Index IntroductionMajor IssuesFamily Systems TheoryConclusionWorks CitedIntroductionThe film Little Miss Sunshine provides a humorous and honest portrayal of a typical American family. This middle-class Caucasian family embarks on a disaster-filled journey to pick up seven-year-old Olive from their hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant in Redondo Beach, California, during their trip of eight hundred miles, the Hoovers, composed of Richard, Sheryl, Olive and Dwayne. , as Sheryl's brother Frank and Richard's elderly father Edwin become a more understanding and communicative family, while in a dilapidated 1970s yellow Volkswagen van, Richard and Sheryl Hoover are at the center of the family Hoover. Say no to plagiarism Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayRichard, who appears to be in his forties, does not have a stable job, but is trying to make a career as a writer and motivational speaker. As part of this effort, Richard often nags his children about how people are winners or losers. Richard created a nine-step program, "Refuse to Lose," that helps people become winners. While he annoys his family with rude comments about becoming a winner, he himself is trying to become one by publishing a book on his nine steps. If his book were published, it would help his family stop struggling financially. He convinced Sheryl that it's only a matter of time before her book is published and their family can stop struggling financially. He is also Sheryl's second husband. Sheryl presents herself as caring, the family's mediator, and the bringer of their main source of income. While the circumstances are different, the problems the Hoovers face are not uncommon. Research has shown that issues related to finances, how to handle children, and sexual issues are among the most common problems couples face in midlife (Miller & Miller, 2004). Olive and Dwayne are Richard and Sheryl's children. Olive is their biological daughter and Dwayne is Sheryl's son from a previous marriage. Olive is a cheerful, curious and sweet seven-year-old girl. She came second in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant while visiting Sheryl's sister in California on her last spring break. Since then, Olive has been infatuated with beauty pageants. So, when Olive advances in the rankings, Richard and Sheryl decide to take her at the last minute to Redondo Beach, California, to participate in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. In a very different way, Dwayne, a smart, aspiring 15-year-old, hasn't said a word for nine months. He has taken a vow of silence not to speak until he achieves his goal of leaving home and joining the Air Force. He also doesn't often visit his unidentified biological father, who lives in Florida. Dwayne enjoys reading the works of Nietzsche, communicates with his family using a pad of paper, and counts the days, 473, until he can leave his family, who he says he hates. Recently, for incidental reasons, two more family members joined the Hoover family. They are Edwin, Richard's father, who is a heroin addict, and Frank, Sheryl's brother who has just attempted suicide. Edwin is a World War II veteran and is probably in his 70s. He was recently evicted from his retirement home because he was using heroin. Then, Edwin moved in with Richard and Sheryl for financial reasons. While Richard and Sheryl are away from home during the day, he has been working with Olive, helping her prepare a dance routinefor Albuquerque's upcoming Little Miss Chile Pepper pageant. In contrast, Sheryl's brother Frank recently experienced the following traumas before moving in with the Hoovers: a failed relationship with a younger man, being fired from a high-ranking job, evictions from an apartment and a hotel and a suicide attempt. Major Issues Each member of the Hoover family is dealing with both developmental and circumstantial crises that increase intrapersonal and interpersonal pressures within the family. Indeed, the dramatic impact and comedic effectiveness of Little Miss Sunshine emerge naturally from the deft handling, in terms of writing, directing and acting, of commonly experienced intrapersonal and interpersonal crises. For starters, Richard appears to be going through what Erickson would call the “generativity vs. stagnation” phase of personal development, or what is more commonly known as a midlife crisis (Gladding, p. 12). Richard's life and career have not turned out as he hoped, so he has become obsessed with the idea that there are only winners and losers in life and that he is a winner. Richard's developmental crisis is symbolized by the revealing name of his nine-step program for being a winner: “Refuse to Lose. ” In other words, Richard thinks that being a “winner” in life is as easy as refusing to be a “loser.” The first part of the film makes it clear that each member of Richard's family has difficulty dealing with Richard and his unhealthy obsession with being a "winner." ” Sheryl, Richard's wife, also deals with the generativity versus stagnation phase of development (Gladding, p. 12), but her struggles manifest differently than Richard's. She has better coping skills, so she is able to work full time, pay the bills, and take care of everyone else in her blended, multigenerational family. As Richard's midlife crisis has taken over her life, their marriage, and their family, she has struggled to keep the family together and remain positive and supportive, as she acts as if her family means a lot to her . Having to care for Edwin and Frank, who are experiencing developmental and circumstantial crises, has placed Richard and Sheryl's marriage under even greater emotional and financial pressure. However, even parenting Olive and Dwayne with Richard, who is not Dwayne's biological father, is becoming more of a challenge for Sheryl as the children go through their own developmental crises. Developmentally, Olive is becoming more and more aware of what it means to be a girl growing into a young woman in North American society. At the heart of Olive's developmental crisis are the related issues of being perceived as an attractive girl and “winning” the approval of others, especially the men in her life, such as her father and grandfather. Connected to Olive's struggle to become a young woman is facing what Erikson would call the "industry versus inferiority" phase (Gladding, p. 12). Essentially, after staying with the family of Sheryl's more socioeconomically successful sister and entering the Little Miss Sunshine Beauty Pageant with her cousins, Olive made it her goal to train and win beauty pageants. Olive's relationship with her grandfather and father is the basis of her desire to achieve this goal, since, in many ways, she equated "winning" pageants with "winning" their love and acceptance. Perhaps most importantly, Richard, who initially knew nothing about the beauty pageant and couldn't have cared less, becomes obsessed with winning thecontest as he is from becoming a “winner” himself by successfully publishing his “nine steps.” Indeed, a direct link between his "Refuse to Lose" philosophy and