POST 5 : "American Dream of Beauty" Little Miss Sunshine

 First of all, the film's story is Olive seven-year-old, dreams of being a beauty queen. When she gets an invitation to compete for the very selective title of Little Miss Sunshine in California, the whole family decides to support her. They make sail west and begin a three-day trip with unexpected events.It’s easy to read Little Miss Sunshine as a typical underdog story: an average girl named Olive Hoover wants to win a beauty pageant. It's the sort of movie that seems to uphold the American assumptions that everyone has equal opportunities and that being a winner is of the utmost importance.
In fact, Little Miss Sunshine demonstrate that American perfectionism and beauty standards are superficial and do not lead to true happiness. In the end, the film rejects the undisputed societal expectations and redefines a positive idea of the American Dream.

The phrase "American dream" is characterised by certain conventions, such as material success, an orderly house, and a "normal" family life.

On the one hand, Little Miss Sunshine confronts all of these stereotypes that supposedly make the ‘American Dream’ head-on and pulverises them, presenting to the audience instead a workaholic father, a mother who isn't the world's best cook, a drug-addicted grandfather and a little girl who, despite the fact that she isn't thin and blonde, still manages to make the best of her life. For instance, the father, a motivational speaker, believes wholeheartedly in the American Dream. He teaches the meritocratic nature of America, despite the fact that it hasn’t worked for him yet.

To sum up, this film defined the idea of ​​the American dream in a simple and happy life. But we find some indisputable value such as being a family united and supporting each other, as we can see in one of the final scene. The whole family unites and defends an indisputable value, trust in it.

                                                                                       

On the other,the film also draws attention to subjects that 'polite' society commonly labels as taboo or tries to avoid, such as homosexuality, suicide, divorce, death, bankruptcy, personal isolation and society's obsession with physical appearance.

Another way to look the question would be to consider this film gives a very positive message on the criteria of beauty. He strives to define the "American Dream of Beauty" with much more interest in inner beauty and not just the physical. Olive is not the winner of the contest or the most beautiful but she is by far one of the happiest and she has one of the most valid reasons to participate in this contest: for herself and for the people who she likes.

As a conclusion, there is no denying that this film defends the American Dream, for me, it does not denounce its defect but rectifies them by making of Olive and his family the big winners of the life. The strength of character of Olive and all the tests which knew how to overcome his family while remaining united are for me the most beautiful idea of the American Dream.