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Parents' Guide to

Miss You Can Do It

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Heartwarming docu digs into a pageant for disabled girls.

Movie NR 2013 75 minutes
Miss You Can Do It Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 7+

Based on 2 parent reviews

ChiefBrickman
ChiefBrickman Adult
May 31, 2014
age 7+

A Beautiful Cry

I'm a 63 year old, single, retired Navy Chief Petty Officer who lives alone in San Antonio, Texas. I stumbled on this documentary while channel surfing last night and decided to record it to watch later. I watched it tonight and was in tears from beginning to end. It was one of the most poignant and moving experiences I've had watching a documentary. I've seen about a minute of both Toddlers and Tiaras and Honey Boo Boo and thought both were in incredibly poor taste and offensive. However, I thought this was a look behind the curtain into the lives of young disabled girls that I had never even thought about for one second of my life. The strength and warmth of both the parents and contestants was riveting and powerful throughout the documentary. It made me wish I had rich people's money for just one day so I could send it all to Abbey Curran for her future endeavors in continuing the Miss You Can Do It pageant year after year. I think the previous review missed the whole point; this wasn't, at least to me, about the contestants' outward physical appearance or beauty. It was about the character and the resolve of both the parents and the young girls to live as close to a normal life as they possibly could. That was the entire message in a nutshell. Every one of them just wanted to be accepted and liked for who they were as a person and not just seen through the prism of their disabilities. It touched me deeply and profoundly because, quite frankly, I had never given disabled children much thought because I have no children disabled or otherwise. I have become disabled in my old age with coronary heart disease and a triple bypass and I have begun to see life in general through a different set of eyes and values. I hope Abbey continues her beautiful mission in life to show the world that disabled children are not, and should never, be seen as invisible i.e. "out of sight, out of mind."

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
MamaMak1010
MamaMak1010 Adult
January 5, 2014
age 6+

Excellent Documentary! 10 out of 10

I think every family should watch this film! My 4 kids 9 and under watched it and learned a great deal of humanity from it! Two thumbs up!

This title has:

Great role models
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Abbey Curran made headlines in 2008 when she competed in the Miss USA pageant as Miss Iowa, the first contestant ever to have a visible physical disability (cerebral palsy). The experience of competing so thrilled Curran that she wanted to share pageantry with other girls with disabilities. The result is MISS YOU CAN DO IT, a pageant she began in 2004, and the documentary of the same name celebrating Curran and one year's contestants. These contestants range from Teyanna, a preteen with cerebral palsy and a love of art, to 5-year-old Tierney, a firecracker in a wheelchair facing slow progression of her muscular disorder, and likely an early death. We meet them at home, talk to their parents, watch the therapy sessions and isolation each endures. Then these girls and others come together in Curran's Iowa hometown to meet each other, impress pageant judges and walk (or roll) across a spangly stage dressed in their best, with hopes of taking home a crown.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (2 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Meeting these girls and their parents is the best part of Miss You Can Do It. But for viewers weaned on pageant shows like Toddlers & Tiaras, it's hard to forget that this entire documentary is celebrating a beauty pageant. Sure, these beautiful girls use wheelchairs and walkers, or struggle to speak. But the focus is still on their physical appearance, which some viewers may not appreciate. The point Curran is trying to make is that even disabled girls are beautiful. Laudable, but aren't we hoping to impart to girls that what's inside is more important than what they look like? It'd be easier to celebrate a documentary that focuses on something other than a beauty contest. Miss You Can Do It is heartwarming and sweet, but viewers may feel conflicted watching, even as they fall in love with each and every determined, sweet and beautiful girl they see onscreen.

You'd have to be made of stone not to dissolve into tears when Teyanna's mom talks about how nurses advised her to put her infant daughter in an institution, because she was never going to be able to walk or to talk. Raised at home by a loving family instead, Teyanna does both. Ali fights her spina bifida with therapeutic horseback riding; Tierney wants to take home the big trophy at the pageant, but what she'd like most is a friend.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about physical disabilities and how they occur. Disabilities are usually caused either by a birth injury or a genetic anomaly. How common are disabilities? Do you know anyone with a disability?

  • Watch another pageant-oriented show, such as Toddlers & Tiaras. How is Miss You Can Do It alike? How is it different?

  • Pageants celebrate the physical appearance of its contestants. Is this something admirable? Does your answer change if you consider that the Miss You Can Do It pageant displays people whose appearance is not often commended?

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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