In the 1999 movie "American Beauty" the main character, Lester Burnham, abruptly makes some changes in his life. 

The changes are not part of a gradual process really. Rather, Lester suddenly realizes he does not really like the person he has become and does not particularly like the life he has made for himself, and he decides to do something about it. 

It is an epiphany. As he says in the film, “I feel like I’ve been in a coma for about 20 years, and I’m just now waking up.”

Lester leaves his career and takes a different job that entails less responsibility. He starts smoking marijuana on the regular and listening to music that he liked in his youth. He trades in his Toyota Camry for a 1970 Firebird. He starts speaking with honesty. He begins to live life as his true, authentic self, stripped of pretension. He starts doing what he wants.

The new Lester does not go out of his way to make those people around him miserable. Instead he simply aims to live his life on his terms, and if people get it, great—and if they don’t, well, that does not bother him too much. He wants his wife and daughter to be happy in their own lives, and he wants that crack at the pursuit of happiness for himself too. He tells them, “You two do whatever you want to do whenever you want to do it and I don’t complain. All I want is the same courtesy.”

Lester’s new lifestyle irritates his wife and daughter. He does not wish for this to happen, but perhaps he realizes that such an outcome is unavoidable. When someone lives intentionally, openly, authentically, and honestly, it can throw other people off. It can make other people uncomfortable. Honesty and openness are attributes that society does not always reward and value.

There is a price to be paid for living life your own way, for not trying to keep up with the Joneses, for not caring about appearances, for not going along to get along, for not joining the crowd, for not doing things like everybody else.

You will not receive societal acclaim for living your life on your own terms. You will probably even receive societal censure.

However, you might also get that funny feeling down in your stomach that tells you you are on the right track. You will start feeling pretty free. You will be able to look in the mirror and feel all right about what you see. That is the message "American Beauty" conveys, anyway.

In the film Lester stops looking for meaning outside of himself. A nice house, a nice yard, a nice couch upholstered in Italian silk have gotten him nowhere on the fulfillment front. 

Lester instead turns his gaze inward and changes from the inside out. He looks closer at himself, and in so doing he gets closer to truth.

Standard contributor Luke Cameron can be reached at 473-2191.