In Alan Ball’s original script of American Beauty, protagonist Lester Burnham, eerily played by the since-disgraced yet theatrically masterful Kevin Spacey, actually did deflower his daughter’s underage friend. DreamWorks finally convinced Ball to rewrite Lester’s decision when he discovers that Angela is a virgin, by reminding him that the protagonists of Greek tragedies experience epiphanies prior to their fatal ends.

Thus a hero and a cultural icon was born.