the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant is made when he asks Olive if she thinks she can win the pageant. When Olive, who is not stereotypical beauty pageant material, says yes, Richard acts as if he has already won the pageant. Understanding what it means to be a "winner" in the Hoover family is the crisis that drives the growth and change of the main characters. The evolutionary and circumstantial crises faced by the film's other characters, Dwayne, Frank, and Edwin, play important but minor roles in the film. Dwayne, who is fifteen years old, is going through what Erikson would call the “identity vs. identity confusion” phase. role” of his development by rebelling against his stepfather and biological mother in an attempt to differentiate himself from his dysfunctional, blended family (Gladding, p. 13). Edwin, on the other hand, is dealing with the stage of his development that Erikson would call “integrity versus desperation (Gladding, p. 13). Indeed, Edwin, who is a widower in his seventies, does not seem to cope very well with this phase, as he focuses much of his time, when not helping Olive learn to dance, on sexual pleasure and recreational heroin use. Frank, who appears to be in his 30s or 40s, appears to be dealing with the same developmental stage as Richard and Sheryl, "generativity versus desperation" (Gladding, p. 13). In many ways, Frank's character is the antithesis of Richard's, as he has been successful in his academic career. Indeed, it is clear that Frank was a “winner,” as he was the leading Proust scholar in the United States before his life fell apart. However, Frank lacks what Richard and his sister Sheryl have, but have lost sight of: a more rewarding personal life, containing love, however flawed and imperfect it may be. Family Characteristics In terms of family dynamics, it is important to note the communication patterns exhibited by members of the Hoover family. At the beginning of the film, the Hoovers do not communicate well with each other. In fact, Richard's attempt to stop Frank from explaining to Olive why he tried to kill himself at the dinner table provides a great example of how the Hoovers have rules that specify that they avoid talking about serious and unpleasant topics. These “family process rules” can have a dramatic impact on the development of children and adolescents (Feinauer, Larson, & Harper, 2010). For example, Dwayne's decision to not talk at all until he leaves the house shows how lack of communication has become an accepted norm in the Hoover family world. Hoovers also often exhibit behavior known as “damping,” or “making hurtful comments even when others are clearly trying to be positive” (Gladding, p. 36). However, as family members bond over their shared trip to California, they begin to exhibit a behavior known as “reparation,” which involves resolving conflicts through discussions in which everyone is listened to and listened to (Gladding, p. 36). In a way, the unexpected crisis of transporting Olive to the beauty pageant forced all the Hoovers to sit and talk to each other for long periods of time in the van, making the trip, in a way, an extended family therapy session . These “van sessions,” as well as various challenges along the way, forced the Hoovers to overcome the “homeostasis” that prevented them from relating in healthier ways. There are also several structures present in the Hoover family that are worth commenting on. For example, the relationship between Olive and Edwin has become a kind of “intergenerational coalition” since the momentthat their secret choreography, the revelation of which brings the film to an emotionally satisfying conclusion, has become a secret hidden from the rest of the family. (Gladding, page 38). There are also several “conflict triangles” at work in the Hoover family (Gladding, pp. 38-39). For example, as pressure mounts on Sheryl's relationship with her husband, Richard, the relationship between Sheryl and her brother, Frank, causes them to align together against Richard in subtle ways. For example, Frank's snide and sarcastic comments to Richard about his "nine steps" make Sheryl smile a little, since she herself harbors those same emotions of resentment towards her husband. Family Systems Theory Various approaches to family systems theory can also provide insight into how the Hoovers function as a family. For example, if psychodynamic theory were applied to understanding and working with the Hoovers, then the unconscious forces at work in the lives of Richard and Sheryl, Dwayne and Olive, Edwin and Frank, could be addressed. The psychodynamic approach would lead to an examination of many of the “interconnected pathologies” described above (Gladding, p. 204). However, this approach would require time and money that the Hoovers don't appear to have. Therefore, other approaches should be considered. For example, the use of structural family therapy would provide a more pragmatic approach, de-emphasizing insight and emphasizing symptom removal and family reorganization (Gladding, p. 288). Each member of the Hoover family uses strategies, both healthy and unhealthy, to deal with the feelings they have about themselves and others. For starters, Richard is in denial about where he is in his life as he approaches middle age; uses clichés and catchy phrases to hide one's lack of success in life. He also uses his "nine-step program" to fool himself into thinking that being a "winner" can simply be created by will. He doesn't see the pressure he's putting on Sheryl, Olive and other members of their family. Sheryl, unlike Richard, copes with increasing stress and anxiety by secretly smoking cigarettes when no one is around. Edwin also uses substances and activities, such as heroin and sex, to alter his awareness of his unhappiness in growing older. Dwayne simply stops talking to people he thinks are crazy, while Olive deals with her struggle to "win" her father's approval and acceptance by fantasizing about winning beauty pageants. Ultimately, Frank dealt with his difficulties by attempting suicide, often with a cry for help, which his sister Sheryl quickly provided. To work with the Hoovers, several important issues will need to be addressed in family counseling. Above all, addressing Frank's suicidal ideation will be a top priority. Beyond this critical question, however, the choice of a theoretical approach will guide the selection and prioritization of many of Hoover's other questions. For example, if a psychodynamic approach is used, then gaining insight into the unconscious processes and “interconnected pathologies” of individual family members would be considered an important issue to address in counseling (Gladding, p. 226). Using this approach, it would become important to understand why Richard is so obsessed with being a “winner.” " Likewise, it would be important to help Olive better understand her desire to compete and win beauty pageants. In contrast, a structural approach would lead to a greater focus on how the Hoovers interact today, rather than on some aspect of their history as individuals . 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