Funny how the word sunshine evokes a sense of wonder to those who hears it. It captures scenes of quiet afternoons walking under a midday sun on a lonely stretch of road, or a quiet stroll on a secluded beach while cool soothing waves lap over one's feet. Of course, nobody likes walking under the blistering heat. My point is, sunshine will always stir a feeling of calmness in one's imagination. It offers a brief respite after a long and hard-fought struggle against the heart-drenching elements life throws at you.
I was lucky to stumble over some good movies on cable lately. One of these films is Little Miss Sunshine, which I have heard before but didn't pay attention to when it was shown on theaters last year. It is a road movie about a family's trip to a children's beauty pageant in California. The events that took place from the beginning of their journey in Albuquerque, New Mexico to their destination, and the pageant itself is the focus of the story.
The story begins with little Olive watching the Miss America Beauty Pageant in front of the TV. She is the 7-year old daughter of Sheryl and Richard Hoover who dreams of becoming a beauty queen someday. Sheryl juggles her two jobs to support the family, while also having to take care of Frank, her gay brother who is a Proust scholar and lives temporarily with the family after a failed suicide attempt. Richard aspires to become a motivational speaker and a life coach with his nine-step program that encourages people to cast away their loser attitude. With Dwayne, Sheryl's Nietzsche-reading teenager son from a previous marriage and Edwin, Richard's Heroin-addicted foul-mouthed father, one will get a picture of how dysfunctional the Hoovers are.
Olive discovers that she is qualified to compete for the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant which will be held in Redondo Beach, California in two days. With little money to spare and an untrained chubby prepubescent daughter to compete, the Hoovers have decided to go on an 800-mile road trip in their yellow Volkswagen T2 Microbus so Olive can follow her dreams.
Little Miss Sunshine explores the tensions that build up when a group of tight-knitted people travel together on an open road. It test their resolve to stay together, or leave someone behind so that the journey could go on and let those who continue reach their destination. The Hoovers had to face many struggles along the highway, and at stops they had to make. Most of them were heart-wrenching ones and at times it seemed one has to stay for Olive and the rest could proceed. The family decides that even if things get hopeless, no one is left behind. With a stroke of luck and a firm determination to end their journey, the Hoovers arrive at the hotel where the beauty pageant will take place - together - even if things have changed.
The film has many symbolisms and references to American Pop Culture. The aging Volkswagen T2 Microbus represents the Hoover family. It breaks down early on with its selection lever unable to shift to first and second gear. They resolve this problem by pushing the van until it is moving at about 20 mph before it is put into third gear, at which point they have to run up to the side door and jump in.
As the setbacks begin to mount on the Hoovers, the Volkswagen's mechanical failures become more and more severe. The gear stick was the first to break down, then it was the car horn that got stuck leaving the car honking as they make their final push to California. I guess what prevented the Microbus from totally breaking down is the Hoovers resolve to fix every family crisis that comes along the way. The analogy between the machine and the family is pretty clear.
The climax takes place at the beauty pageant. After a frantic race against the clock, the Hoovers arrive at the hotel a few minutes past the deadline. Unfortunately, the snooty pageant organizer would not allow Olive to register because she is late. Richard begs on his knees to let Olive compete but the organizer remains unmoved. Only the timed passing of a hired hand, who sees Richard's desperation swayed him to intervene and register Olive in the contest.
The pageant itself is a reflection of how Americans see beauty pageants in general. As Olive enters the dressing room, the camera pans to reveal her rivals: slim, hypersexualized pre-teen girls with teased hair and capped teeth. They wear lip gloss and puts on heavy make-up to make them look older. They artificially tan themselves using an airbrush to achieve a bronze skin.
The contestants were made to walk around the stage in their adult-like swimsuit. As the other pre-teens strutted with poise and grace(?), Olive walked so stiff, the contrast between the seasoned girls and her became clear. During the evening wear segment, the host crooned them with "God Bless America" while lustfully gazing at each contestant's not-so-innocent eyes. It basically sums up what the rest of America had become - a nation obsessed with cheap flicks while maintaining their patriotic leanings.
