Dwayne Analysis - Little Miss Sunshine by Jared Sztukowski

Grievance

jared_o_sztukowski — 2024-04-15 18:08:11 UTC

Dwayne finds himself in utter despair. He has just spoken his first word in 9 months; "FUCK!" This slur perfectly encapsulates his emotions around his family, the road trip, and his colorblindness. He feels lost, worthless, and hopeless. This is Dwayne's lowest point. Yet a golden light comes and pulls him out of his pit; his sister. Olive is the one person Dwayne relates to as they are both products of their parents and placed into a less than appealing household. Olive is his weakspot and she helps get him back on the road both figuratively and literally.

The Calm Before the Storm

jared_o_sztukowski — 2024-04-15 18:11:22 UTC

This shot showcases Dwayne for the first time in a complete family setting as they're at the dinner table eating. The scenes before this highlight his averageness as a son; he takes some pushing but eventually complies and helps set the table while staying quiet for his father on a business call. He feels completely average as a teenager in his rebel phase. This scene also reveals the reasoning behind his silence and his dream of becoming a fighter pilot.

Looking Forward

jared_o_sztukowski — 2024-04-15 18:17:32 UTC

One of the final scenes of the movie shows the family together, with the absence of grandpa, as they all accept the present and have esentially evolved into new people with new priorities. Dwayne has emotionally evolved to find happiness and love within his family compared to the previous "I hate them" attitude he took. Before he saw his family as lost individuals with no purpose in his life other than being the people he was born with. However, after his climactic reveal of colorblindness and loss of his dream he now finds refuge in them.

ALSO!!!! - Notice how they are all in order from tallest the shortest and Dwayne sits right in the middle. I mentioned before how Dwayne feels completely average, and I think it's interesting how he sits in the middle of everyone. It accentuates his averageness as he's located at the average height point of the group.

Acceptance

jared_o_sztukowski — 2024-04-15 18:25:29 UTC

Dwayne stands at the pier with Frank as he esentially takes a mental step back to overview his situation. Frank talks to him during this and in a surprising change, Dwayne actually takes some advice from Frank. At the beginning of the film Dwayne was cool with Frank but looked down on him as a depressed and suicidal lowlife. However, Dwayne now see's more in Frank. It feels as if he see the human in him. Dwayne comes out of this scene with a new mindset and perspective on his current and future life.

Thoughtless

jared_o_sztukowski — 2024-04-15 18:31:59 UTC

Dwayne voluntarily listens to his parents arguing through the wall of his hotel room even after being discouraged from Frank. This is an important buildup of character for Dwayne while also showing his curiosity in life. He's an edgy teenager with an everything-but-normal family in bankruptcy, away from home, and is now listening to his parents on the brink of divorce. These are all factors that are, mentally, extremely straining on him. Pair this with his t-shirt saying "Jesus was wrong" and it creates a spitting image of a lost teenager in a rough situation. In some ways, his character is built to be very relatable to many other teenagers watching. Whether it's the edginess, the emotional outbreak, the family issues, or simply his overall demeanor, he's a great character to relate to.