I watched Little Miss Sunshine with the expectation of a slapstick featuring a dysfunctional family. Hilarious, it was, but it's not the laughs that kept me to my toes. I found myself heartened by how the family pulled together as obstacles emerged one after another, and by heart-swelling revelations of the characters though they're often intersected with situational jokes. For a small movie, it managed to ponder on some big questions, like a person's financial worth, moral perfection and popularity; while on success, the answer was also suggested: life is not a beauty pageant, just do what you like and fuck the rest.
I feel myself especially empathetic with Dwayne, probably because his loathing of competition echoes my own. I, too, hate to compete just to impress; for life is not about fulfilling the expectations of others and blowing away the high-ups, it's about setting sights on something you know is hard to achieve yet rising to the occasion regardless. Dare to dream, dare to pursue, dare to bounce back against all odds.
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