As the pageant draws to a close, each contestant perform for the talent portion. There is a black girl who sings a country song, complete with a white southern accent. Another one shows her gymnast skills by rolling around the stage while making it appear that she is dancing. Olive, who everyone thought would be humiliated after being perceived having lack of talent to present, scandalizes everyone with her burlesque dance routine that she joyfully performs on stage. Later did I find out that it was the dance steps she and her Grandpa Edwin were choreographing throughout the film.
Little Miss Sunshine is a feel good movie that has some dark underpinnings. Some scenes were quite disturbing, especially the body snatching and the scandalous talent performance where parents were completely grossed out by Olive's exotic dancing. Some scenes were completely hilarious, it makes you wonder if the directors intended to include it as a satire or an attempt to dispel the blackness which surround the film. Despite these disarrayed observations, there were two scenes that struck me most. First was Dwayne's accidental discovery that he was color blind, and thus will be disqualified to become a test pilot. It triggers a fit of rage that broke, not only his spirit but also his vow of silence which he exhibited during the first half of the film. His sudden break down also threatened Olive's chances of making it at the pageant on time. After every method has been attempted by the adults to keep him sane again, the only thing that changed his mind and led him back to his senses was Olive's sincere concern where she placed her head on Dwayne's shoulders without uttering a single word.
The other scene, which I think completely caps the film is when Dwayne and Frank talked about Proust.
Frank: Yeah. French writer. Total loser. Never had a real job. Unrequited love affairs. Gay. Spent 20 years writing a book almost no one reads. But he's also probably the greatest writer since Shakespeare. Anyway, he uh... he gets down to the end of his life, and he looks back and decides that all those years he suffered, Those were the best years of his life, 'cause they made him who he was. All those years he was happy? You know, total waste. Didn't learn a thing. So, if you sleep until you're 18... Ah, think of the suffering you're gonna miss. I mean high school? High school-those are your prime suffering years. You don't get better suffering than that.
The long journey which the Hoovers made just to get to the beauty pageant were all, but full of sufferings. But these sufferings were also their redemption. Olive never won the contest. In fact, she can never join any beauty pageants in California after the scandal she and her family did. But in the end, it made her dysfunctional family look more functional than most families seen in the film.
The title of the movie is about a beauty contest but if you read the lines through, it is the word sunshine that makes us look forward to the brighter sides of life the film has generously shown.
I was lucky to stumble over some good movies on cable lately. One of these films is Little Miss Sunshine, which I have heard before but didn't pay attention to when it was shown on theaters last year. It is a road movie about a family's trip to a children's beauty pageant in California. The events that took place from the beginning of their journey in Albuquerque, New Mexico to their destination, and the pageant itself is the focus of the story.The story begins with little Olive watching the Miss America Beauty Pageant in front of the TV. She is the 7-year old daughter of Sheryl and Richard Hoover who dreams of becoming a beauty queen someday. Sheryl juggles her two jobs to support the family, while also having to take care of Frank, her gay brother who is a Proust scholar and lives temporarily with the family after a failed suicide attempt. Richard aspires to become a motivational speaker and a life coach with his nine-step program that encourages people to cast away their loser attitude. With Dwayne, Sheryl's Nietzsche-reading teenager son from a previous marriage and Edwin, Richard's Heroin-addicted foul-mouthed father, one will get a picture of how dysfunctional the Hoovers are.
Olive discovers that she is qualified to compete for the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant which will be held in Redondo Beach, California in two days. With little money to spare and an untrained chubby prepubescent daughter to compete, the Hoovers have decided to go on an 800-mile road trip in their yellow Volkswagen T2 Microbus so Olive can follow her dreams.
Little Miss Sunshine explores the tensions that build up when a group of tight-knitted people travel together on an open road. It test their resolve to stay together, or leave someone behind so that the journey could go on and let those who continue reach their destination. The Hoovers had to face many struggles along the highway, and at stops they had to make. Most of them were heart-wrenching ones and at times it seemed one has to stay for Olive and the rest could proceed. The family decides that even if things get hopeless, no one is left behind. With a stroke of luck and a firm determination to end their journey, the Hoovers arrive at the hotel where the beauty pageant will take place - together - even if things have changed.
