1. Will Carr
As a child I was self absorbed, egotistical and narcissistic; I thought of myself as the
center of the universe. It took me fifteen years to come to the realization that I was not always
going to be in the limelight. That discovery has saved me from growing into a person who sticks
his nose up and looks down on others. This great epiphany came not from family, friends, or
some great book written by a dead guy but from a movie I saw when I was fourteen.
That day I was alone. My dad was working, my mom was at a track meet for the school
she teaches at, and my sister was at college, two hours away. At this point in time, I was still the
center of the universe. When I was bored I usually watched movies, so I began sorting through
my family’s movie collection. After about five minutes of thumbing through DVDs, I found
something I hadn’t seen before; it was called American Beauty. I had heard my sister -- a film
studies major at this time -- rave about how great the movie was. I had to know if it was as good
as she had claimed, so I watched it.
My first viewing of that film may be the most confusing two hours of my life. It was not
because of the complex plot or deeper messages -- I will however admit I did not understand
those at the time -- but it was because of the massive highs and lows in the story. I was taken on
an emotional rollercoaster that I had never felt before. The movie centers around an average man
going through a midlife crisis. Here was a man who had what many Americans dream of -- a job,
a house, a family -- but really had nothing. I related to him in that way. I was the center of
attention. I had loving parents, an amazing sister, and some of the best friends a person could ask
for, but my relationship with all of them was surface deep. This was not healthy, and I knew I
had to change. I did not want understand the purpose of my life only at my death, like Lester did.
This movie also made me begin to realize that there are some serious problems in the
world. Issues like self-image, adultery, and child abuse are present throughout the movie. This
was the first time I had really thought about these problems. I had never been affected by them,
so I pretended that they weren’t there. After seeing this movie, I began watching the news and
reading more to keep up those and many other social problems. I began thinking of others more
in everyday life, rather that thinking selfishly.
Now that I am preparing for college, I have gone back and watched American Beauty for
what I believe is the eleventh time. I feel it has prepared me for college by awaking my
compassion and awareness for many issues that are still in society and making me a kinder and
more caring brother, son, and friend. Sometimes life is hard. I get mad at my loved ones. I

2. Will Carr
picture that plastic bag, swirling in the wind and say to myself, “It’s hard to stay mad when
there’s so much beauty in the world.”