Nothing Brings a Family Together like Daddy Issues
Creating these games can be harder than one might realize.
I've been experimenting with the structure of these games over the past few weeks, with middling results on average. In getting more creative with how the games are set up, it might make for a more interesting night in certain circumstances, but it doesn't necessarily fulfill the requirements for a good drinking game. A good drinking game should get you drunk. That's really the only criteria.
With the Little Miss Sunshine game, I went back to basics in a sense. I looked at this perfectly constructed movie, at what made it great, and at what defined it as a piece of film. The resulting game is proof that, when it comes to creating drinking games, it's best to follow one rule: keep it simple, stupid.
I've been experimenting with the structure of these games over the past few weeks, with middling results on average. In getting more creative with how the games are set up, it might make for a more interesting night in certain circumstances, but it doesn't necessarily fulfill the requirements for a good drinking game. A good drinking game should get you drunk. That's really the only criteria.
With the Little Miss Sunshine game, I went back to basics in a sense. I looked at this perfectly constructed movie, at what made it great, and at what defined it as a piece of film. The resulting game is proof that, when it comes to creating drinking games, it's best to follow one rule: keep it simple, stupid.
"Little Miss Moonshine": The Rules
We drank tequila sunrises while playing this game. There's two popular ways to make a tequila sunrise: the correct way, or the cheap way. Guess which one we went with?
Tequila, orange juice and grenadine will get you where you need to go. At least as well as the Hoover's ill-fated van.
Tequila, orange juice and grenadine will get you where you need to go. At least as well as the Hoover's ill-fated van.
This is a stock photo. We can't afford patron, but if you can, kudos.
Easy Mode
1. Drink for Title Drops.
2. Drink for Daddy Issues.
3. Drink when they drink.
4. Drink when disaster strikes. This is kept vague on purpose.
5. Drink for a family bonding moment.
Medium Mode
All of the above rules apply. Also...
1. Drink when someone mentions past wrongs.
2. Drink when someone swears.
Hard Mode
All of the above rules apply. Also...
1. Daddy Issues: Drink for Grandaddy Issues
2. Drink for a shot of the whole family in the car
3. Drink during a scene in which the sun is not shining.
1. Drink for Title Drops.
2. Drink for Daddy Issues.
3. Drink when they drink.
4. Drink when disaster strikes. This is kept vague on purpose.
5. Drink for a family bonding moment.
Medium Mode
All of the above rules apply. Also...
1. Drink when someone mentions past wrongs.
2. Drink when someone swears.
Hard Mode
All of the above rules apply. Also...
1. Daddy Issues: Drink for Grandaddy Issues
2. Drink for a shot of the whole family in the car
3. Drink during a scene in which the sun is not shining.
This is what a shot of the whole family in the car looks like.
The Players
Our onscreen players for this game are Krissy (me), Seb, and a new player, Sparkleknife. We shared road trip stories. Some were more exciting than others.
Our off screen players are...
Some Guy: Road trip DJ (Easy)
Sandy B'Drinkin: Master of navigation (Easy)
Shirley Whiskas: Champion of the Liscense Plate Game (Medium)
Paul [Big Moose]: Brings snacks. If you ask him to (Medium)
Flux: Always calls shotgun (Hard)
This movie touched the hearts of many of us. But we didn't realize it until we all watched it together. Here's Little Miss Sunshine!
Some Guy: Road trip DJ (Easy)
Sandy B'Drinkin: Master of navigation (Easy)
Shirley Whiskas: Champion of the Liscense Plate Game (Medium)
Paul [Big Moose]: Brings snacks. If you ask him to (Medium)
Flux: Always calls shotgun (Hard)
This movie touched the hearts of many of us. But we didn't realize it until we all watched it together. Here's Little Miss Sunshine!
We Can Relate
Many of us realized, once we were well into the movie, that we had selective memory when it came to the plot. We all recalled different parts of the movie with different amounts of clarity. For example, I completely forgot about the car and all the trouble that came with it.
"That's the whole point of the movie, is the car," Seb said. Seb has a point. The car was on every piece of promotional material for this movie, but for some reason it totally slipped my mind.
The strength of this movie is that every character in it is going through their own little personal battle, so there's somebody in there we can either relate to personally, or connect to somebody we know. For example, when Greg Kinnear's character made his entrance, Shirley Whiskas visibly winced.
"His character is who my dad wants to be," she explained, "and it's so painful for me."
"That's the whole point of the movie, is the car," Seb said. Seb has a point. The car was on every piece of promotional material for this movie, but for some reason it totally slipped my mind.
The strength of this movie is that every character in it is going through their own little personal battle, so there's somebody in there we can either relate to personally, or connect to somebody we know. For example, when Greg Kinnear's character made his entrance, Shirley Whiskas visibly winced.
