Little Miss Sunshine

The Hoover family is highly dysfunctional. They are sarcastic, argumentative, and at times distant from one another. Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris in creating the film Little Miss Sunshine, created a family where there is little that is holding them together and it only becomes more complicated when Sheryl Hoover’s brother (Uncle Frank) enters the picture as he is unable to be left alone after attempting suicide. Her husband (Richard) has a failing self-help program, her son (Dwayne) is protesting his parents by not speaking until he is able to become a jet pilot. Her father (Grandpa Edwin) is a heroin addict, and amidst all of this her seven year old daughter has just been invited to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine Beauty Pageant in California. This prompts the entire family to all pack into their 1970’s VW bus on an 800 mile road trip to pursue Olive’s dream. The entire movie focuses on this family as a single entity, thus making family a dominating theme throughout the movie. This encompasses an intriguing and realistic family dynamic, the family uniting and coming together and as they provide a support system for one another.
The Hoover family is a relatively typical American family that is on the brink of self-destruction for a majority of the film. They are consistently impatient and unable to relate to one another, yet they have a foundation that ultimately brings the family together. What makes the Hoover’s actions so intriguing is the place they have come to in their individual lives. Richard’s job situation is less than desirable and complicates many things for the family who is on the verge of bankruptcy. Dwayne is in the process of protesting against his parents by not speaking for the sake of learning to fly one day; Frank has just been released from the hospital after just having attempted suicide; and Olive has just been given the opportunity to compete in a beauty contest. All of their individual circumstances that compound upon...