Little Miss Sunshine

analysis
#1

In advance of the DUG analysis of Little Miss Sunshine, I had a few ideas and I wanted to see how they compared to the analysis.

I’m admittedly terrible at analysis, but oppose/support jumps out to me both in the OS and for change co-MCs Richard/Frank/(and Dwayne?).

I suspect the IC is Grandpa & to some degree Cheryl/Olive at the end.

The MCs’ original viewpoint is: there are 2 kinds of people in this world–winners and losers / I’m the #1 Proust scholar.

The IC’s viewpoint is we’re going to have fun out there / let Olive be Olive and also when Grandpa consoles Richard with: “Listen, whatever happens – at least you tried to do something on your own, which is more than most people ever do, and I include myself in that category. It takes guts, and I’m proud of you for taking the chance, okay?”

Frank and then Richard adopt this view and they support Olive at the end.

The OS seems like a fixed attitude / innermost desires conflict. On the surface it may seem like it is obtaining / winning the pageant, but I don’t see how problematic activities (rather than biases) are the source of conflict.

The RS seems like they are stuck in the same family/van & the source of conflict is their future together.

#2

You’ll be happy to know that’s where Chris started :slight_smile:

If you step back and think about what the Authors were trying to pose as the sources of conflict, rather than what the characters themselves are thinking, you might find something different in terms of Domains.

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#3

I listened to the recording. At first I was baffled by the quads since it felt very bottom left to me, but now I notice more evidence for a MC concern of the past. When Richard confronts Stan Grossman at the hotel, Stan gives Richard a jolt when he says:

“It’s not the program, Richard, it’s you, okay? No one’s heard of you. Nobody cares.”

In other words, his past as an unknown is weighing him down. He never comes out and says, “I coulda been a contender,” but his angst would disappear if he were already famous or if big crowds were already lining up to see him speak.

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#4

Wow - the recording is already up? :laughing:

Yes!! I totally missed that point - the thing that stood out for me was the Sense of Self Issue in the OS: the Desire, Ability, Speculation, Projection quad (though, if you listened to the podcast, you probably already know that :slight_smile:)

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#5

What, if anything, would “winning the pageant” be in the storyform? Not getting there or performing, but winning.

Would the storyform be any different if Olive had won the contest? I feel like the meaning would be different because it would give weight to the “winners vs losers / all that matters is winning” argument instead of the current verdict of “have fun out there / let Olive be Olive.”

How should I think about these “apparent” story goals that seem to be emphasized by certain characters but aren’t the actual story goal?

#6

Great question.

What is it about wining or losing that Arndt is making a point about? Is it the actual accomplishment of it, or is it all the dysfunctional thinking leading up to it.

If she had won, then yes it would mean something different—but then it would be a completely different storyform altogether.

Changing one event changes more than the appreciation seemingly attached to it (Story Outcome).

It’s not what the characters are saying that is problematic—it’s the thought that process that leads to those conversations.

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