Little Miss Sunshine directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valarie Faris, is a family drama about a young girl wanting to go after her dream. Along the way, family members go through conflicts that change him or her and help them grow and mature as a character. Jason Reitman, the director of Juno, also brings up this issue, where the main character goes through a series of conflicts that ‘forces’ her to mature. Both these films show the representation of family and youth and the theme of maturing by the use of language and cinematic conventions. Both these films show two protagonists affected by the issue of having to grow up early and family support.

Throughout a person’s life, they will go through changes that will help them mature and grow as a person. Young Olive in Little Miss Sunshine realises that her dream of being a beauty pageant winner is out of her reach but soon realises winning doesn’t matter and overcomes her loss. Similarly, Juno is faced with being pregnant which is unplanned but she is almost forced to deal with it. She decides to give the baby up for adoption, the same as Olive is giving up her dream. Each film uses a variety of cinematic conventions to bring forward the specific issues. For example, in Little Miss Sunshine, several scenes use camera angles such as a close up of Olive with her family blurred out in the background, symbolising that she feels alone and separated yet is determined for them to be an ideal ‘happy’ family, this helps position the viewers to feel empathy towards Olive. Similarly in Juno, there are several shots of Juno by herself showing that she also feels alone yet is determined to overcome the difficult situation, this helps engage the viewers and are position them in Juno’s point of view. Both films represent youth as a time of conflict and change.

Both these films have contextual references that link back to the themes of family support and maturing. Little Miss Sunshine was created in 2006, on the eve of the global financial crisis. This issue reflects in the film as the family is under financial pressure and shows obvious signs that they are having financial trouble, linking back to the context. The family then realise that being set on the American dream is not worth the conflict and dramas that come along with it. On the other hand, Juno is set in 2007. That year, the teenage pregnancies rose for the first time since 1991, showing it was a large issue across the world. This issue was however, poorly reflected in the film due to Juno’s pregnancy being a surprise to everyone, especially the family who were going to adopt the baby. Overall, this shows that the two films have been shaped according to their context, which helps show the representation of youth society has.

Both these films have a similar representation of family; Little Miss Sunshine focuses on helping each other achieve their goals while Juno focuses on support. In Little Miss Sunshine, they are a dysfunctional family who are set in their ways at the start. For example, Cheryl states that Richard is too focused in his ‘nine steps’ showing he disregards his family in order for him to succeed. Also, Richard sees Dwayne’s vow of silence as a positive thing rather than a negative due to it utilising at least 7 of his nine steps. This represents the different views and ideologies each family member has which cause conflict throughout the film.

Comparatively in Juno, in the beginning, Juno’s parents aren’t seen much apart from when she tells them she’s pregnant. This shows that they do not have a close relationship and she relies more on other people. They are introduced more later on when Juno is going through a difficult time, showing her parents are there to support her even though they may not see eye to eye about her situation. For example, when Juno told her parents about her pregnancy, their facial expressions showed that they were disappointed in her for making a mistake they wouldn’t of if they were her age. Similarly, in Little Miss Sunshine, the family overcomes their differences due to wanting to support Olive throughout her journey. Both these characters act as the ‘hero’ as they bring their family’s closer due to their perseverance and journeys. Overall, both these films represent family as having to go through their own conflicts yet sticking together as a family and supporting each other.

Personally, Little Miss Sunshine has a stronger and more relatable representation of family due to the issues that are brought up. This film relates to my personal context rather than Juno due to me not being in her circumstances. Little Miss Sunshine also has a strong message that is shown across the movie about family support and being able to overcome their differences. However both these films shows the audience about the key idea of family support and position them to bring attention to issues such as maturing and family.

Both these ironic family dramas show the representation of family and maturation by the use of cinematic conventions and context. Juno is a family drama where Juno is faced with difficult situations but overcame them and had the self-confidence to fix her mistakes and make the right choices. Likewise in the film Little Miss Sunshine, Olive helps bring her family together and helps them overcome their differences, helping a close relationship form. The directors of each film are trying to communicate the message of the importance of family and have positioned the viewers to feel empathy towards each main character due to their unusual situations. Both films reveal that although difficult situations may occur, family is more important then shutting them out to achieve what you desire.