Today, Kristina and I went and saw "Little Miss Sunshine", a movie with Steve Carell, Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, and several other actors. In the midst of some family turmoil, which I shall reserve for another posting one day (or more than one, who knows), this movie hit in a way that allowed us to laugh at the beautiful disfunction that is modern American families. The son doesn't speak and loves Nietschze, the daughter is a pudgy beauty queen contestant, the mom is a secret chain-smoking parent who tries to please and help everyone in the family, the dad is obsessed with winners and losers and the 9 steps to being a winner, the uncle is obsessed with men and scholars, and the grandpa is addicted to drugs. It's a happy family.
What I enjoyed most were the characters. They were all great and very realistic, which is a difficult thing to portray in this life since it seems that Hollywood is more obsessed with making the big dollar than portraying "reality". The movie gave me the ability to laugh and cry at my own family situation, and helped me to see that all families have problems, there are just some ways better than others in dealing with the problems.
My favorite section of the movie involves Steve Carell's character Frank and the young son standing on a dock talking about life. The young man says to Frank, "do what you like. [Forget] everything else." I appreciated that line because it is so easy to want to do things that you don't really want to do, yet they will ease the family turmoil or help others to ignore their problems.
I highly recommend "Little Miss Sunshine" for a startling and provocative look at the reality of American families. Is this what has become of the American dream?
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