Regarding your first American Beauty question, Tony, (with spoilers):
I think Batts was gay. I think that's the whole, underlying source to the whole dysfunction of the Batts family. A family secret, with the wife standing by her husband only because he wants her to conceal his own homosexuality. He was gay and he knew it, but he hated himself for it. He hated his own guts, and then when he suspected his own son of being gay, he flipped. Not being able to live with himself after being rejected by Lester, not being able to be his neighbour after that incident, he simply killed him. Who knows what happened after that...perhaps he killed himself. Not that it matters.

Thanks for reading,
Mick