Character analysis of Little Miss Sunshine

¶ … Character "Little Miss Sunshine"

Case Study of Character "Little Miss Sunshine"

Course Code

The film that we are going to focus on in this essay is "Little Miss Sunshine." The film was released in 2006. It was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and written by Michael Arndt. The film stars Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, and Abigail Breslin.

Abigail Breslin was the lead character of this film as she played a cute young girl who goes by the name of Olive Hoover. "Little Miss Sunshine" is a film that revolves around Olive and her dream of joining the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. This beauty pageant contest takes place in California while the family lives in Alburquerque.

Olive's family is very supportive of her as she is apparently the only one in their family who is honest and determined to accomplish her goals. The rest of the family on the other hand, is going downhill and each member of the family is confused in his/her own way. Olive's father "Richard Hoover" believes in a theory about success which he developed himself and is head strong about it even though his theory is failing badly for him in real life as he is facing bankruptcy.

Olive's mother "Sheryl Hoover" is trying her best to support everyone in her family but she cannot take it anymore because of her husband's stubborn attitude as a result of which she wants a divorce despite the fact that she has 2 children. Olive's brother "Dwayne" wants to become a pilot and he is firm about his decision. However, he later on finds out that he is color blind as a result of which his dream of becoming a pilot shatters and he thinks that life is too difficult for him.

Other than Olive, Olive's uncle "Frank" plays a big part in a movie as Frank tried to commit suicide due to a number of reasons. He thinks that he is a failure and since he even failed at committing suicide, he loses all hope but "Sheryl" decides to take care of him by keeping him with her family. As he starts living with the family, his past issues start to fade away as he is distracted and focused in helping the family out and helping "Olive" achieve her goals.

Lastly, Olive's grandfather, Edwin Hoover is a heroin addict but he is source of inspiration for Olive as he is like her mentor for the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant.

Olive Hoover was a part of a competition which leads to the final round of the "Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant." She came second in it as she worked really hard for that competition. However, things change when she receives a phone call from one of her aunts who tells her that the girl who came first in that respective competition had to forfeit because of some reason as a result of which, Olive wins the competition and qualifies for the final round of Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant.

Now her goal is to go to California in order to compete for the final round of the beauty pageant. The whole family is shocked and astonished by this news as becoming the Little Miss Sunshine is a big deal for a young girl which is the reason why, they can't deny Olive's request of going to California. The family is going through a very tough time but despite that, the whole family decides to go to California with Olive in order to support and help her out.

Bio-psycho-socio Analysis of Olive Hoover

The character "Olive Hoover" will be focused in this case study. Olive is a young child who is determined to achieve her goals. She is a cute girl with a weak eye sight as she wears spectacles and apparently, she is not one of those "beautiful" or "over the top." That does not stop her from participating in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant however and she stays determined throughout the whole process. Olive is a chubby short girl and she is one of those girls who are very honest and strong from the inside.

Psychologically, Olive is a straight forward, curious girl who is willing to learn things as they come. She is a very fast learner and wants to understand everything. She is an innocent little girl and she understands "wrong doings" despite the fact that in her own family, from her grandfather to her uncle, have not been the perfect role models for her. She is confused in a way as well as she wants to make her family proud and she is not sure whether she can win the Little Miss Sunshine Beauty pageant or not. Despite the fact that the whole family is going through major issues, Olive is the bright side of the family and due to her fun-loving personality, the whole family sees and shares a bit of happiness of Olive's happiness.

Socially, Olive is very active in her family. She has a very deep and understanding relationship with her mother as she listens carefully to everything her mother tells her and she shares her views openly with her mother. The young enthusiastic girl enjoys talking to her mother and the love amongst these two characters is evident from the beginning.

Olive's relation with her father on the other hand is a bit confusing as she wants to make her father proud but she is not sure whether she is good enough to do so or not. Olive's father wants Olive to succeed by any means necessary and he does support not anyone who does not believe that he/she is going to be a winner. That is the reason why Olive is a little reluctant while talking to her father but her unconditional love for her father is not affected by these issues.

"Dwayne" is a very deranged young boy but he loves his sister very much which is the reason why he is very supportive of her. The two siblings understand each other pretty well despite the fact that they do not talk to each other. They help each other out in various situations as well and Dwayne tries to do his best to help his sister in every possible way.

