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In the original script for the movie American Beauty Beatles songs are used numerous times, such as when Ricky is in his jail cell and when Lester sees Ricky's music when getting pot from him. I can see why Lester would be interested in the Beatles, since they were popular when he was younger.

But why would Ricky be interested in them and Pink Floyd, considering he's an outcast who sees the inner beauty in things? Wouldn't a nonconformist like him be more interested in music that isn't popular as opposed to the Beatles, who many people liked because they wanted to conform with their peers?

And how does the song "Fixing a Hole" suit Ricky when he is in jail?

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  • Even if we suppose the Beatles & Pink Floyd was conformist mainstream music back in the day (which is highly debatable), at the time of the film they're considered cool, classic retro.
    – Walt
    Jun 7, 2015 at 11:14
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    This question is asking why someone likes certain music. That's just too broad and mostly opinion based.
    – DA.
    Jun 7, 2015 at 14:27
  • @DA.: It's only opinion based in absence of a cinematographic reason (or plot reason, but that does not seem to fit this case).
    – Flater
    Jul 14, 2017 at 8:10

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The feeling and idea of that Beatles song ("Because") matched the feeling and idea of the film, especially during the moment in the film when the song came on.

I think the idea (for both the film and the song) is about creating a vision of life that feels right to you; finding the beauty in what's in front of you at the moment instead of focusing on the things that others around you consider 'important'.

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The beetles were not some conventional boy/choir band. They were free spirited thinkers just like Rickey, if you look at their album bigger than Jesus, it speaks volumes about it. Also John Lennon's imagine which itself is kind of a song that makes you think deep about the lyrics. Hence Ricky might have been interested about the beetles based on their ideal and spreading then through songs. It's just my 0.02$

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    AFAIK The Beatles had no album called 'Bigger than Jesus'.
    – Walt
    Jun 7, 2015 at 11:14
  • "More popular than Jesus" (or "Bigger than Jesus") was a remark made by John Lennon in 1966. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_popular_than_Jesus
    – musicinmusic
    Jun 7, 2015 at 12:18
  • @Walt: I think he's thinking of the Simpsons here, as it's the name of the album that caused the Be Sharps to jump the shark. Its cover parodied the Beatles (it's their most famous album cover), as did the album name (see musicinmusic's comment). Side note: in the episode, when Homer alludes to the Be Sharps getting too big for their shoes, Bart even jests by saying "what did you do, say you're bigger than Jesus?" before Homer had even mentioned the album name.
    – Flater
    Jul 14, 2017 at 8:12

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