Little Miss Sunshine

The definition of brilliance is the creation of a concept or object that no one else could have fathomed. Little Miss Sunshine is brilliant.
Little Miss Sunshine is a post-modern adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath. A post- modern adaptation is not a literal adaptation but the transformation of a work to emphasize a post-modern theme or provide a new insight into reality. For those who might doubt the connection between these two works the following is a short list of their commonalities:

• A poor family, as their mode of transportation attests to, who set of to California in search of the better life


• An ineffectual and silent head of the household, who do to his inability to provide for the household, sinks in the background


• A mother who tries at all costs to keep the family together


• An uncle who is prone to depression and is very morose


• The young daughter who is the sole source of optimism.


• The reclusive son who is silent


• The feisty grandfather who is forced to go on the journey, but dies along the way.

While any adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath would constitute brilliance the transformation of this somber and religious text into a dark comedy is beyond brilliance. It is very hard to describe why this is so to an individual who has not trudged through this epic work.
It is sufficed to say there is nothing funny about this book, yet the movie is hysterical. This raises the fundamental question of how this can be.
In order to understand this one must delve into the problems of the two families: the Joads (from Grapes of Wrath) and the Hoovers (from Little Miss Sunshine).
While the problems of both families have economic roots they are fundamentally different. The Joads have real problems. They are living in the dust bowl and just have been forcibly removed from their home. The entire world around them is suffering and there is no relief in site. In short their problems are real.
The problems of the Hoovers, on the other hand, are entirely in their minds. The father is a failure because he refuses to acknowledge the possibility of failing. The son is a failure because he refuses to interact with the outside world. The Uncle is a failure because he has reduced life to black and white. The world is not coming to an end, they have not been forced from their homes, and they still have a future. This is why this movie is so funny.
In order for us to create the illusion of despair and denial in our heads we must create ridiculous and far fetching philosophies about the world; our brains do not accept minute lies. While we cannot realize the absurdity of these lies, outsider can. In this power of laughter lies the most profound statement of this movie.
The most profound thing, and fundamentally different, notion of this movie is that the cure is given—laughter. Our post-modern world is nothing more than a ridiculous farce. We have two choices: drugs (whether legal or not) or laughter; escape or acceptance. Only once someone accepts the ridiculous nature of this post-modern acceptance does this world lose its power over you.

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Little Miss Sunshine