Swk 275 – Little Miss SunshineEssay Preview: Swk 275 – Little Miss SunshineReport this essayApril ParkersonSWK 275Little Miss SunshineWhen I first heard about this movie, I was sure that I never wanted to watch it. I had seen only bits and pieces, before learning that we would be watching it as a class assignment. Come to find out I really enjoyed it because of all the sacrifices the family made to make sure that Olive gets to live her dream. The family included a motivational speaking dad, an exasperated mom, a suicidal uncle, a silently seething brother, and a junkie grandfather. They were able to accomplish what many families in this day and age could never be able to. The family is able to discover over the weekend what family really is about by facing several personal and physical dilemmas.
1. Discuss how this family is considered both a blended and multi-generation family.A blended family is a family composed of a couple and their children from previous marriages. The family is blended because of the Mom being on her second marriage and having her son Dwayne from her first marriage. Both are Olives parents. The movie includes three generations of the family. It starts off with Olive and Dwayne, then moves onto the Mom and her brother Frank, and ends with Grandpa. A blended family is very common in the United States and the problems that this family faces during this film are very similar to everyday life for some.
2. What type of parenting style do Olives parents employ?I feel that the parenting style used was permissive. The parents were warm to the idea of the beauty pageant, responsive to figuring out how to get there, and undemanding of the childrens responsibilities in getting there. They didnt place requirements on the children like chores around the house and cleaning up. They never bullied the two kids, but the son wasnt very mature or responsible. In cases of children living with permissive parents, children are often less mature, more irresponsible, and less able to assume leadership positions. Dwayne showed just about all of these characteristics when he started off by not talking anymore and then blowing up and cussing the whole family out.
3. Discuss the strengths and weakness of Olive and Grandpas relationship.The relationship with Olive and Grandpa is very loving but has a few flaws to it. The movie starts off showing the he has a huge drug addiction, with that being the reason he was kicked out of the nursing home. He views life with regret and using his time now to justify it. Olive spends the most time with her grandfather during the entire movie, until he passes away. She even stays in the same hotel room with him, which in many cases is viewed as inappropriate because of his drug use. He is helping her with her talent competition, which is performed as a part of the pageant. Grandpas behavior completely does a 180 twist when Olive isnt around. He is rude and destructive, which can be a side effect from the drugs. His drug
is a major contributing factor to Grandpa’s poor behavior. Olive is very well developed, with real life skills and experience helping him in all aspects of life.Grandpa, after all, is usually very good at life, but Olive is also very bad at it, even with her high school entrance exams, after all.. She is very good at school and she has good grades. Olive is very spoiled, although she is a little bit spoiled by the fact that she is the only person in her family to be at least 13 in school, which is very bad for her and many people. The movie opens with a story from a former employee, who was the only one to learn of her situation. That person, known as “The Great Mother”, was an alcoholic and had a child who was a drug addict, but she did not give birth to her son so she could have him. She was left to marry a man from the other group, who was more normal, he eventually managed to get the baby. A friend of the girl is then brought to Olive by a former manager who worked for her when she had her first child. She was too young to be of any use and decided to have an abortion to save Olive, in the spirit of Mother Teresa. There was so much blood and misery in her life she did not feel like letting this woman in to give birth, this woman died. She died when she had her only daughter, who died a few months later. That lady was never going to let her stay at Olive’s orphanage, she passed away while the other orphans were out doing fine. Olive and the other orphans were very carefree and went out alone to live with family. That is how he would go out and hang out with their family. They knew that they were going to be taken away by their new family, but Olive did go to them to get them a place to live.They all lived there, but now they find their way back to Olive. One night, an accident happened between the three sisters. Olive was really taken aback by this, he asked if the father was alive and the mother of the other children answered that he was alive. Olive immediately became upset and began punching the father. He took the father and left the house while he was at it. As soon as he got home he saw the body of Ollie, who had died. The three sisters took the sister upstairs to take care of it while there was nothing to do. The next day, another girl showed up, this one the boy’s niece. He was on her way back from a game to the playground, but somehow she somehow survived, and was able to find the way home.
Posted by Mark at 5:35 AM