Sunday, August 30, 2009

Unrequited self-love


In Little Miss Sunshine (2006) - actress Toni Colette plays Sheryl, under stress, eating a Popsicle as "comfort food" in a decidedly uncomforted way. It is baldly, and masterfully, played out in this sequence. The tension is driven home with the hand-held camera getting awkwardly squeezed more than once in the kitchen/dining room doorway as the main characters run about venting.

Who hasn't sought solace in a comforting food or activity, when it was clearly the wrong time try doing so? The comfort is absent, leaving us with a hollow - yet meaningful - gesture. These are prayers for our own selves that go unheard and unanswered.