How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from American Beauty.
Quote #4
CAROLYN: Honey, I'm so proud of you! You know, I watched you very closely— you didn't screw up once!
Yikes. Carolyn is trying to compliment Jane on her cheerleading performance, but if we were Jane, we're not sure we'd appreciate being watched like a hawk for screw-ups. But that's Carolyn, right? She's all about perfection, and so that's what she cared about in watching Jane's dancing. We can only imagine what she would have said if Jane had screwed up.
Quote #5
ANGELA: No, I liked it. And I still like it. If people I don't even know look at me and want to f*** me, it means I really have a shot at being a model. Which is great, because there's nothing worse in life than being ordinary.
Here, Angela is talking to Jane about all the male attention she (supposedly) gets from random men everywhere. Jane thinks it sounds gross, but Angela claims she loves it. You definitely get the sense, here and elsewhere, that Angela ties all of her self-worth and self-esteem (and professional goals) to whether other people think she's pretty.
Quote #6
JANE: He's like, so confident. That can't be real.
Jane is pretty insecure when we first meet her, and so it makes sense that she's completely floored by how confident Ricky is, even when people like Angela do things like call him "mental boy." With the exception of his dad, Ricky does not give a hoot what other people think of him—and Jane totally does not relate.