# American Beauty: What's up with Ricky's mom? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 14, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beauty-whats-up-with-rickys-mom/602846 "2011-11-14T00:05:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beauty-whats-up-with-rickys-mom/602846/21 "2011-11-15T02:18:07Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > It just occurred to me; if someone had never seen this movie, but read this thread, they would probably think, “Well, THAT’S one depressing movie I don’t need to see!” > > They would be wrong, of course; it’s a fabulous movie, and uplifting at the same time that it is depressing. But I thought it was amusing how our discussion is focusing on the downer aspects of it. Well, hell. My first reaction to the movie was that it’s depressing as hell. I didn’t see one likeable character in the movie except perhaps Ricky and just maybe Jane. Everyone is in a weird hell of their own or someone else’s choosing except Lester, who’s had an epiphany that his life sucks and would be perfect if he could just smoke dope all day and fuck a high school cheerleader. OK, fine, my life would probably be better too, but he, and the entire castwith the exception of Ricky and Jane (and of course Ricky’s mom) are horrible people I wouldn’t even want to know. Lester finally woke up that he is unhappy and wants something - anything! - else, but he’s so freaking selfish about it I can’t sympathize very much. It is a good movie. It’s a really really good movie. But it’s depressing on so many levels. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beauty-whats-up-with-rickys-mom/602846/22 "2011-11-15T02:38:02Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > It may be a mistake for me to read so much into one line, but if she were meant to be “drifting off” in the TV scene then having her say “I’m sorry, what?” in response to someone actually speaking directly to her would have made more sense. Her other scenes made it clear that she wasn’t engaged with what was going on around her, so there was no reason to have another scene do the same thing in a more ambiguous manner. I can buy that she was hearing things for reasons other than schizophrenia, but I don’t see any point to her line in the TV scene unless it was meant to indicate that she was indeed hearing things. I think you misread my post. I was saying that if the scene was meant to indicate that indeed she was hearing things, Major Depressive Disorder With Psychotic Features is probably a more plausible diagnosis than schizophrenia. I mentioned it because you made the comment that people with depression don’t hallucinate, which is inaccurate. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beauty-whats-up-with-rickys-mom/602846/23 "2011-11-15T02:57:35Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > I think you misread my post. I was saying that if the scene was meant to indicate that indeed she was hearing things, Major Depressive Disorder With Psychotic Features is probably a more plausible diagnosis than schizophrenia. I mentioned it because you made the comment that people with depression don’t hallucinate, which is inaccurate. Yes, I got that. I think you misread \*my \*post, because I was not disagreeing that the mother might have some hallucination-causing mental illness other than schizophrenia. That’s why I said I can buy that she might be hearing things for some other reason – possibly Major Depressive Disorder, possibly substance abuse as **Argent Towers** mentioned, possibly something else that none of us have thought of. I was disagreeing with your suggestion that maybe the scene _isn’t_ meant to indicate that she was hearing things, but rather that she was just “drifting off”. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beauty-whats-up-with-rickys-mom/602846/24 "2011-11-15T03:01:02Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I haven’t seen the movie in years, but at the time I remember thinking she was clearly schizophrenic. Her controlling, closet case of a husband certainly wouldn’t have helped matters – and he probably would not have been in favor of therapy or psychiatric treatment either – but I don’t think he can be blamed for her flat affect and apparent auditory hallucinations. Schizophrenia tends to manifest itself later in women than in men, and it’s not that unusual for a woman to marry and have children before she starts to show symptoms. I assumed schizophrenic as well. Abusive marriages might cause anxiety problems, in extreme cases PTSD and in rare cases of extreme physical abuse perhaps brain damage (though by or after that point the law is usually involved). This woman wasn’t eccentric or “nervous” but full on mentally ill. It’s possible she’s overmedicated as well, but her husband isn’t the ultimate cause of her illness, though it wouldn’t be at all unrealistic for her teenaged son to blame him for it. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beauty-whats-up-with-rickys-mom/602846/25 "2011-11-15T03:01:20Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Yes, I got that. I think you misread \*my \*post, because I was not disagreeing that the mother might have some hallucination-causing mental illness other than schizophrenia. That’s why I said I can buy that she might be hearing things for some other reason – possibly Major Depressive Disorder, possibly substance abuse as **Argent Towers** mentioned, possibly something else that none of us have thought of. I was disagreeing with your suggestion that maybe the scene _isn’t_ meant to indicate that she was hearing things, but rather that she was just “drifting off”. Ah, yes, I did misread. Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![pompeybear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8c91f0/32.png) [@pompeybear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pompeybear)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beauty-whats-up-with-rickys-mom/602846/26 "2011-11-15T03:21:21Z")
My understanding is that the movie was seriously re-edited to make the final version. I actually remember Allison Janney in a Leno or Letterman interview stating that the movie that was shown was totally different than the movie she thought she was making. Perhaps some of the explanations for her character’s actions where edited out. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beauty-whats-up-with-rickys-mom/602846/27 "2011-11-15T03:25:56Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > In other words, she is what Lester was heading for, if he hadn’t had his epiphany. But he **did**. . . Sometimes ya just can’t win. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beauty-whats-up-with-rickys-mom/602846/28 "2011-11-15T03:45:32Z")
> [@cpastu](#): > > My understanding is that the movie was seriously re-edited to make the final version. I actually remember Allison Janney in a Leno or Letterman interview stating that the movie that was shown was totally different than the movie she thought she was making. A little off the topic of the OP, but I read the script for _American Beauty_ several years ago, and while I don’t remember anything more about Ricky’s mom than was in the final movie there were significant differences between the script and movie. The biggest one is that the script had a murder trial as a framing device. The videotape scene of Jane telling Ricky how much she hates her dad and Ricky offering to kill him that’s seen at the beginning of the movie was in the script being presented as evidence at the trial. Some of the other characters are seen testifying for the prosecution. In the end Jane and Ricky are convicted of murdering Lester. I think it was definitely a wise move to drop these scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beauty-whats-up-with-rickys-mom/602846/29 "2011-11-15T04:05:06Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > A little off the topic of the OP, but I read the script for _American Beauty_ several years ago, and while I don’t remember anything more about Ricky’s mom than was in the final movie there were significant differences between the script and movie. The biggest one is that the script had a murder trial as a framing device. The videotape scene of Jane telling Ricky how much she hates her dad and Ricky offering to kill him that’s seen at the beginning of the movie was in the script being presented as evidence at the trial. Some of the other characters are seen testifying for the prosecution. In the end Jane and Ricky are convicted of murdering Lester. > > I think it was definitely a wise move to drop these scenes. Another difference, in the original script, Lester and Angela \*\*do \*\*have sex after she tells him she’s a virgin. (I had actually read the original script a couple months before the film was released in theaters, so I was \*very \*pleased to see all the changes!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beauty-whats-up-with-rickys-mom/602846.md?page=1)