The film has many symbolisms and references to American Pop Culture. The aging Volkswagen T2 Microbus represents the Hoover family. It breaks down early on with its selection lever unable to shift to first and second gear. They resolve this problem by pushing the van until it is moving at about 20 mph before it is put into third gear, at which point they have to run up to the side door and jump in.
As the setbacks begin to mount on the Hoovers, the Volkswagen's mechanical failures become more and more severe. The gear stick was the first to break down, then it was the car horn that got stuck leaving the car honking as they make their final push to California. I guess what prevented the Microbus from totally breaking down is the Hoovers resolve to fix every family crisis that comes along the way. The analogy between the machine and the family is pretty clear.
The climax takes place at the beauty pageant. After a frantic race against the clock, the Hoovers arrive at the hotel a few minutes past the deadline. Unfortunately, the snooty pageant organizer would not allow Olive to register because she is late. Richard begs on his knees to let Olive compete but the organizer remains unmoved. Only the timed passing of a hired hand, who sees Richard's desperation swayed him to intervene and register Olive in the contest.
The pageant itself is a reflection of how Americans see beauty pageants in general. As Olive enters the dressing room, the camera pans to reveal her rivals: slim, hypersexualized pre-teen girls with teased hair and capped teeth. They wear lip gloss and puts on heavy make-up to make them look older. They artificially tan themselves using an airbrush to achieve a bronze skin.
The contestants were made to walk around the stage in their adult-like swimsuit. As the other pre-teens strutted with poise and grace(?), Olive walked so stiff, the contrast between the seasoned girls and her became clear. During the evening wear segment, the host crooned them with "God Bless America" while lustfully gazing at each contestant's not-so-innocent eyes. It basically sums up what the rest of America had become - a nation obsessed with cheap flicks while maintaining their patriotic leanings.
As the pageant draws to a close, each contestant perform for the talent portion. There is a black girl who sings a country song, complete with a white southern accent. Another one shows her gymnast skills by rolling around the stage while making it appear that she is dancing. Olive, who everyone thought would be humiliated after being perceived having lack of talent to present, scandalizes everyone with her burlesque dance routine that she joyfully performs on stage. Later did I find out that it was the dance steps she and her Grandpa Edwin were choreographing throughout the film.
Little Miss Sunshine is a feel good movie that has some dark underpinnings. Some scenes were quite disturbing, especially the body snatching and the scandalous talent performance where parents were completely grossed out by Olive's exotic dancing. Some scenes were completely hilarious, it makes you wonder if the directors intended to include it as a satire or an attempt to dispel the blackness which surround the film. Despite these disarrayed observations, there were two scenes that struck me most. First was Dwayne's accidental discovery that he was color blind, and thus will be disqualified to become a test pilot. It triggers a fit of rage that broke, not only his spirit but also his vow of silence which he exhibited during the first half of the film. His sudden break down also threatened Olive's chances of making it at the pageant on time. After every method has been attempted by the adults to keep him sane again, the only thing that changed his mind and led him back to his senses was Olive's sincere concern where she placed her head on Dwayne's shoulders without uttering a single word.
The other scene, which I think completely caps the film is when Dwayne and Frank talked about Proust.Frank: Yeah. French writer. Total loser. Never had a real job. Unrequited love affairs. Gay. Spent 20 years writing a book almost no one reads. But he's also probably the greatest writer since Shakespeare. Anyway, he uh... he gets down to the end of his life, and he looks back and decides that all those years he suffered, Those were the best years of his life, 'cause they made him who he was. All those years he was happy? You know, total waste. Didn't learn a thing. So, if you sleep until you're 18... Ah, think of the suffering you're gonna miss. I mean high school? High school-those are your prime suffering years. You don't get better suffering than that.
The long journey which the Hoovers made just to get to the beauty pageant were all, but full of sufferings. But these sufferings were also their redemption. Olive never won the contest. In fact, she can never join any beauty pageants in California after the scandal she and her family did. But in the end, it made her dysfunctional family look more functional than most families seen in the film.
The title of the movie is about a beauty contest but if you read the lines through, it is the word sunshine that makes us look forward to the brighter sides of life the film has generously shown.
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