Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

The film Little Miss Sunshine was produced by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. In the beginning of this visual text we see the main characters introduced and see the family dynamic. This is when one of the most important themes is introduced, how society defines success and beauty. This theme is portrayed by the use of costume, dialogue, and sound/ music. Society has a set look on what success and beauty is and the Hoover family challenges that. In the beginning scene the use of costume is used to establish the idea of societies definition of success and beaut. Olive is an important example of how society is defines beauty and success. In the opening scene of we have a mid shot of Olive in front of the TV looking at the beauty pageants…

Little Miss Sunshine, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, offers a compelling commentary on the central idea of the dangerous and superficial nature of capitalist values. One of the most powerful scenes that convey this idea is at the end of the pageant where Olive performs her act (“the performance scene”). Dayton and Faris use a wide range of visual language features to convey this important idea in the performance scene. At the first shot of interest, Olive begins her dance. In…

Was Little Miss Sunshine A movie to watch? The Little Miss Sunshine directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, released July 26, 2006. The Little Miss Sunshine starts off with a little girl named Olive watching the Miss America beauty pageants, hoping to be her up there on the stage one day. In the the movie the family is from the beautiful desert Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sheryl Hoover played by Toni Collette is a mother of two who all live in in Albuquerque, New Mexico along with Her…

A journey is a planned or unexpected expedition embarked by an individual or a group of people. When an individual is forced to embark on an inner journey, the attitudes and beliefs can be challenged in many different ways. This is evident in the radio drama, ‘Flowers for Algernon’ adapted by Bert Coules and written by Daniel Keyes, where the protagonist Charlie was forced to embark an intellectual and emotional journey and his attitude and beliefs were challenged. Similarly, in the film ‘Little…

Anne Boucard Monmouth University Abstract Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 film about a family and their unusual road trip to California, in anticipation for their daughter Olive to win a beauty pageant. Frank, Olive’s uncle, experienced emotional turmoil when he lost his job and went through relationship problems with his lover. Consequently, he attempted to commit suicide by mutilating his wrists. However, due to lack of insurance coverage, Frank was discharged from the hospital and placed into…