Little Miss Sunshine = Icky

Why icky:

Little Miss Sunshine has six characters, none of whom make any decisions the audience can respect throughout the entire movie. The grandpa is the only character with any charm, so he dies halfway through the story. Nothing good happens to any of the characters at any point in the film. Are the filmmakers trying to hurt us? What's wrong with some charm and humor? What's wrong with getting us to like the characters before the story starts pissing on them? What's wrong with letting them win a round or two before they start getting clubbed like baby seals?

More importantly, who would enjoy this kind of story? The answer: people who don't like themselves. They can identify with people who know nothing but conflict and frustration, and they think they deserve to be disappointed every step of the miserable journey. Life does throw curve balls, but our team shouldn't always be leaning into them.

Steve Carell does give a lovely speech at the end about the value of suffering, and it's a moment of genuine redemption. But, dude - lots of movies are about nutty relatives; that speech could have followed any of them. Only an icky movie would strand the audience in a world where none of the characters should be allowed to steer.

Why Icky Movies

Good movies? Fine. Bad movies? Whatever. Icky movies? Did life not suck enough already?

Icky movies are bad movies mistaken for good movies, like rotten food sold to your blind mother instead of thrown away.

Good movies make the world better. Some bad movies even make the world better. Icky movies make the world worse.

This blog is about icky movies.