Little Miss Sunshine Character Analysis

Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 film based on the dysfunctional Hoover family who set out to fulfil their daughter Olive’s goal of winning the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The film serves as a satirical criticism of the American Dream through the exploration of the themes winning and losing, by exposing the flaws of society today, and advocating a loser status above artificiality. Through an array of film techniques, Dayton and Faris successfully communicate these ideals to middle classed adults in Western societies.

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris attempt to reshape understandings of being a winner or a loser in contemporary society through camera shots and angles. During the opening
Richard’s character is portrayed as being blind to the real successes of life and placing too much importance on winning and losing, emphasised by his attempt to sell his motivational program called the Nine Steps to Success. His boldly ironic character fanatically follows his methods, only to find in the end he himself becomes a ‘loser’. Brainwashed by American society, Richard tries to impose conformity upon Olive, insisting ‘’There are two kinds of people in this world, winners and losers’’ and ‘’there’s no sense in entering a contest if you don’t think you’re going to win.’’ Consequently, through dialogue the audience is shown Richard’s winning mentality associated with status and repression which reflects dominant values in contemporary society. This winning mentality is also enriched in Frank, who was the number one Proust scholar in the country, until he gets fired from his job, thus leading to an attempted suicide. Through dialogue, Grandpa states ‘’you tried to check out early’’ in which Frank responds ‘’Yes. And I failed at that as well.’’ As a result, the audience is shown the importance Frank places on being a ‘winner’. Additionally, Dayton and Faris’ characterisation of Dwayne, who takes a vowel of silence until he can reach his goal of becoming a Fighter Pilot, further enhances the idea of society being obsessed with winning. This is particularly emphasised when Dwayne breaks his vowel at the end of the film and tells Frank ‘’It's like life is one beauty contest after another these days. School, then college, then work.’’ Due to Dwayne’s vowel of silence throughout the movie, this quote holds great significance and sends a direct message to the audience about life replicating a contest. The idea that society is one big contest in which one person always wins, and the rest