"His character is who my dad wants to be," she explained, "and it's so painful for me."
"Can I drink for my own daddy issues?" -Shirley
By far, though, we all had the strongest connection to Dwayne, the oldest brother played by Paul Dano. Aside from being frickin adorable, he had the story arch that we, as a motley band of struggling artists, could connect the most to. Dwayne wants to be an air force pilot, so much so that he has vowed that he will not speak until he has achieved this goal. Unfortunately, disaster strikes (drink) about two thirds of the way through the film, when Dwayne discovers that he is colorblind. Apart from being a great scene for the game (the first word out of Dwayne's mouth is "fuck"), it's a thrilling bit of acting that shut us up for a good five minutes.
I started tearing up just rewatching that scene out of context. That is how deeply it hits home for me. In less than a minute, this boy went from complete calm and determination to utter despair. His dream was shot in the face. While we haven't all been in that exact place, we've felt a fraction of that pain. Seeing the full force of it naked on a screen like that is heartbreaking. Especially when you already have three tequila sunrises in you.
"I named my goldfish after Dwayne, and my sister killed him." -Seb
Who puts the "Fun" in "Dysfunctional"?
You might be wondering where the money scene in this movie is. Funnily enough, there isn't one scene I can pinpoint as being harder than usual, because medium and hard mode at least were drinking pretty consistantly throughout.
Two rules made this possible: the swearing rule, and the daddy issues rule.
It's so simple. Drink whenever a person curses. It wouldn't work in every movie, but Alan Arkin's character lets fly with a good ol "fuck" almost every time he opens his mouth. So does Dwayne, once he starts speaking, but Arkin makes the game doubly difficult because of how much he clearly hates his son.
Yes, there are two generations of daddy issues in this movie. The fraught relationship between Arkin and Kinnear takes up most of the first third of the movie. "Combative" is putting it lightly; the sheer disdain that Arkin makes clear he feels for Kinnear makes for delicious tension.
Arkin, in fact, is the gift that keeps on giving, because even when he dies we kept on drinking. First of all, him dying in the first place is disastrous (drink). Then we drank again when the family pulled together to steal him from the morgue.
Two rules made this possible: the swearing rule, and the daddy issues rule.
It's so simple. Drink whenever a person curses. It wouldn't work in every movie, but Alan Arkin's character lets fly with a good ol "fuck" almost every time he opens his mouth. So does Dwayne, once he starts speaking, but Arkin makes the game doubly difficult because of how much he clearly hates his son.
Yes, there are two generations of daddy issues in this movie. The fraught relationship between Arkin and Kinnear takes up most of the first third of the movie. "Combative" is putting it lightly; the sheer disdain that Arkin makes clear he feels for Kinnear makes for delicious tension.
Arkin, in fact, is the gift that keeps on giving, because even when he dies we kept on drinking. First of all, him dying in the first place is disastrous (drink). Then we drank again when the family pulled together to steal him from the morgue.
"She said 'we're a family'. It's a family bonding moment." -Seb
We kept drinking as their car horn proceeded to malfunction, then again when they got pulled over by a cop.
"There's a dead body in their trunk," Flux pointed out. "That's a serious disaster."
Drink again.
Then the Dwayne scene happens, and then they get to the pageant which brings its own set of problems with it...so with all of this, it's easy to see why we barely had a moment to breathe.
As an aside, it's worth noting that Steve Carrell's character is the main culprit for bringing up past wrongs. Which makes sense, since he attempted suicide before the film began. With that rule in place, we all got our daily dose of vitamin C.
"There's a dead body in their trunk," Flux pointed out. "That's a serious disaster."
Drink again.
Then the Dwayne scene happens, and then they get to the pageant which brings its own set of problems with it...so with all of this, it's easy to see why we barely had a moment to breathe.
As an aside, it's worth noting that Steve Carrell's character is the main culprit for bringing up past wrongs. Which makes sense, since he attempted suicide before the film began. With that rule in place, we all got our daily dose of vitamin C.
"Steve Carrell, I want to take care of you." -Sandy B'Drinkin
Olive Broke the Game
Abigail Breslin as Olive is who we all want to be when we grow up.
I mentioned at one point during the movie that Olive is the only character with a soul. That comment spurred some dissent, but I'd like to unpack that statement. What I meant was that Olive was the character who has no smidgen of resignation or disillusionment in her. She is constantly looking towards the future, consistantly seeing the positive in every situation. She finds this hell of a roadtrip fun, and she is the one who brings everyone together. Which is why it's heartbreaking to see her torn down by Kinnear when he tries to talk her out of eating ice cream because it might make her fat.
