Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Little Miss Sunshine

So....Little Miss Sunshine ---Saw it with a certain Ms. Kath on Friday night---and it freaking changed my life.... I saw it a total of 3 times this weekend-- I dunno if it's my dysfunctional (but lovable) family, my recent breakup, or my constant emotional instability...(I keeed) but something about that movie really resonated with me- actually I think it's just a really well written movie with beautifully developed characters who, from the first moment of the movie capture your attention and captivate you. You cannot help but be drawn into their world and cheer for them--crying as they cry, laughing as they go ambling down the road in their (may I say) gorgeous vintage Volkswagen van.
Watching a family fraught with individual pain and problems pull together for the sake of their most vulnerable and innocent member--putting aside their grievances--but not in a sappy Hallmark, rosy-make-you-want-to-gag-way....no... this movie in no way sugar-coats that delicate insanity that ensues when you force a group of people who have absolutely nothing in common save for genetics into a confined moving vehicle for a fixed amount of time. What are we thinking-at holidays for instance? We believe that magically somehow all of the bumps and indequacies that the people we are related to will disappear for one day because of a number on a calendar.
This movie does for some of us what years of therapy have failed at. It shows us that our families ARE crazy---BUT that there is a modicem of madness in all families and something worthwhile to that-something valuable to those differences-and the sufferings.
As Frank says to Dwayne "These are your prime suffering years." you really do learn from your family how to assimilate into a strange and bizzare (and sometimes harsh) society. And if you can survive that, you're golden. And if you can find friends to walk through it, you're bumped up to a platinum member with wings...haha

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I LOVED that movie. I've listened to the soundtrack dozens of times now. I think that part on the bridge ("These are your prime suffering years") was one of my favorite parts. Check out The Illusionist, too, not nearly as good as LMS, but really good in a cool dark way.

Anonymous said...

...updates my dear Emily! I demand updates!

Anonymous said...

...updates! I demand updates!

Anonymous said...

Got the message yet ;-)