 Scholars and academics have offered many possible readings of American Beauty ; film critics are similarly divided , not so much about the quality of the film , as their interpretations of it . Described by many as about " the meaning of life " or " the hollow existence of the American suburbs " , the film has defied categorization by even the filmmakers . Mendes is indecisive , saying the script seemed to be about something different each time he read it : " a mystery story , a kaleidoscopic journey through American suburbia , a series of love stories ; [ ... ] it was about imprisonment , [ ... ] loneliness , [ and ] beauty . It was funny ; it was angry , sad . " The literary critic and author Wayne C. Booth concludes that the film resists any one interpretation : " [ American Beauty ] cannot be adequately summarized as ' here is a satire on what 's wrong with American life ' ; that plays down the celebration of beauty . It is more tempting to summarize it as ' a portrait of the beauty underlying American miseries and misdeeds ' , but that plays down the scenes of cruelty and horror , and Ball 's disgust with our mores . It cannot be summarized with either Lester or Ricky 's philosophical statements about what life is or how one should live . " He argues that the problem of interpreting the film is tied with that of finding its center — a controlling voice who " [ unites ] all of the choices " . He contends that in American Beauty 's case , it is neither Mendes nor Ball . Mendes considers the voice to be Ball 's , but even while the writer was " strongly influential " on set , he often had to accept deviations from his vision , particularly ones that transformed the cynical tone of his script into something more optimistic . With " innumerable voices intruding on the original author 's , " Booth says , those who interpret American Beauty " have forgotten to probe for the elusive center " . According to Booth , the film 's true controller is the creative energy " that hundreds of people put into its production , agreeing and disagreeing , inserting and cutting " . 
 Scholars and academics <a href='been_done' title='1'><mark>have</mark></a> offered many possible readings of American Beauty ; film critics are similarly divided , not so much about the quality of the film , as their interpretations of it . Described by many as about " the meaning of life " or " the hollow existence of the American suburbs " , the film <a href='been_done' title='2'><mark>has</mark></a> defied categorization by even the filmmakers . Mendes <a href='drop_aux' title='3'><mark>is</mark></a>indecisive , saying the script seemed to be about something different each time he read it : " a mystery story , a kaleidoscopic journey through American suburbia , a series of love stories ; [ ... ] it was about imprisonment , [ ... ] loneliness , [ and ] beauty . It was funny ; it was angry , sad . " The literary critic and author Wayne C. Booth <a href='uninflect' title='4'><mark>concludes</mark></a> that the film <a href='uninflect' title='5'><mark>resists</mark></a> any one interpretation : " [ American Beauty ] cannot be adequately summarized as ' here is a satire on what 's wrong with American life ' ; that <a href='uninflect' title='6'><mark>plays</mark></a> down the celebration of beauty . It <a href='drop_aux' title='7'><mark>is</mark></a>more tempting to summarize it as ' a portrait of the beauty underlying American miseries and misdeeds <a href='null_genetive' title='8'><mark>'</mark></a>, but that <a href='uninflect' title='9'><mark>plays</mark></a> down the scenes of cruelty and horror , and Ball <a href='null_genetive' title='10'><mark>'s</mark></a>disgust with our mores . It cannot be summarized with either Lester or Ricky <a href='null_genetive' title='11'><mark>'s</mark></a>philosophical statements about what life is or how one should live . " He <a href='uninflect' title='12'><mark>argues</mark></a> that the problem of interpreting the film is tied with that of finding its center — a controlling voice <a href='null_relcl' title='13'><mark>who</mark></a>" [ unites ] all of the choices " . He <a href='uninflect' title='14'><mark>contends</mark></a> that in American Beauty <a href='null_genetive' title='15'><mark>'s</mark></a>case , it is neither Mendes nor Ball . Mendes <a href='uninflect' title='16'><mark>considers</mark></a> the voice to be Ball <a href='null_genetive' title='17'><mark>'s</mark></a>, but even while the writer was " strongly influential " on set , he often had to accept deviations from his vision , particularly ones <a href='null_relcl' title='18'><mark>that</mark></a>transformed the cynical tone of his script into something more optimistic . With " innumerable voices intruding on the original author <a href='null_genetive' title='19'><mark>'s</mark></a>, " Booth <a href='uninflect' title='20'><mark>says</mark></a> , those <a href='null_relcl' title='21'><mark>who</mark></a>interpret American Beauty " <a href='been_done' title='22'><mark>have</mark></a> forgotten to probe for the elusive center " . According to Booth , the film <a href='null_genetive' title='23'><mark>'s</mark></a>true controller <a href='drop_aux' title='24'><mark>is</mark></a>the creative energy " <a href='null_relcl' title='25'><mark>that</mark></a>hundreds of people put into its production , agreeing and disagreeing , inserting and cutting " . 
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