Latent homosexuality despite the man being openly homosexual. Latent homosexual themes were a common theme of science fiction films of the 1950s. In the 1999 film "American Beauty" the character Colonel Fitts (Chris Cooper) is depicted as being a latent homosexual. Throughout the film, Fitts makes several statements that are narrow-minded and homophobic, and it disturbs the colonel that his son Ricky might be homosexual. However, towards the end of the film, it is revealed that Fitts himself has sexual feelings towards men when he approaches his neighbor Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) and kisses him, but Lester rejects Col. Fitts, and this
American Beauty (1999 film) of its American film contemporaries, and praised how it analyzed the characters while not compromising narrative pace. He called Ball's dialogue "tart" and said the characters—Carolyn excepted—were "deeply drawn". One other flaw, McCarthy said, was the revelation of Col. Fitts' homosexuality, which he said evoked "hoary Freudianism". Jackson said the film transcended its clichéd setup to become a "wonderfully resourceful and sombre comedy". He said that even when the film played for sitcom laughs, it did so with "unexpected nuance". Hentzi criticized how the film made a mystery of Lester's murder, believing it manipulative and simply a way of generating