"Little Miss Sunshine"

I just watched "Little Miss Sunshine" for the second time. I never saw it at the theater, but rented it a couple of years ago. What is it about this dark, sardonic, yet funny movie?

It could be the beat up VW Van that the Hoovers travel in--you know, the one they have to push to get it going, then run and jump in through the side door? The one with the broken horn that continuously honks?

It might be the Nietzsche-reading teenaged boy who has taken a "Vow of Silence" for the better part of a year-- who wears a "Jesus was Wrong" t-shirt.

Or the nasty-mouthed grandfather who spends his time choreographing his 7-year old granddaughter's talent routine for the "Little Miss Sunshine" pageant.

Something about this movie really grabs me! It really makes me laugh--but then I feel guilty because the Hoovers are a really tragic family and many of the situations aren't funny at all. (If you haven't seen this movie--just a warning--definitely NOT a kids movie. at least though on TV they cleaned up the language a bit)

Greg Kinnear's character--the dad--is a motivational speaker who can't seem to motivate anyone--especially his family. He's a tortured soul--trying so hard to make something happen--but failing. He can't get anyone to publish his book; he can't get his father to behave; he can't get his son to talk. Olive, his 7-year old, idolizes beauty pageants and wants to be a beauty queen. When she orders ice cream, he tells her ice cream makes people fat and beauty contestants aren't fat. Her mom groans and tries to stop him from the "fat" lecture, to no avail.

So Richard (Kinnear) had moved his father in with the family because Grandpa got kicked out of the nursing home for doing drugs. Grandpa is hardly the image of an honorable grandfather--his language is filthy. But Grandpa spends the most time with Olive of anyone....teaching her a routine for her talent in the pageant. (Oh no! It ends up being a striptease to SuperFreak)

Olive's teen aged brother is disturbed, hates everyone, and won't talk. Richard's gay brother-in-law has to stay with them because he just tried to commit suicide and the hospital wants someone to watch him around-the-clock.

(Should I be laughing at this? Doesn't sound funny, huh---but it is!) BUT--and this is a big but-- as tragic as the problems in this family are--as flawed as they are---they all come together to support their own when she has a chance to fulfill her dream. Olive is the most unlikely beauty queen contestant and the family, who in addition to being in the middle of crisis, certainly can't afford to make the trip to California. They risk it all though and jump through hoops to make it happen for Olive.

But I read somewhere the director of the movie said "This is not a movie about family values--but a movie about the value of family."

Wow....I think my family is somewhere between the Griswolds and the Hoovers. As much as I hate to admit it-- While we haven't had a relative die on a trip with us yet, we have had plenty of broken down cars, personal and financial crises, and Murphy's law always seems to find us. We have also made things happen for each other that were improbable, and offered support and sacrifice for one another...

As parents, (ok--mostly me) we've tried to show optimism, and to find new learning experiences and family memories for our kids (and they groan--just like in the movies) We've tried to address unfortunate challenges with, "Someday we'll look back on this and laugh" or "This will build character in your life" when really we don't believe that ourselves. The only answer I have now is that God has a plan for us--and He never promised it would be easy.

Then again, the appeal of "Little Miss Sunshine" to me might also be the metaphor in my own childhood....(and I'm already laughing inside just thinking about it!) Much like Olive, when I was in elementary school, I had a chance to enter a pageant. It was something totally foreign to me. When I mentioned it to my friend Johnny Belew, he just laughed and said "YOU! in a pageant?? You've got to be kidding!" (or something to that effect) I was quite a tomboy--rode horses, played with my dogs and didn't like to brush my hair. Also I had about the same shape as Olive--a little pudgy. Johnny's reaction though, spurred me on to be the best pageant contestant ever! His lack of confidence in my ability was now my reason to succeed.

We set out to get clothes. My mother had no idea what the going styles were in pageants and of course I didn't either. We picked up some Butterick patterns and had the lady who made my sister's cheerleading costumes make me some pageant dresses. :) My dance teacher, who also happened to be our neighbor and one of my mother's best friends-- choreographed a little dance to "Sweet Gypsy Rose" for me to perform for talent. I had no idea the song was about a stripper. When I got to the pageant I found that I was a lot different than the other girls in the competition. My clothes were a lot different than theirs as well. I don't remember that fazing me in the least...

I belted out the song and made my dance moves big and did a lot of shaking, and I won the talent award. (Not the beauty award but my mom convinced me that winning the talent award was even better...)

Something about watching Olive in "Little Miss Sunshine" doing a striptease on the stage to SuperFreak with no fear-- and her family supporting her, jumping up on stage and dancing around her--took me back to 1974 and the pudgy tomboy on the stage at Little Miss White County, thinking I was just where I belonged...