In our society today, we seem to have collectively created a specific, many times unattainable standard of beauty. From the increased presence of social media, to the modeling industry we have created this sort of mold of what it means to be beautiful, that has proved to be quite damaging to the self-image and mental health of a huge amount of people. It does not stop at looks though. Certain interests, activities, and other components of our lives are being judged too, some passing as normal and acceptable, while others are seen as strange and undesirable. The movie Little Miss Sunshine dives deep into our current perception of normality, and the ways in which there is beauty in simply being yourself.
After a mistake in the awards of a past competition, seven year old Olive and her family of six embark on a journey to California, allowing Olive to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. Accompanied by her mother, father, brother, and grandfather, she excitedly begins her journey. A failed suicide attempt causes Frank, Olive's uncle to come along for the ride as well, and join in on their hectic family dynamic. The family faces a multitude of challenges along the way, from the slight inconvenience of car troubles, to the devastating death of Olives grandfather, yet they still manage to make it to the pageant at the very last minute.
Personally, the aspect of this film I enjoyed the most was the characters themselves. They are not presented as a normal, happy family as they usually would be in today's films, their flaws are put on display, which allows for the viewer to actually see them evolve throughout the course of the movie. Olive was quite the interesting character to me, as despite the fact she was an average girl compared to her competitors who went all out, she seemed quite strong willed in the enjoyment of simply doing something she loved. I find that Olive's character supported the ongoing theme of unapologetically being yourself throughout the film. My personal favorite though, was Richard Hoover, Olive's father. He begins as an uptight, critical businessman, completely obsessed with his nine step plan to be a "winner". We see him criticize Olive at the table in the diner for her choice to have ice cream, asking if the pageant queens she saw were skinny or fat, and reiterating his obsession with the avoidance of losing, at the expense of the way Olive saw herself. Richards character, in my opinion, was the personification of letting go of the desire to be "normal" in the eyes of others. One of the final scenes, Olive's talent portion of the pageant where Richard is asked to remove her from the stage, but instead joins in on the dancing, shows his development with the ways others view him, but also his development as a father.
At surface level, Little Miss Sunshine is a heartfelt, yet hectic story of family relationships. While looking deeper though, we can find the underlying message of the importance of letting go of the worries one may have about the way others may judge or perceive them, and being who you want to be, because being yourself is one of the most beautiful things you can do.
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