Little Miss Sunshine

The film, “Little Miss Sunshine” is a unique ensemble film that highlights the plight of a family where everyone is destined for success. The film is cast depicting the Hoover family which is a family that is made of individuals who all aim at success in their different fields. Though they are engaged in different competitions and activities to prove their abilities, they all fail starting from the youngest member of the family to the eldest member of the family. Throughout the film, however, there is not a particular individual who seems to be the superhero. All the characters are humble individuals who all struggle in almost the same way and the resemblance of their equal importance in the film can be seen in the way that they are almost given equal screen time. The peak of the film, however, showcases why it is an ensemble film. Though the characters all fail in their particular endeavors, they all unite in a characteristic way in the end, and the film ends showcasing a family united in grief where everybody takes it as their responsibility to support the other.

The Unity in the film surrounds the desire of the family to see their little girl Olive Hoover who is just seven years old win the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant. Olive is a peculiar girl that is gifted differently and who has interests in beauty pageant moves that she watches on television. Her desire to be a beauty pageant narrowly comes to reality when she is invited for the California contest (“Little Miss Sunshine Full’Movie’English 2006”). The whole of the family unites in preparing her to be the winner of the contests as she desires. The Unity of the Hoover family in seeing Olive succeed is seen whereby she lives with her grandfather Edwin Hoover who tries to motivate her while her father and mother are about their family and work chores. Olive creates the unity of the film in that she is a sight to behold and definitely if she wins, her family would be recognized and their desires to finally be recognized as a successful family would shine. She is, therefore, the central factor of unity in the film as she is eyed by everybody in her family including her father, mother, and uncle to make them feel powerful regardless of the issue they presently go through as a family.

The individual character goals within the film are different depending on the character. While Olive wishes to win the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant, her daddy, Richard Hoover is a motivational speaker. Coincidentally his theme in motivational speech is the theme of winning. He is a man who wishes to change the way that his society views life and motivate them towards success (Arndt 4). He is a man of character and very optimistic with everything that happens around him. In actual sense, he does not care about the impediments that come along his way as he chats through to become America’s greatest motivational speaker (“Little Miss Sunshine Full’Movie’English 2006”). In his trying to grow into an adequate motivational speaker, Richard writes a book that he wishes would be a best seller in the nation. He, however, fails amiably and encounters losses from the limited sales he makes using the book. Richard does not give up in the face of failure though. His belief that he is not a loser makes him look forward to winning in the long run as he does not belong to the club of losers. 

The film would also not be complete without an overview of Edwin Hoover who is a significant character in the movie. Edwin is an auspicious veteran who aims to see the best in his family. He is, however, a foul-mouth individual, a character that he believes he gained from his life as a soldier. Edwin, as seen from the film, is a societal problem. He engages in a wide array of undesirable behaviors that do not depict the life that a grandfather should lead. He is, for instance, an addict of pornography and heroin too. Therefore, the film showcases his role as a bad father to Richard, a poor grandfather to his grandchildren and an evil influence to the society contrary to what would be expected of a grandfather (Arndt 8). The quintessential goal of Edwin is however seen when she mentors her granddaughter Olive to ensure that she makes it through the pageant contest. Her success is, therefore, the basic success that Edwin wants as he realizes that he has grown old.

Viewing all the characters in the film, they all pursue success in different ways. While Olive’s mother wants to be a better family woman, Olive wants to win in the competitions that are ahead of her, and her father wants to be a successful motivational speaker, the sole goal is success. All the characters share a dream to be the best of themselves, they all wish that they could force themselves through circumstances and become winners in their particular fields of interest. Olive for instance practices very hard, her father is concerned about her ice cream feeding tendencies fearing that she would grow fat and fail and fail in the competitions (Arndt 27). On the other hand, her grandfather mentors her so that he sees her understand all the necessities and the moves and also engages her in practice. All the characters, therefore, have a shared goal pointing at success. None of the characters pursues any other interest other than becoming a winner.

Using Joseph Campbell’s three stages of the Hero’s Journey, the film, “Little Miss Sunshine” can be addressed. The very first presentation of the film is an ordinary world. It is a world whereby the characters live in a rational world. Their normal aspirations just like in the ordinary world can be seen (Campbell 2). Olive is busy watching beauty pageants on the television. Right then, her life is barely normal and in an ordinary world. It is the same case like her father Richard is at the primary stage of trying to model his career as a motivational speaker. Richard is at the very prerequisite stages of his career and can speak anything and air his views without fear. At the very first instance, Richard has such a hefty belief in his dreams and thinks that there is a nine-step system that one can use to attain success which is the pillars that he uses in various motivational speeches across everywhere he travels (Arndt 24). Other characters like Edwin are also in their normal chores and doing their activities as they purpose and hence there is a feeling of normalcy as the characters fit in their normal lives and act as per their wishes. 

The film moves down to the second stage which is a special world. It is a special world in that the characters have to act in some special way to attain their goals. There are scores of tests to win, and also there are ordeals that are witnessed in the way. The special world is such a dramatic act in the film. It carries the major part of the film and also shows the failures witnessed by the characters, some which are hurting and others which are fatal. In the case of Richard for example, after undergoing a tedious process trying to process his book does not make as eminent sales as he thought which is frustrating to him (Arndt 21). Olive the main character also fails to secure a win at the contest, Dwayne’s dream to become a pilot fails as he suffers color blindness, Frank who is Olive’s uncle attempts suicide but fails and eventually, grandpa dies. The act is a heightened part of the film that leaves viewers on a low tone. 

The third act of the film, however, shows a reconciled family amidst the losses and sobs. The whole family is united to support Olive and console each other after the loss of their grandfather. The whole family, in the end, unite in the purpose that Olive’s grandfather had. They purpose to give Olive their best and ensure that she reaches her goals (Arndt 94). The act is a clear realization of setbacks that faced the family and an acceptance of the situations and a way forward to help Olive realize her goals crowns the family.

In conclusion, the film, “Little Miss Sunshine” is an ensemble film where all the characters are quintessentially imperative and even when there is a character that seems to outshine the others; he or she is still dependent on the other characters. The film showcases family members who have desires to be successful each in their encounters, but all of them fail. It is a fascinating play that ends up with unity in failure and death and using Joseph Campbell’s three stages of the Hero’s Journey, the film can be divided into three parts, the ordinary world where the characters experience normalcy, the special world where they all fail and lastly, the ordinary again where they realize their setbacks and work together towards a common goal. 

Works Cited

“Little Miss Sunshine Full’Movie’English 2006.” YouTube, 17 Nov. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRX18pzFwAg.

Arndt, Michael. Little Miss Sunshine: the shooting script. Newmarket Pr, 2003. 

Campbell, Joseph. The hero with a thousand faces. Vol. 17. New World Library, 2008.