23rd Annual Student Research Conference
Feminist and Narrative Analysis of the Film Little Miss Sunshine
Laura A. Warmbrodt
Dr. Elizabeth M. Clark, Faculty Mentor
Feminist and Narrative Analysis of the film Little Miss Sunshine The 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine, a dark comedy about a family on the verge of a breakdown, or several breakdowns, was a hit with critics, with the academy, and with audiences. It portrays problems facing American families with a narrative that weaves and then unravels a web of dysfunction, addiction, and angst as the Hoover/Ginsberg family travels from Albuquerque to California in a vintage VW bus so that young Olive can compete in the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant. The use of feminist and narrative critical lenses reveal the complex interrelationship between narrative features and feminist elements of the story. The films narrative intertwines scenes essential to the story of Olives journey with scenes adding depth of character to the family. The cultural role of beauty pageants is explored through the theory of gender performance and the beauty myth.
Keywords: Feminist, Narrative, Beauty Myth, Gender performance
Topic(s):Communication
Women's and Gender Studies
English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 60-3
Location: VH 1320
Time: 3:15