Jack, it is quite easy to "address" the popular obsessions with violence, glamour, and romance by exploiting people's voyeuristic interests and prurient desires, wouldn't you agree? I mean, that is what the Hollywood machine thrives on. As American Beauty and Shallow Hal were both products of the Hollywood machine, I don't really think it is contradictory to say that they only superficially "addressed" the subjects they attempted, and the end result was exploitative.