How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from American Beauty.
Quote #1
LESTER: My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighborhood. This is my street. This is my life. I'm forty-two years old. In less than a year, I'll be dead.
Yup, this is how we begin the movie—we already know the main character is going to die. Cheerful.
Quote #2
RICKY: I was filming this dead bird.
ANGELA: Why?
RICKY: Because it's beautiful.
Ricky turns out to be very sweet, but some of these early moments make us think he's a bit strange. Here, Jane discovers him filming a dead bird—and, naturally, asks why in the world he would do such a thing. As Ricky later goes on to explain (in Quote #4), he believes you can see God in the eyes of the dead. Well, when you put it that way…
Quote #3
RICKY: Have you ever known anybody who died?
JANE: No. Have you?
RICKY: No, but I did see this homeless woman who froze to death once. Just laying there on the sidewalk. She looked really sad. I got that homeless woman on videotape.
Apparently, Ricky's filming has gone way beyond filming dead birds, as he reveals here.