Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine, directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathon Dayton, is a film based on an average, disfunctional American family. The daughter in the family, Olive enters a beauty pageant. Generally, beauty pagents are a competition to achieve the status of the ideal girl. What does this entail? A slim, muscular body, beautiful face and smile, pose, self-confidence, self-respect, intelligence, and talent. Olive is not like the other contestants; all dolled-up with their back-combed hair, stage makeup, and Sports Illustrated bikinis. She is rather plain in the eyes of the judges, especially with her full piece bathing suit! Did I mention these girls range from ages four to six? Where are these girls to seek for their image; for their ideals? Maybe they seek for their ideals from the media, but most importantly they are influenced by their parents; their mentors. Assuming that all these contestants, or the parents of all these contestants, decode the meaning of an ideal Sunshine Girl in the same way, the pageant will run smoothly. The representation of a beauty pageant, generally, is a natural code. However, when the literal and connotive meaning of a beauty pageant is "misinterpreted", that is to say, there is a failure in the communication of what being a "Sunshine Girl" entails, the pageant runs a little less smoothly.

At the pageant, each contestant must preform a talent. Each girl preforms pretty ballet dances, gymnastic routines, and sing-alongs to Mariah Carey. The last contestant, Olive, performs a dance choreographed by her late grandfather: a striper's routine, complete with tiger growls and a strip down to guarders and a spandex attire. Olive is kicked off stage. Why? Because her interpretation of a Sunshine Girl's description did not fit that of the judges, or the audience, or the rest of society. Olive and her grandfather did not decode the meaning of the "ideal" girl correctly.

Paradoxically, the judges and audience are shocked and appauled by Olives obscene behavior. Behaving like a stripper at the age of four is unheard of. However, exposing these young girls to the pressures of ideal beauty is acceptible. I am unsure which behavior is more degrading. What I do know, is that these girls should call it a night and go enjoy an icecream cone. (non fat-free).