Little Miss Sunshine Belonging

In the film ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Farris we can see the idea that life is a beauty contest throughout the ‘Intro pageant’ scene as we see Olive finally up on stage, doing what she’s always dreamed of. It is important for the viewer to understand society's idea of beauty that everyone is forced to fit into. Some people take it seriously and others just cruise through depending on their influences in life. In order to emphasize the theme of society’s idea of beauty, the director uses dialogue, camera shots, character actions, and lighting.

The directors use dialogue to show the theme of society’s idea of beauty throughout the scene. When Frank and Dwayne are talking on the pier, Dwayne exclaims ‘You

Dwayne realises that none of these people are like Olive and knows they will judge her for being different creating an unsettling mood as the time for Olive to perform gets closer. The viewer can also relate to these words as people are not always shown at their very best as they get tired or have not learned how to be ‘beautiful’ in society. Having to conform to society’s image every day is not always possible but people will judge you anyway as being lazy, ugly and so on. The director’s use of dialogue is also backed up by character actions. When the host is singing to the contestants, they are all smiling brightly at him and looking him confidently in the eyes whereas Olive is smiling awkwardly and keeps looking away from his eyes as she is uncomfortable. This shows that Olive hasn’t been trained

A medium long shot is used in the scene when Olive is getting ready and looking at herself in the mirror. In this shot, we can see three Olive’s in the reflection of the three mirrors all looking up and down at herself sucking in her stomach as if they are judging every corner of her body. We can see that Olive isn’t completely satisfied with her looks, instead trying to see something that isn’t herself, which is odd as Olive is typically a cheerful girl. The technique is backed up by another technique of character expressions. Olive’s facial expression shows that she is very focused on her stomach and doesn’t seem like her usual self. The viewer can see how behind all of Olive’s cheerfulness, she has her own personal criticisms that may stem from comparing herself to other models like Miss America. Earlier in the film Olive orders some ice cream which leads Richard to tell her about the effects of ice cream and how fattening it is. Richard ends up asking her ‘Those models in Miss America, are they skinny or are they fat?’ causing her to refuse to eat her ice cream. The viewer can relate to these feelings as in our society people are very judgmental and when someone tells you something negative even if you don’t agree with it you end up getting persuaded by them. They may also remember a time they felt or even feel as though they are not worth as much as other people because of their looks when in reality looks