Little Miss Sunshine Analysis

A system is a set of interrelated parts. Systems theory assumes that a system must be understood as a whole, rather than in component parts. It is a way of looking at the world where all the objects are interrelated with one another. Many family systems are addressed in the movie Little Miss Sunshine.

The article “Toddlers in Tiaras” by Skip Hollandsworth discusses the beauty pageant industry and its harmful effects in the young girls who participate. He gives many examples of beauty pageant contestants. He describes their appearances and attitudes which seem to match those of adult women. Specifically, he refers to 6-year-old Eden Wood who is commonly known from the reality television show Toddlers & Tiaras. The author describes how Eden’s personal stylist does her hair, makeup, and touches up her spray tanned body with bronzer before a pageant (Hollandsworth 490). I believe that the intended audience for this article is the mothers of these young girls and anyone in the public he can convince. Hollandsworth uses a couple aspects of Toulmin and they are rebuttal and qualifiers.

Girls from a young age are exposed to the idea that by looking right and dressing right, they can receive financial support, love and affection from men. Colette Dowling calls this the Cinderella Complex, a network of largely represented attitudes and fears that keeps women from full use of their minds and creativity. The Color Purple shows how this myth can be broken and reinforced in a manner that empowers women both economically and socially. This essay highlights how clothing in the novel, becomes a symbol of race, gender, strength of character and transformation of the self. (Lupton)

Regarding the obvious consequences of beauty standards, Natalie DiBlasio provokes anger and sympathy in the reader by providing emotional stories. She first presents her experience with two baby girls, both beautiful and new to the world. However, looking at their innocent faces, DiBlasio realized that “in a few short years, someone is going to have to teach them how to love themselves - because it

     To begin, this story includes everyday oppressional forces that weigh down young women. The characters' roles as pageant girls continue even after their plane crashes on a desert island. This exposes the toxic conditioning they've faced and the spotlight they've been placed in their whole lives. It seems the only time these women feel empowered and respected is when others are rooting for them and their looks. As early as the introduction, it's revealed that "a camera crew bravely recording every bit of the turbulence and drama", (page 3) was following the girls around during the beauty pageant. On a figurative level, the cameras may represent the eyes and attention placed on these women. The contestants regard it as normal, however it deeply contributes to their lack of respect in society; the

Connie’s mother, having aged out of her prime, was jealous of her daughter’s beauty, criticizing her whenever the opportunity presented itself. Connie’s mother would yell at her younger daughter, “ ‘Stop gawking at yourself, who are you? You think you’re so pretty?’ ” (312). This constant scolding chipped away at Connie’s confidence, leaving her yearning for affirmation, someone to say she is “such a pretty girl”

Some say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however, this could not be farther from the truth. From a historical perspective, beauty has been shown to be in the eye of the conformer. Society sets the standard of beauty and, either willingly or unwillingly, people obey. One may ask what happens to those who do not fit the standard, and the answer is simple: they become invisible. The narrator in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Pecola Breedlove in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, and Claireece Precious Jones in Push by Sapphire, are all examples of how societal standards blind the acquiescent and cloak the divergent.

Esperanza, the speaker of Sandra Cisneros’s vignette “Sally,” feels bittersweet admiration towards her classmate because of her bold maturity, but the abuse that Sally receives from her father breaks Esperanza’s heart. The clothes that Sally has makes Esperanza want them too, which highlights the strange, alien feelings of growing up in a society that pushes young girls to mature, but not too quickly. Also, the abuse that Sally receives confirms that society views women inferior to men. Imagery in the vignette reveals strictness in Sally’s home: “You pull your skirt straight, you rub the blue paint off your eyelids…” Sally is forced to conform to the ways of society by having to dress modestly or else she will attract unwanted attention.

Every family functions in their own unique way, even if they attempt to model themselves after the social norms of what a family “should be”. Little Miss Sunshine gives insight into how individuals with their own variety of dysfunction manage to function within the family. The purpose of this paper is to analyze Little Miss Sunshine in the context of four different ways of communicating as explained in the textbook, Family Communication: Cohesion and Change. The following paragraphs, organized into sections by theme will explore the Hoover family’s system, the degree of adaptability and cohesion within the family, the productive or destructive ways they manage conflict, and their use of power or decision making processes. Each section will contain a brief review of each of the aforementioned topics that apply, concepts that exist within those topics that appeared in the movie, and examples taken from the movie.

Beauty comes in a variety of different shapes and sizes. The perception of beauty are endless. Whether it is a tall blonde with blue eyes or the waist size. Around the world beauty is idolized differently; just like one’s mind. Pageants have force a view on beauty that can cause women emotional detriment to women and portrays beauty to be more artificial that natural.

