7 Sweet Life Lessons Unicorn Store (Almost) Teaches Us
1. Don't Hide Who You Are
This ties back into the idea of being your own unicorn, but it's a little deeper than that. While being your own unicorn means embracing your dreams as a part of who you are, Kit's final lesson of the film is that there's no good reason to hide that part of you. She specifically hears this message from her father when she joins her parents on an Emotion Quest outing.
Bradley Whitford's delivery of his speech to Kit, in which he explains why the troubled youth clients in their adventure therapy program tend to lie, is one of the best moments in the film. The writing says what it needs to say without beating around the bush, and Whitford manages to deliver his lines impactfully despite hardly actually looking Kit in the eye. When he asks if she has a good reason for hiding who she is, anyone who feels as if a part of them has gone unexpressed will likely feel as if he's speaking directly to them.
Too bad this nice little moment directly follows a scene in which he and his wife give Kit major grief for speaking openly about her dreams. The incredible message of the scene fails to land when the messenger was exhibiting entirely contradictory behavior only moments before.
To clarify, the problem is not so much that Kit's parents don't support her getting a unicorn, but rather that they don't believe the unicorn even exists. It's totally fair not to believe in unicorns, but what isn't fair is that they don't even allow for the possibility that Kit believes. It's like telling your child not only that their dream is impossible, but that you feel it's a made-up dream to begin with.
It's no wonder that Kit thinks she needs to hide, when even the people who love her most are the first ones to chastise her for being honest about what she wants. Why would anyone be truthful about their dreams when that's the best response they can hope for? What could have been Unicorn Store's most inspiring message instead comes across as its most cynical.