Little Miss Sunshine

I watched the movie ,,Little Miss Sunshine“ today, for the second time. I laughed harder than I have in a long time, because the film is just so well done and just so funny. As one of maybe 10 (a generous estimate) native speakers in the room, I noticed that in many places the laughter from the audience came seconds after the dialogue, as the people got caught up via the subtitles—still, it was quite good, even for those relying on the printed word. It’s a crazy american roadtrip movie about a crazy american roadtrip. I noticed a lot of stereotypically american qualities of the characters and scenery, the white tennis shoes, the fact that the family eats fast food, drives a broken car and goes on a 700-miles-odyssey.

Sometimes I see stuff like that and I miss the States a bit, miss that world that is, in many small but tangible ways, different from my world here. I’m not someone who gets homesick much; I miss my family and such friends as I have there quite a bit but those are people, not places, and they could come visit me as well as I them and I would be content.

So seeing stuff like that—seeing a world with which I, by virtue of my nationality, am identified with at least by others, if not by mself—doesn’t make me really miss it, sometimes makes me have to defend it (hollywood, I hate you: you make my life difficult), but mostly constantly reminds me that, in the now not-too-distant future, I will be leaven’ on a jet plane. Don’t take it personally, Colorado, but it isn’t really by choice, and this is one aspect of my life I can’t change.

Despite the fact that the movie was really funny I am left a little bit sad, faced with a week of school and work, faced with a month of hopefully both of those and a lot of fun, faced with the question „what do I do in August?“.