What is family in your opinion? Family can be a source of support, compassion, optimism, love and happiness, but family can also be a cause of depression, betrayal, hurt and pain. Family is not always determined based on having the same DNA but it is the relationships that people can make or have with one another. Family can consist of several different people like, friends, co-workers, classmates, a community, etc... Some family members can be your worst enemies because they have the most information of secrets to bring a relative down. Being able to trust a person, depend on them, and be carefree is a person that can be valued as being a part of a family. In the movie Little Miss Sunshine, their dysfunctional family is loving, supportive, optimistic and motivating. The movie is filled with humor about a modern middle-class family that is about to encounter a financial catastrophe but in the midst of their struggles they still find the beauty in life and the meaning in life. The beginning of the movie Richard, the father is giving a motivational speech about winning, he states “There are two types of people in this world, winners and losers”.(Little Miss Sunshine) Richard is a protagonist motivational speaker that is obsessed with winning. He is so consumed with achieving that he ridicules his family for not being perfect throughout the film. Richard trying to build up the ideal life or what he thinks is the ‘American Dream’ around himself. He chooses to ignore aspects of the life around him that he sees as unacceptable or out of sync with his ideal lifestyle, trying instead to fulfil his role as the authorative head of the family and provider. Sheryl is the mother who is optimist, she is always giving words of encouragement even when Richard is trying to bring down his family and she is all about being truly honest. Frank is the brother of Sheryl whom at the beginning attempts to commit suicide due to a broken heart and losing his standing as Americas pre-eminent Proust Scholar. Dwayne is the son of Richard and Sheryl and is committed to joining the air force. He also is very committed that he takes a vow of silence until he gets into the air force, but then he finds out he is color blind and breaks his

Little Miss Sunshine is a comedy movie about a seven year old girl named Olive who aspires to win the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. To help make her wish come true, her six-member family takes a road trip from Albuquerque to Redondo Beach, California. At the conclusion of the film, Olive and her family learned to trust and support each other, no matter the situation. Olive is the youngest member of her family who is entering middle childhood and adolescence just like her older brother Dwayne. Olive is the type of girl that is cheerful, most of the time and not particularly the kind you would see in a pageant. Olive’s brother, Dwayne, could be described as “emo”. Although he claims that he hates his family, he loves his sister, Olive. Their parents, Richard and Sheryl, and their Uncle Frank are in the process of entering middle adulthood. Throughout most of the film, Richard is considered selfish because he does not want his family to be seen as “losers”. Richard is obnoxious to his family, but he still means well and wants them to succeed. Sheryl is the normal member of the family who does not tolerate anyone's antics. Uncle Frank is very sarcastic and failed at his attempt to commit suicide. He used to be a college professor, so he is considered the smart guy. The sixth member of Olive’s family, her grandpa, dies during the movie due to an overdose, but was entering the late adulthood stage. The members of Olive’s family share some similarities and differences, but since they all vary in age, developmental concepts will be different in a way for each family member.

Little Miss Sunshine is a movie about a dysfunctional (yet oddly supportive) family’s road trip from hell. This extended family consists of a mother, father, her son from a previous relationship, daughter, uncle and grandfather. This film was released August 18, 2006 and won two Oscars for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Alan Arkin) and Best Writing, Original Screenplay. Abigail Breslin was nominated for her portrayal of Olive. Little Miss Sunshine was also nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year. The film was nominated and awarded over 40 various awards. The Hoovers are a unique group, but they put the fun into dysfunctional.

This excerpt shows how more emphasis is put on women’s appearance and its keep up, and also shows the negative connotation of this prettiness; it is associated with shallowness. Not only is there an assumption that women spend much of their time on their appearance, but also there is the connected fact that others pay more attention to their appearance than their other character traits. This is still a reality of today as can be seen on the red carpet. Female celebrities have a whole industry devoted to making them look fashionable and pretty for events. The focus of these events becomes what they’re wearing rather than their work as actresses and singers.

Lately, a well-known fresh juice franchise named ‘Juicy’ in Korea had provoked controversy over the recruitment that they’ve posted online; an ‘outstanding appearance’ was one of the criteria, and this was blamed for the encouragement of the discrimination based on people’s looks. In Julie Murphy’s young adult novel, , the author tries to indicate and criticize the problems of the society’s beauty stereotypes and standards by assigning those major issues to each of the characters around the protagonist, Willowdean Dickson, and make them portray the reality, through outcast girls who enter the pageant together (Millie, Amanda, Hannah), boys who build the romantic relationships with her (Mitch, Bo), and her mom (Mallory) in particular.