Olive has a very special relationship with her grandfather as "Edwin" is not just her grandfather, but he is her mentor as well. She opens herself up to her grandfather when she is confused and she trusts her grandfather very much which is the reason why she stays in the same room with her grandfather in their home, and even when they make a trip to California for the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant.

Lastly, Olive's relationship with her uncle "Frank" does not develop much as she does not get to spend too much time with him since he came to the house. However, she wants to understand Frank as she asks him a lot of questions and she wants to know what happened to her uncle which urged him to try to commit suicide.

Family Resiliency

Resilience means to be flexible or to mould something in a particular situation in order to support it. We can say that resilience in this context means understanding a situation and sacrificing or behaving accordingly. (Walsh, 2002)

Therefore, we can say that family resilience means that when a family or an individual who is a part of the family decides to be resilient, or flexible for the betterment of the family, that is family resilience. (McCubbin and Patterson, 1983)

Family resilience can be defined as a term used when a family decides to display traits that successfully lead to the adaption and coping to a particular or significant adversity or hardship. If a family decides to sacrifice for the good of the "family," that is family resilience. (Luthar, 2006)

In the film Little Miss Sunshine, the family ultimately decides to help Olive with her goal and dream as they all resiliently decide to forget all their issues and support the little princess of the family for the better good. Little Miss Sunshine pageant's finals is something Olive had been waiting for since a long time and it means a lot to her. Since the family is aware of that, they all try their best to mould themselves and fight with every obstacle that comes their way.

We can say that Family Resiliency theory was applied in this film as the whole family faces one issue after another but still they all try to stay strong and get past all those problems in a way that Olive's dream does not get affected.

Firstly, the car that the family is using is a Volkswagen bus which is barely drivable but they all decide to live with it and every time they have to stop the car, they have to push the car in order to restart it. The car does not function properly throughout the film as the car's horn also starts malfunctioning and due to the car's physical look, it is not easy to drive the car at all.

Secondly, Richard and Sheryl, Olive's parents are going through some major issues as Richard's plan of selling his theory is failing badly as a result of which he is going bankrupt. Due to Richard's childish and stubborn behavior, Sheryl decides that she can't live with Richard anymore and she wants a divorce. However, both of them decide to deal with this problem later once Olive is done with her Little Miss Sunshine Beauty pageant.

Thirdly, Edwin, Olive's Grandfather passes away because of an overdose of heroin. The whole family goes into a state of shock as they all love Edwin very much. However, the family decides to deal with this death in a very bold way as they all understand that "taking Olive to the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant" is what Edwin wanted all along. Therefore, they carry the dead body in their bus and decide to deal with the funeral once Olive's dream is achieved.

Fourthly, Dwayne, Olive's brother who wants to be a pilot very badly, finds out that he is color blind. His dream of becoming a pilot is shattered and he faces a temporary "mental breakdown" as a result of which continuing the trip becomes difficult for the family. However, Dwayne eventually decides to deal with this problem later on as his sister's dream is the family's priority at that time.

Lastly, Dwayne and Richard, after watching the atmosphere and competitors at the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant decide not to let Olive take the stage as they do not want Olive to embarrass herself or get hurt. They believe that Olive might not be good enough for this competition but in the end, Sheryl supports Olive and claims that if Olive wants to take part in the competition, the family does not have the right to stop her as she has worked extremely hard to get there.

Family Resilience was the only reason why Olive gets to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant and performs in the most awaited "talent show" of the competition. If her family did not sacrifice or support her, she would not have been able to live her dream and have fun despite the fact that she fails to win the competition.

