Little Miss Sunshine Theme Essay
Describe an important idea in the film and explain how this was how shown through the film.
An important idea in the film “Little Miss Sunshine” directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris is the idea that being a winner is more about perseverance and having fun than coming first place and always succeeding. A key character in the film is Richard Hoover, who portrays the development of this idea through his dialogue, costume and camera angles.
Initially as defined by Richard, the world is split into only two types of people, “winners and losers”. Richard’s opening shot shows a middle-aged man orating to an audience, with a large projector behind him showing ‘the 9 steps’. The low angle establishing shots make him look like a man of importance, but ironically, once his speech has ended we realize he is speaking not to a large crowd of people, but a near empty classroom, with only 10 people. While there is a slight feeling of pity it also brings a note of humor to the speech as Richard who was portrayed as the ‘winner’ of the scene is now revealed to be more of a loser. The opening line of the film is “There are two types of people in this world, winners and losers” indicating to the viewer that the idea of what makes someone a winner will be dominant throughout the film. The statement is also used as a voice-over for the films first scene, where Olive is practicing winning a beauty pageant. Through this the audience quickly connects that Richard’s view of success has greatly influenced his daughter’s, as she practices her ‘winning’ face. The opening scene has been carefully chosen by the Dayton and Faris as a way to communicate to the audience that Richard’s perspective on winners will be a significant theme throughout the film.
Richards’s obsession with winning and how he pushes this onto others is again witnessed as he manipulates Olive into not eating ice cream. When the slightly chubby Olive chooses Waffles and ice cream for breakfast, Richard
An important idea in the film “Little Miss Sunshine” directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris is the idea that being a winner is more about perseverance and having fun than coming first place and always succeeding. A key character in the film is Richard Hoover, who portrays the development of this idea through his dialogue, costume and camera angles.
Initially as defined by Richard, the world is split into only two types of people, “winners and losers”. Richard’s opening shot shows a middle-aged man orating to an audience, with a large projector behind him showing ‘the 9 steps’. The low angle establishing shots make him look like a man of importance, but ironically, once his speech has ended we realize he is speaking not to a large crowd of people, but a near empty classroom, with only 10 people. While there is a slight feeling of pity it also brings a note of humor to the speech as Richard who was portrayed as the ‘winner’ of the scene is now revealed to be more of a loser. The opening line of the film is “There are two types of people in this world, winners and losers” indicating to the viewer that the idea of what makes someone a winner will be dominant throughout the film. The statement is also used as a voice-over for the films first scene, where Olive is practicing winning a beauty pageant. Through this the audience quickly connects that Richard’s view of success has greatly influenced his daughter’s, as she practices her ‘winning’ face. The opening scene has been carefully chosen by the Dayton and Faris as a way to communicate to the audience that Richard’s perspective on winners will be a significant theme throughout the film.
Richards’s obsession with winning and how he pushes this onto others is again witnessed as he manipulates Olive into not eating ice cream. When the slightly chubby Olive chooses Waffles and ice cream for breakfast, Richard