Jane is a 16-year-old girl struggling with self-esteem issues and unhappy with her family life. Both of her parents are neglectful and too focused on their own problems to pay attention to her. Her father is having a mid-life crisis and inappropriately flirts with Jane's friend Angela. Her mother is more focused on her career and appearances than her daughter. Jane finds comfort in her neighbor Ricky, though he introduces her to drugs. She works to establish her independence from her detached parents as she develops romantic feelings for Ricky.

1. American Beauty
Produced by Bruce Cohen & Dan Jinks
EDSC 320
Final Project
By Patricia Davila
American Beauty
Producers: Bruce Cohen & Dan Jinks
Written by: Alan Ball
Directed by: Sam Mendes
Length: 2 hours, 2 minutes
Time Period: 1999
Age-Appropriateness: Rated R
Adolescent Introduction
•16 years old
•In a 2 parent, middle-class family, both parents are too caught up in their own lives to
pay attention to her
•Has one girlfriend who just brags about her supposed sexual exploits and is attracted to
Jane’s father
•Jane develops a romantic relationship with Ricky who also has an unhappy home life
•Insecure with her appearance
•Unhappy and struggling with self-esteem issues
Elements of Analysis
CONTEXT
Family
–Jane is an only child. Both her parents are a negative influence, because they are both
too caught up with their own lives and marital problems to focus on Jane. Her dad is
dealing with a mid-life crisis and develops an obvious infatuation with Jane’s only friend,
Angela, even though he knows how this embarrasses Jane. Her mom is caught up with
her real estate career and is more concerned with keeping up appearances and material
possessions.
Elements of Analysis
CONTEXT
Peers
–Angela is more concerned with her own looks and flirting with Jane’s dad than with
Jane. Even though Angela knows that Jane is insecure about her appearance, she always
brags about how many men want her. Angela also continuously brags to Jane about her
supposed sexual exploits, although she is secretly a virgin.
–Jane develops a romantic relationship with her next door neighbor Ricky, even though
Angela believes he is a freak. Ricky is a positive influence for Jane in that he makes her
feel better about her appearance. She is also able to openly express her feelings with him.
But Ricky is also a negative influence because he sells and uses marijuana.

2. Elements of Analysis
PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Identity
–Jane is does not like her physical appearance. She feels she is unattractive. Her mother
and best friend, Angela, do not help her to feel better about her looks.
Autonomy
–Since Jane’s parents rarely take an interest in her, the few times they actually try to take
an interest, she asserts her independence.
Context: Family
Jane talks about her relationship with her father with Ricky.
“He’s a total asshole. He’s got this crush on my friend Angela. And it’s disgusting. But
it would be nice if I was anywhere near as important to him as she is. I know you think
my dad’s harmless, but you’re wrong. He’s doing massive psychological damage to me.
I need a father who’s a role model, not some horny geek boy who’s going to spray his
shorts whenever I bring a girlfriend home from school. What a lame-o.”
Context: Family
Example of dad being a negative role model
He quits his job and blackmails his boss for $60,000.
Example of dad’s lack of parenting skills
When Jane tells her dad how embarrassed she is by his behavior toward Angela he
responds, “You better watch yourself Janie or your going to turn into a real bitch like
your mother.
Example of mom’s lack of parenting skills
After Jane responds sarcastically to her, she slaps her and says “You ungrateful little
brat! Just look at everything you have. When I was your age I lived in a duplex. We
didn’t even own our own house.”
Context: Peers
Example of Angela’s attraction to Jane’s father.
Angela talks about being attracted to Jane’s dad, even though it makes Jane
uncomfortable.
Angela: Your dads actually kind of cute.
Jane: Shut up.
Angela: He is. If he just worked out a little, he’d be hot.
Jane: Shut up.
Angela continues to tell Jane about how she would have sex with her dad. Jane covers
her ears and repeats “La, la, la” so that she can avoid hearing Angela.
Example of Ricky being a positive influence on Jane.
Ricky is filming Jane with his camera and she does not like it.
Jane: Don’t.

3. Ricky: Why?
Jane: It’s weird watching myself. I don’t like how I look.
Ricky: I can’t believe you don’t know how beautiful you are.
Example of Ricky being a negative influence on Jane.
After he decides to leave his house due to his dad’s abusive nature, he invites Jane to
move to New York with him. Other drug dealers will help them get settled in NY. Jane
agrees to go.
Psychosocial Development: Identity
As the movie begins Jane is looking at a breast augmentation website. She has been
saving money to get breast implants.
As she is walking to the car so her mom can take her to school, her mom says, “Jane,
honey, are you trying to look unattractive?” Her mom does not like how Jane dresses in
boyish, oversized clothes and wears her hair in a ponytail. Jane responds, “Yes.” Her
mom then says “Congratulations, you’ve succeeded admirably.”
Jane believes she is a freak and after having an argument with Angela, Angela tells Jane
that at least she is not ugly like Jane.
Psychosocial Development: Autonomy
Dad: “So Janie how was school?”
Jane: “It was ok.”
Dad: “Just ok?”
Jane sarcastically says: “No, dad. It was spectacular.”
Dad proceeds to talk about his bad day at work, and then says to an indifferent
Jane, “You couldn’t possibly care less, could you?”
Jane: “What do you expect? You can’t all of a sudden be my best friend just
because you had a bad day. I mean, hello, you’ve barely even spoken to me in months.”
Jane’s Main Problem
Jane is unhappy and is struggling with self-esteem issues. She is a conflicted teenager.
She craves her parents genuine attention, yet when she receives a bit of attention from
them she shuts them out.
Jane and her Family
“Rather than raising their child according to a set of beliefs about what is good for the
child’s development, indifferent parents are “parent-centered”– they structure their home
life primarily around their own needs and interests” (Steinberg 139)
Is Jane a typical adolescent?
Works Cited
American Beauty
Steinberg, L. (2008) Adolescence (8th ed.) New York: McGraw Hill.
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Beauty_(film)
IMDb: The Internet Movie Database http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169547/