started this change was when he first saw Angela. She represents the ultimate sign of American beauty; she is adorned with red throughout the movie. She emanates sex and passion. Throughout the film she wears very red lipstick, she wears brightly colored clothing and she is seen to Lester as surrounded by red rose petals, he has visions of her soaking in a bath tub of rose petals. Red is the dominant color of nail polish and lipstick for all the central females in the film including Caroline. Caroline Burnham goes through a transformation as well she outwardly appears isolated and controlling but underneath she yearns for passion and power. Mendes ingeniously shows this in the beginning of the film when Caroline undresses to clean a house and underneath her drab yellow suit is a crimson red camisole. While she cleans the dark and shadowy house she is backlit with brightly colored walls. She has a private "breakdown" and covers her sobbing face with those red nails to mask her uncharacteristic behavior. Carolyn attempts to fill her loneliness up with having the right things. The right car, the right house and even the right garden, but she doesn't see the big picture. She does transform, much like Lester into a more secure and grounded person. This is most apparent in the last sequence of the film when she is wearing a sexy red velvet dress. She has become assertive and is ready to finally connect with Lester, even though she is too late. Early on it becomes obvious that she is obsessed with her image of success, and this is why she envies Buddy Kane so fervently. Buddy Kane the "king of real estate" is her competitor and the ideal figure of success, he has a bright red sign mounted in the yards of his homes to advertise himself. The sign represents his power and hints at his sexual appeal to Caroline. Jane and Ricky are important too, they are the more grounded of the characters, they are both presented in neutral colors throughout mos...
