Miss You Can Do It

An amazing look into to something that is changing the lives of these little girls and their families. The only conflict that you experience when watching this film is the constant self- reflection of you're own life and the things you take for granted like walking.

It's an amazing thing to watch a feature length documentary that is not dominated by a storyline and can just present an event while still being able to keep your attention. This is done by the careful construction of stories that the families tell about their children and showing the shear joy they get through this unique experience. Well done Abbey Curran!

This came on while I was doing something, and I too was busy to change the channel. At first glance I thought it was the story about Abby Curren, and didn't realize what the movie was really about. I paid enough attention to follow what was going on, and I'd look up when I heard something that I needed the visual connection to understand, but I was sort of dismissive of it at first.

As the story evolved, it snuck up on me and grabbed my attention without knowing it. By the time the movie reached the interview portion of the pageant I couldn't stop watching... I'm sort of a "guy" and don't get emotional very often, but as I watched the joy of these girls as they went across the stage, I was literally in tears. I felt this movie to become a very powerful and uplifting story. Very glad I watched

Honestly I didn't want to watch this documentary at first. I didn't want to have 'survival guilt' and have my heartstrings artificially pulled. I've seen many of these kinds of documentaries before but this one is different. Hope is the central character that floats on top of every scene, like an invisible shield in a Saturday superhero cartoon show. This film doesn't gloss over the truth but shed light on everyone else that is affected by a child's disability or two or three. "Miss You Can Do It" focuses on eight contestants preparing for a beauty pageant created by Abbey Curran, Miss Iowa USA 2008 and the first woman with a disability to compete at the Miss USA Pageant. My heart sinks when a parent say that they don't know how long their child will live and that this pageant celebrates her life and gives everyone HOPE.

In this age of post-empirical popular culture, we tend to dismiss anything to do with stereotypically vain connotations, most obviously beauty pageants, and in the case of shows like 'Toddlers in Tiaras' we immediately denounce the practice as culturally damaging, and the people involved as ungrounded. 'Miss You Can Do It' not only presented me with selfless characters, but it shows us what child pageants should be. An environment for friendly competition, strengthening self esteems, and the realization that our personal problems should never be a limiting factor. These children push through adversity, and you can see them and their families shedding preconceptions of 'can' and 'can't'.

A truly heart-warming story.

So often it's easy to say we care about others but it's another thing to actually show it. Abbey Curran was the first contestant to ever participate in the Miss USA pageant with a disability. Upon her journey Abbey soon felt the need to pass on her inspiration to others and created the "Miss You Can Do It" pageant. The pageant allows young women of all shapes, ages, and sizes the opportunity to feel beautiful and apart of something. It's a refreshing glimpse of how our world should be and allows a new perspective on how easy it is to take life for granted.

This documentary follows the journey of 8 contestants entered in the pageant and connects the audience to their individually unique stories. To see the excitement these girls have alone to just be a part of the pageant is inspiring and you easily fall in love with each contestant. This documentary is a great watch for all.