Despite what it’s going to do to my “cred” among my devoted following of pretentious assholes it turns out that the film America has fallen in love with is actually pretty good, really funny and has a message that should be universally acceptable without ever being trite or saccharine.
The movie’s theme about losers striving for success is an interesting one. All the characters are shown at one point losing something that is important to them. The dad looses his business, the grandpa looses his life, the uncle looses the person he loves, the kid looses his dream of being a fighter pilot, and finally the daughter looses her competition. They are all losers who find success by coming together.
The son is the smartest character in the movie. He has contempt for his family because he recognizes them for what they are. His turning point comes when he realizes that he too is a loser. This is the point in which the family comes truly comes together, resolved towards and united in their loserness (loserocity?). Their arrival at the pageant reinforces this; they are misfits standing out in a crowd of conformists.

I’ve heard the family in this film described as “dysfunctional”; well I think that’s missing the point. First of all if these guys are dysfunctional then I don’t think there’s a functional family to be found out there. I mean they may have their problems but they stand by each other and support each other and so what if the grandfather is slamming H in the bathroom. He’s an old man; he’s going to die soon. I think the point that they’re trying to get across is that the average family has way more problems than are depicted by your typical mayonnaise commercial. I’ve known a few families in my life and they’re constantly fighting and yelling and stressing out over financial issues. What makes families functional isn’t a lack of problems but rather an ability to stand by each other in a supportive way and work through them.

The movie is full of interesting metaphors that underscore the themes of the film. The beauty pageant does a good job of representing the movies main theme of winners vs. losers in a comical scenario. Likewise the family’s unorthodox manner of starting their van shows the individual family members coming together in a comical and exhilarating moment of triumph. It’s a compelling visual metaphor.
Ultimately this film is about what you do after you’ve lost, where you go after loose, how do you live when you’ve realized you’re a loser. The grandpa explains the theme in so many words “real losers are the people who are so scared of failing they never try”, this is a story about people who won’t give up trying.

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