I mentioned at one point during the movie that Olive is the only character with a soul. That comment spurred some dissent, but I'd like to unpack that statement. What I meant was that Olive was the character who has no smidgen of resignation or disillusionment in her. She is constantly looking towards the future, consistantly seeing the positive in every situation. She finds this hell of a roadtrip fun, and she is the one who brings everyone together. Which is why it's heartbreaking to see her torn down by Kinnear when he tries to talk her out of eating ice cream because it might make her fat.
"Guys, Honey Boo Boo can do whatever the fuck she wants." -Sandy B'Drinkin
I made the Grandaddy Issues rule because her grandfather is a bit unconventional, and did choreograph a suspect dance routine for the talent portion of the competition. But honestly? There are few issues to be found. Arkin is more supportive of Olive than most members of her family, and his last words to her involved him saying he was proud of her and he was sure she'd have fun in the contest. That's pretty fantastic.
In fact, most of the rules tended to crumble around Olive. She is an issue healer. It would be easy to consider her "Superfreak" routine a disaster, but she's obviously having such a good time, and it ends up bringing the family together, so really, where's the harm?
In fact, most of the rules tended to crumble around Olive. She is an issue healer. It would be easy to consider her "Superfreak" routine a disaster, but she's obviously having such a good time, and it ends up bringing the family together, so really, where's the harm?
"She's like the littlest member of ACDC." -Sparkleknife
This character could have easily been overdone, and probably would have been if not for Breslin's natural sweetness. She was the perfect amount of happy and compassionate without being annoying. However, other aspects of the film contributing to this character weren't quite as subtle. As she comforted Dwayne after his famous freakout moment, I noticed that she had been clad mostly in red and pink throughout the movie...the colors of love.
Coincidence? I think not.
Coincidence? I think not.
"Valentine's Day is sneaking up behind him" -Big Moose
The Swearing Rule
At one point, someone in the movie said the word "hell" and I drank. A couple people argued that "hell" isn't a swear word. But whenever I said the words "hell" or "damn" in public when I was a child, I would get scolded.
"I'd always just say, 'it's in the Bible'," said Sparkleknife.
She has a point. I'd argue that the Bible defense doesn't always hold water in other cases, so it shouldn't matter here. But drink at your own discretion.
"I'd always just say, 'it's in the Bible'," said Sparkleknife.
She has a point. I'd argue that the Bible defense doesn't always hold water in other cases, so it shouldn't matter here. But drink at your own discretion.
The Results
After the game we decided to get our freak on.
I've accepted by now that I'll never be president.
This game went very well. As the medium player, I was feeling pretty good. Our easy players might have felt differently about the game, though, so if easy seems too easy for you, here's a couple more rules.
Drink when a fight breaks out.
This family wobbles between passive aggressive and over-aggressive, so fights can range from two people making sure not to stand next to eachother to all-out warfare.
Drink whenever the family has to push the car.
The first time it's a bonding moment, but each subsequent time they're just trying to get back on the highway.
Drink when Greg Kinnear talks about the difference between winners and losers.
One thing we can all agree on: in this movie, Greg Kinnear is a loser.
This game went very well. As the medium player, I was feeling pretty good. Our easy players might have felt differently about the game, though, so if easy seems too easy for you, here's a couple more rules.
Drink when a fight breaks out.
This family wobbles between passive aggressive and over-aggressive, so fights can range from two people making sure not to stand next to eachother to all-out warfare.
Drink whenever the family has to push the car.
The first time it's a bonding moment, but each subsequent time they're just trying to get back on the highway.
Drink when Greg Kinnear talks about the difference between winners and losers.
One thing we can all agree on: in this movie, Greg Kinnear is a loser.
"I would join a band called Daddy Issues." -Some Guy
We're nearly done with our Summer Road Trip series. We've covered journies of discovery, journies towards a destination, and just a journey to get some food. But in our last installment, we'll take a look at the miles people will travel for anothe great motivator: cash.
This summer, twelve teams will compete...and we will laugh our asses off.
Like what you see? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, at For Your Inebriation and @KrissyPappau respectively. You'll get weekly updates, behind the scenes drunk talk, and other chatter!
For Your Inebriation is written by Krissy Pappau (Hollis Beck). Video footage is taken by Pooh Daddy (Vincent Graham) and edited by Seb (Amy Yourd). All "Little Miss Sunshine" images are owned by Fox Searchlight Pictures.
For Your Inebriation is written by Krissy Pappau (Hollis Beck). Video footage is taken by Pooh Daddy (Vincent Graham) and edited by Seb (Amy Yourd). All "Little Miss Sunshine" images are owned by Fox Searchlight Pictures.
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