Psychoanalytic Theory

Psychoanalytic theory is the theory that was developed to define and understand the psychological process called Psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic theory defines the dynamics of the development of a person's personality which underlies and guides psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. (Ormrod, 1999)

This theory was at first laid out by one of the most profound psychologists known to mankind, Sigmund Freud. However, with due time, psychoanalysis and its theory have been modified and altered as technology progressed and the human race evolved. (Laplanche & Pontalis, 1974)

Psychoanalytic theory is about the conscious and unconscious decisions or thoughts a human being has. The processes of free association, dream interference and analysis of resistance and transference are used in psychoanalysis as Freud believes that a psychologist can understand a human being's thoughts and intentions only when the patient expresses his/her desires freely and honestly. These processes are used to explore repressed and unconscious impulses which help psychologists understand internal conflicts. (Berzoff et al., 2011)

In Little Miss Sunshine, analyzing Olive Hoover's character from a psychoanalytic point-of-view, we can say that she is confused and scared at times as well. Since she is just a young child, under 10 years old only, she dreams big and she wants to achieve those goals but she does not know whether she is good enough to achieve those goals or not.

She is scared from the inside as well as she does not want to disappoint her family, especially her father who wants Olive to be nothing but a winner. Hence, we can say that psychoanalytically, Olive unconsciously, throughout this film knows that she might not be good enough to win the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant.

Olive does not understand what to do as a result as she is only a young child but her family is aware of this confusion that she is having which is the reason why they keep asking and telling her again and again that she does not have to compete if she does not want to. The family tries to make her realize that taking part in that competition is not obligatory by any means but the fact is that she wants to participate in the contest very badly.

Olive does not want to waste all her hard work that she has put into her performance as a result of which, consciously, she knows that despite the fact it is going to be an extremely difficult task for her, she still needs to get through her performance. We can say that it is like a mistake that she wants to make.

Other than that, the moral of the film "Little Miss Sunshine" is that a person should accept who he/she is and he/she should live with it. Whatever a person desires unconsciously or consciously, a person should accept that and deal with it instead of carrying a fake personification.

That is what is shown by the end of the movie where Olive decides to perform despite the fact that she is a little confused and the whole family supports her and performs with her even though all of them are kind of making a fool out of themselves in front of the rest of the people. However, they accept who they are and they are not afraid of letting out their unconscious desires.

Social Cognitive Theory

Social Cognitive theory was proposed by Neal E. Miller and John Dollard in 1941 and this theory helped sociologists and psychologists understand and develop the social learning theory on a broader scale. This theory is used to in identifying the learning the following four behaviors.

1. Drives

2. Cues

3. Responses

4. Rewards

According to the Social Cognitive theory, each particular behavior is inspired or motivated by observing and learning the behavior of the people around in the surroundings. It can be proved if a person's day-to-day behavior is observed carefully. An individual thinks that if an observed action is learnt or imitated, that learnt action can be rewarded as well. (Santrock, 2008)

Social Cognitive theory is used mainly in psychology, education and communication. We can describe the Social Cognitive theory as the theory which defines and explains how human beings are inspired by one another and that every action a human being performs is learn through observation or understanding of the people around that respective human being. This means that the more a person interacts with his/her surroundings, the more he/she learns.

However, this theory explains that a person does not "solely" learn every behavior himself/herself. This means that some of the behaviors or actions are self-learnt but there is a factor of inspiration in every learn action. According to this theory, the survival and evolution of mankind is dependent on Social Cognition as each person learns from the people in his/her surroundings as a result of which, the learning process is increasing rapidly and if there are no human beings around, the learning process would be dented heavily. (Miller & Dollard, 1941)

The learning of each action relies on the response that action receives. This means that if a person does something and he/she gets rewarded, then the people around him/her would want to imitate that action in order to get the reward. If an action leads to punishment, then the people in the surroundings would not want to imitate that action as they would know that they might get punished if they imitate that respective action.

In the film Little Miss Sunshine, the Social Cognitive theory can be applied as Olive tries to imitate and learn the actions that surround her. Since Olive is a very active and cooperative girl, she talks to almost everyone in her family very intimately as a result of which, she picks some of the actions from each member of the family.

We can say that in the beginning of the movie where Frank, Olive's uncle moves in with the family, Olive tries to understand why Frank tried to commit suicide and learn the reasons why a person would want to kill himself. She then comes to the conclusion that suicide is silly hence she learnt that suicide would result in a negative response therefore according to her character, she might not consider suicide ever. This experience helped her learn about this negativity.

Other than that, she also learns that there is nothing bad in being a winner and she understands the true meaning of being a winner through her father. By observing "Dwayne," her brother's behavior, she understands what kind of a person he is and that sometimes, silent gestures are the best way to cure or handle someone.