakening through meeting Angela <a href='drop_aux' title='9'><mark>is</mark></a>the first of several turning points as he <a href='uninflect' title='10'><mark>begins</mark></a> to " [ throw ] off the responsibilities of the comfortable life he <a href='been_done' title='11'><mark>has</mark></a> come to despise " . After Lester <a href='uninflect' title='12'><mark>shares</mark></a> a joint with Ricky , his spirit is released and he <a href='uninflect' title='13'><mark>begins</mark></a> to rebel against Carolyn . Changed by Ricky <a href='null_genetive' title='14'><mark>'s</mark></a>" attractive , profound confidence " , Lester is convinced that Angela is attainable and <a href='uninflect' title='15'><mark>sees</mark></a> that he must question his " banal , numbingly materialist suburban existence " ; he <a href='uninflect' title='16'><mark>takes</mark></a> a job at a fast @-@ food outlet , which <a href='uninflect' title='17'><mark>allows</mark></a> him to regress to a point when he could " see his whole life ahead of him " . 
Mendes called American Beauty a rite of passage film about imprisonment and escape from imprisonment . da monotony of Lester  existence is established through his gray , nondescript workplace and characterless clothing . In these scenes , he is often framed as if trapped , " reiterating rituals hardly plz him " . He masturbate in the confines of his shower ; tdashower stall evoke a jail cell and the shot the first of many where Lester is confined behind bars or within frames , such as when he is reflected behind columns of numbers on a computer monitor , " confined [ and ] nearly crossed outt " . Thdacademic and author Jody W. Pennington argue dat Lester  journey is the story  center . His sexual reawakening thru meeting Angela thedarst of several turnin points as he begin to " [ throw ] off the responsibilities of the dafortable life he done come to despise " . After Lester share a joint w/ Ricky , his spirit is released and he begin to rebel against Carolyn . Changed by Ricky  " attractive , profound confidence " , Lester is convinced that Angela is attainable and see that he must question his " banal , numbingly materialist suburban existence " ; he take a job at a fast @-@ food outlet , which allow him to regress to a point when he could " see his whole life ahead of em " .