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Running head: DEPRESSION IN LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Depression in Little Miss Sunshine

Yun Ou
University of California, Los Angeles

DEPRESSION IN LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Little Miss Sunshine is a film about a family of six people who embark on road trip to
California to help seven year old Olive attain her dream of winning the Little Miss Sunshine
pageant. Frank, Olives gay uncle, makes his introduction in a hospital room where he sits on a
wheel chair and stares morbidly outside the glow of a window. In a conversation between the
doctor and Franks sister, it becomes immediately apparent that Frank suffers from depression.
The bandages on his wrist suggest a recent suicide attempt. As the film progressively reveals
Franks story, the viewers are granted an invitation into the life of a depressed patient.
Frank displayed five out of seven elements of abnormality such as suffering,
maladaptiveness, social discomfort, dangerous, irrationality and unpredictability. The first
element of abnormality, suffering, is the best explanation for Franks suicide attempt. Franks
suffering is caused by external and internal factors. Unemployment, failure of a romantic
relationship, and loss of a prestigious award put Frank in an emotional state of suffering
characterized by a sense of ineptitude and failure. The second element of Franks abnormality is
maladaptiveness. Franks conversations with his sister and her family are void of smiles or
laughter; he displayed no emotional gratification from his interactions or other traditionally
pleasurable aspects of life. The first sight of a smile appeared halfway through the film. Up until
that point, Frank wore a mask of melancholy and spoke in a lethargic whisper. Furthermore,
Franks depression interfered with his ability to work as he became dependent on his sister to
take care of him. The third element of Franks abnormality is social discomfort. The
quintessential example of Franks abnormality is shown in a family dinner where Frank
recounted in full detail the events that preceded his suicide attempt to seven year old Olive
despite uncomfortable looks from Franks sister. Olive was exposed to Franks homosexual
relationship with his graduate student and the eventual loss of his boyfriend, house, occupation,

DEPRESSION IN LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

intellectual status, and wellbeing. Before this conversation, Olive was unfamiliar with the
concepts of homosexuality and suicide. Frank appeared oblivious to the extremely uncomfortable
environment initiated by his conversation as he did not attempt to sensor himself. Furthermore,
the fourth element of Franks abnormality is irrationality and unpredictability. The doctor and
Franks sister are dually aware of Franks irrational and unpredictable behavior. A mandate was
communicated to the family to leave the door open whenever Frank was in the room. The family
was constantly kept on edge to watch over Frank because they fear his irrationality and
unpredictability might trigger a second suicide attempt. Frank has surrendered control of his
emotions to the culmination of stressors in his life, which led to a behavioral loss of control. This
state of irrationality and unpredictability made Frank a danger to himself, the fifth element of
Franks abnormality. When Frank encountered his ex-boyfriend and Larry Sugarman at a gas
station, he is reminded of his failures, which led to a slight relapse. Seeing the two people
responsible for his distress and downfall, opened up old feelings of pain and jealousy that led up
to Franks attempted suicide. The reappearance of these familiar emotions couldve cascaded into
another suicidal reaction, making Frank a serious danger to himself.
Franks depression can best be explained by the psychological causal models of
abnormality, however the biological is still relevant and considered. One facet of the biological
causal model states that sustained elevations in cortisol can result from increased CRH
activation (for example, during sustained stress or threat (Butcher, 2014, p. 223). The sustained
elevations in cortisol can cause a failure in the feedback mechanism resulting in the release of
excess cortisol. Franks consecutive experiences with persistent stress and threats paired with
increased CRH activation produced elevated levels of cortisol. With heightened amounts of
cortisol in his system, stressful life events were further exacerbated by neurological factors and

DEPRESSION IN LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

appeared even more daunting. Frank encountered the first of three severely stressful events when
one of his graduate students, whom he was very much in love with, fell in love with another
man. The heartbreak frenzied into an emotional response and out lash at work subsequently led
to Franks dismissal. Frank lost his house along with his job, shattering his financial stability.
The event that pushed Frank off the edge was when the MacArthur Foundation awarded the
Genius Grant Award to Larry Sugarman, the man who stole Franks boyfriend. From the
beginning, Larry Sugarman was a sustained threat to Franks relationship and intellect. As Larry
Sugarman slowly deprived Frank of his protective factors, cortisol levels incrementally
accumulate as Frank fell deeper into a depressive state. Finally, Franks loss of emotional control
was unleash in an attempt of suicide. Furthermore, despite living with a dysfunctional family,
Franks sister is free from symptoms of depression which diminishes the genetic influence on
Franks depression.
The psychological causal model provides a stronger explanation for Franks depression
than the biological causal mode. Franks onset of depression had many psychological
attributions, especially since the relationship between severely stressful life events and
depression is much stronger in people having their first onset than in those undergoing recurrent
episodes (Butcher, 2014, p. 227). This heightened risk is paired with a loss that involves an
element of humiliation (Butcher, 2014, p. 227), which is considered especially potent for the
outbreak of depression. Frank underwent three consecutive events that were not only severely
stressful but also extremely humiliating. The first of which was falling in love with a graduate
student who ended up falling in love with Larry Sugarman, the second most highly regarded
Proust scholar after Frank himself. Losing the graduate student to Larry Sugarman created a
sense of uncertainty in Franks perceived supremacy over Larry, initiating the first of two defeats

