Better an "Oops" Than a "What If"

Better an “Oops” Than a “What If”

Little Miss Sunshine starring Steve Carell and Abigail Breslin is an amazing film which is as comic and sweet as it is tragic. Just like the yellow Volkswagen bus that is a prominent feature throughout the film, the audience is taken through many ups and downs that leave us with a few inspiring messages. At first some might believe that this film is simply about a dysfunctional family's journey to their daughter's beauty pageant, but in reality, it's about how the family challenges societal standards of success and the "American dream". 

In many ways Little Miss Sunshine critiques the way society has put a blind emphasis on competition and self-entitlement, which distorts our perceptions of true success. Characters like Richard Hoover who believe that people are either  “winners or losers” contribute to social norms that limit individualism and self-expression. He is the epitome of a person who attempts to chase success through toxic ideologies that have been sanctioned by the culture around us. Richard constantly judges the people around him, referring to Frank as a loser for “giving up” on himself and berating Olive for always apologizing because it’s a “sign of weakness”, which in turn leaves his family feeling isolated. His attempts at constant perfectionism is the most ironic aspect of the film because he is nowhere near the amount of success that he upholds in his mind. He finally figures this out when he is not able to sell his 9-step self help program and reaches a halt in his career path. The film at first seems to uphold the assumption that the American dream is that everyone has equal opportunities and that being the winner is of the utmost importance. But through Richard’s journey and character development, the audience is convinced by the end of the film that American standards of success are superficial and do not lead to true happiness. 

The beginning the film seems to reinforce the commercial aspect of society’s beauty standards that hold outer beauty in the highest esteem. This holds influence specifically over Olive who is watching Miss America pageants on tape in the first shot of the film. An impressionable young girl, Olive mimics the actions of the pageant contestants and learns how girls should look and behave, along with being influenced by her family. Her own ideology is constantly met with competing forces - her father who emphasises perfectionism and her grandfather who wholeheartedly supports her for who she is. This is relevant in the diner scene when Olive orders waffles a la mode, and her father implies that she shouldn’t eat the ice cream because “Miss America” winners aren’t fat. She is met with a decision between conforming to traditional beauty standards or her own happiness, and ultimately chooses to give into her happiness after her mom, grandfather, Dwayne, and Frank show their support for her original choice. Later in the film when Dwayne and Richard express their concern for Olive’s performance because she doesn’t fit in with the rest of the contestants, Sheryl stands strong in letting Olive be Olive. This results in bringing the family closer together, realizing that any judgments people might have about her because she doesn’t meet society’s standards shouldn’t affect her dreams. They all learn, especially Richard, to reject the narrow expectations of society because doing what you love and having fun is all that matters. It’s no secret that Olive is the perfect representation of an underdog, someone who doesn’t necessarily embody the typical pageant aesthetic but ends up being the true winner in the end. 

Little Miss Sunshine follows a multitude of different themes and succeeds in teaching us that it’s okay to go against social expectation. Society expects us to follow their rules and compete with each other on their terms, but it just becomes one competition after another. Rarely does life reward us for actually being true to ourselves, so why not do what we love instead of worrying about the consequences. A great philosopher once said, “If you’re happy doing what you’re doing, then no one can tell you you’re not successful”. In order to develop our own standards of success we have to do the things that make us happy, even if it means we don’t end up winning. Or, in Dwayne’s words, “Do what you love and f--- all the rest”.