Misfits Against the World: Little Miss Sunshine


In the 2006 movie Little Miss Sunshine, directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, a husband and wife team who made their directorial debut with this movie, explores the mindset of pushing through the roles and situations that life has put you in. They portray this concept as through the Hoovers, a misfit family on a mission to get Olive, the youngest of the family, to California in time to compete in a beauty pageant. Throughout the movie, they run into setback after setback that reveal just how bad of a family they make, as Dwayne, the older brother, points out during a particularly touching scene. Dwayne is the son of Sheryl, the mom of the family, from a previous marriage. Uncle Frank failed a suicide attempt after losing the guy of his dreams to another guy. Richard, the father, is broke after an unsuccessful effort to make a career out of being a life coach. Not to mention that Edwin, the grandfather, was a heroin addict who literally died during the trip. However, despite all their flaws and a dilapidated van, they pull together as a family for Olive's sake. 

The film also uses the family to explore several societal norms. One scene in the movie has the dad discouraging Olive from eating ice cream because it would make her fat, and that if she wanted to be a winner she shouldn't eat it. Thankfully, the rest of her family convinces her to ignore her dad and eat the ice cream. The moment was a strong representation of the norm that so many girls in our society face - the pressures to be skinny, fit, and lightweight if you want to be beautiful. This theme was touched on several times after, where Olive suddenly becomes very aware of her body image. It also connects with another social norm addressed at the end of the movie: the hypersexualization of girls in society. The rest of the contestants in the beauty pageant are clearly much more experienced than Olive, and all of them are dolled up and taught to walk, talk, and act like miniature models. The entire event seems very unnervingly sexual, but the audience loves it. The hypocrisy of this event is shown when Olive begins her performance, which is essentially a strip-tease taught to her by her grandfather. The audience is horrified at the display, even though her performance is not inherently any more sexual than the others. These two norms are very real and can have significant impacts on the lives of young girls, and this movie tackles them with a comedic charm that is loved by many today.

Watch Little Miss Sunshine here: Little Miss Sunshine

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