Although both films, It’s a Wonderful Life and American Beauty contain such a veritable smorgasbord of interesting characters, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly which characters I can honestly say that identify with. Perhaps it’s that all of the main characters are such extreme stereotypical exaggerations of particular personality traits and are of ages that are either quite a bit older or younger than myself, and that they have experienced life in ways that are so totally foreign to my own experience to date.
Considering the main characters in It’s a Wonderful Life, from the magnanimously benevolent and philanthropical altruism of George Bailey, to the naïve ineptitude of his uncle Billy, the miserly mean-spiritedness of Mr. Potter, and the childlike kindness of Clarence the angel – it’s hard to say that I can realistically identify with any of them. Similarly in American Beauty, considering the pathetic hopelessness of Lester Burnham, his materialistically shallow wife, or the psychotic and violently self-loathing of Colonel Fitts, I cannot truly pinpoint a soul whose identity I can relate to. And yet….and yet….
While I feel sadness for some of these characters, admire others, and despise the rest, there are traits among them that I actually envy, strange as it may seem. I’d love to have the unbridled optimism and boundless generosity of George Bailey, the business acumen of Potter, the carefree happy spirit of Uncle Billy, and the supernatural abilities of Clarence. What an unbelievable person that would make me. The same could be said for those freaks of nature in American Beauty. Sure, Lester, the miserable bastard, is suffering through a pitiful midlife crisis and is essentially an embarrassment to himself and everyone around him. But who among us would secretly wish they had the balls to tell their boss to just stick it? It’s every working stiff’s dream to say: “You can take this job and shove it!” I admire his courage to just bail on the rat race...