How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from American Beauty.
Quote #10
RICKY: Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it… and my heart is just going to cave in.
We've been focusing a lot on how focusing on appearances is bad/harmful for the characters, but there's a positive side to it as well—and Ricky is the one to show us. He's all about finding and talking about what is beautiful in the world, but he doesn't limit that definition to things that are "perfect" (like Carolyn does) or things that make you sexually desirable (like Angela does). Instead, he finds beauty in more unexpected places and moments, like death and plastic bags. It may sound kind of goofy, but these are things that have meaning for him.