Perhaps you remember a movie that came out in 2005, ?Little Miss Sunshine.? You probably won?t be surprised I was drawn to the title. I do like good news. I do like to dwell on emphasize the positive. I do like daisies and sunflowers and sunshiny stuff. And, I do enjoy children. Now I wasn?t born yesterday, so I prepared my sunny self?s sensibilities. But then, also because I wasn?t born yesterday I opened my heart to embrace this movie.
So I saw that movie and what unfolded was surprisingly uplifting. I watched an ensemble of characters playing out failure after failure. The father, Richard was a failed motivational speaker and at the same time alienating everyone around him. The grandfather seemed the antithesis of a grandfather?bad influence comes to mind. Uncle Frank was a failed, second rate Proustian scholar who had even failed in an attempt to commit suicide. Dwayne lived in his own world making a vow of silence, resolved not to speak to anyone. Sheryl was a mother out of control. And, Olive was a chubby little girl with the dream of winning the tiara of ?Little Miss Sunshine?. Sooo?what was uplifting? The author of the screenplay managed to bring all these characters together in the end.
Michael Arndt?s first big award was the Golden Globe for best original screenplay. Then, he won the Oscar for best original screenplay. I was intrigued to learn more about the author and fascinated by the success of this ?small? low budget film. At youtube I uncovered an interview with him. You can find it here and I recommend viewing it when you have 63 minutes. I?m sorry it?s long, but as the author speaks he shares what he knows?volumes. Treat yourself. If you are a writer, it?s a great listen. (fyi The clip below is only 3 minutes; you may prefer that one and have time for that.)
1. ?The ending of the story is what makes the meaning of the story visible.? The author suggests he started at the end and wrote backwards unleashing his original draft in just three days. At the end one can see a complete arc of Richard?s character play out. At first he is hopeful Olive will win. Then he is embarrassed by Olive?s routine. Then he is bewildered not knowing how to react. Finally he joins Uncle Frank and the rest of the family supporting their Olive by dancing with her on stage. The author was focused on a final scene that shows this dysfunctional family connecting. btw Arndt insists this is not autobiographical.
2. The author also, reveals a strategy for solving a dilemma in writing his script. What to do between grandfather?s death and Dwayne?s meltdown? Here again I was intrigued to hear how he solved it. He felt it needed some comic relief precisely there between the two scenes. He reveals to his audience that the answer lay surprisingly close. He explains, ?One doesn?t have to look outside of the action, outside of the setting or outside of the characters to solve a problem in the story/script.? The answer lay in grandpa?s magazines that led to the hilarious and plausible run in with the highway patrolman. Watch the movie if you haven?t already.
3. The author reveals his belief that a work will rise on its own merit. However, it?s important to be true to the work. One can only release it from one?s desk after it?s ready. For Arndt it meant a year of rewriting approximately 7-9 drafts. ?You don?t get a second read in Hollywood,? Arndt cautions.
4. In the zany story there?s an agenda. An important message about Winners vs Losers. Arndt is repelled by our society where we idolize contests with winners vs. losers. According to Arndt, ?Winning?you can?t control. Fun, you can control. The fun is more important than the winning.? (Except of course when there?s an Oscar or some such in the balance.) I get a sense that this screenwriter is committed, writes from the heart and has the skill to transcend the winners vs. losers mentality. For him it is the most natural thing in the world to write a piece about dignity, to dash the winners vs. losers diadem we have created, to rejoice in a family more at peace, unified and connected. The author meets the winners vs. losers mentality head on and his little work, low budget, story of ?failures multiplied? has risen up and achieved the attention it deserves.
A few years later after ?Sunshine?, there was another win in store for Arndt. No, he didn?t win another Oscar, but his collaborative script for ?Toy Story 3? earned him a nomination last year for the 2011 Oscars. There are no nominations for him this year. But my eyes are still on this young screenwriter whose future script(s) will bubble up, and rise on its/their own merit.
Who are you looking to win on Oscar night or in the future?
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Still another NOTE: When one of our daughters was in ?drill team?, having achieved one of the ?diamonds and tiaras? crowns of a Southern high school culture, I volunteered to chaperone on the bus. I made small talk with the girls around me and it came out that although the majority of them were performing at the game we were bound for, a few were not. I innocently, naively, stupidly asked some girls why some weren?t performing at the Friday game? I was aghast and appalled at their response. No words. They raised their hands forming an ?L?. Yes, it?s a symbol for loser. They hadn?t achieved enough ?points? during the week to perform. Ahhh?then I really began to understand the culture my daughter had to buck. Bravo to the Hoovers who stood up together and supported their Olive.
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Source: http://georgettesullins.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/winners-vs-losers/
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