DEPRESSION IN LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

to his opponent. The second significant event is Franks social and economic descent from the
position of a professor to a heartbroken, unemployed burnt-out living in a motel. The loss of his
job and status further dislodged Franks authority, leading him to perceive himself as a failure.
The last critical event happened when the MacArthur Foundation in all its infinite wisdom
awarded the Genius Grant to Larry Sugarman. The award provided Frank with concrete evidence
for Larry Sugarmans intellectual superiority. At this point in time, a reversal of fortune has taken
place and Frank has fallen off the ranks in his competition with Larry Sugarman. Failure fueled
with jealousy caused a painful loss of pride, self-respect, and dignity- the definition of
humiliation. With his self-esteemed striped from underneath, Frank no longer saw his life as
worthwhile and attempted suicide.
According to the socio-cultural causal model, being a single, white male in America
automatically puts one at a greater risk for depression. In addition, Another group that has
elevated rates of mood disorders consists of individuals who have high levels of accomplishment
in the arts (Butcher, 2014, p. 246). Frank is a scholar of French author Marcel Proust, whom
Frank claims is the greatest writer since Shakespeare. As an artist and writer himself, Frank is
categorized with a group that has an alarming rate for depression. As a Caucasian male in his
mid-fifties, Frank also identifies with a group that has the highest risk for suicide completion.
Franks deterrent from suicide was his involvement and found identity from spending
time with his sisters family. After his attempted suicide, Frank remained in the hospital for two
days before being released to his sister. His dismissal was not preceded by any treatment or
intervention to help him cope with his mental disorder. The doctor expressed desires to extend
Franks stay at the hospital but insurance purposes called for an early leave. Despite not
receiving any professional treatment, Franks medication came in the form of spending time with

DEPRESSION IN LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

his sisters family. In the beginning of the movie, we started off with a family of six people living
six separate lives but as they made their way to California in a cramped Volkswagen they became
increasingly dependent on each other to uphold their emotional sanity. Frank found a confidant
in his nephew Dwayne who expressed a desire to skip high school so he could skip all the
miserable years of his life. Dwaynes confession helped Frank come to the realization that his life
closely resembled that of Marcel Proust, the French writer he had so faithfully admired. Frank
reached the same conclusion that Marcel Proust had at the end of his life, telling Dwayne that the
suffering in high school will be the best years of his life because it will make him who he is. The
years that they are happy are a total waste because they dont learn a thing. From Franks
monologue, the audience can derive that Frank has discovered an important truth and the cure to
his depression. Frank turned his dysfunctional beliefs into a personal narrative and a moral
lesson. In the end, we know that Frank will choose to embrace his years of suffering to help him
discover himself as he continues to live.
Although Franks swift, two day recovery from his mental disorder was an unrealistic
depiction of a depressed patient, Franks depressive symptoms were thoroughly consistent and
believable throughout the span of the film. His depression was not dramatized or exaggerated for
the sake of a Hollywood film but revealed the causes of depression despite strong protective
factors. The visual representation of a depressed patient provided a strong sense of the disorders
characteristics in its manifestation on a person. The viewer followed Frank as the onset of his
depressive episode and suicide attempt flipped his seemingly perfect life into a spiraling
nightmare. Before the incident, the film portrayed Frank as an exceptionally capable person who
was struck down by successive tidings of misfortune. Nonetheless, the fault lies in the
adversarial events and not the victims. Franks recovery illustrates the important fact that a

DEPRESSION IN LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

mental disorder is not permanent but curable through the acceptance into a family or a
community. The film bridged a connection between the textbook description of a depressed
patient and depression in a real person. Through the exposition of Frank, the symptoms of
depression became more than a set of words but a serious, impairing disorder. The film helped
me realize that underneath a mental disorder is a persons true self who is no different or stranger
than myself.
Through the depiction of Frank in Little Miss Sunshine, the viewers are permitted partial
disclosure to the five elements of abnormality as well as the biopsychosocial causal factors of
depression. We also come to discover that social support is a powerful cure to depression.

DEPRESSION IN LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

References
Butcher, J. N., Hooley, J. M., & Mineka, S. (2014). Abnormal Psychology (16th ed.).
United States of America: Pearson Education, Inc.