PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS MOVIE WILL SMITH MOVIE
Some of my favorite parts of the movie is the scene when Chris catches a random cab with one of the stockbrokers trying to get an internship. With no money and a son, hope drives him to follow his dreams trying to earn a job from the internship to save him and his son’s life. Made in 2006, director Gabriele Muccino chooses star actors Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith as father and son in New York City for his masterpiece of a film.Īfter Will Smith’s character (Chris) and his son are evicted, Chris accepts an internship at a stockbroker firm as he’s a salesman trying to sell old computer screens no one wants to buy. The “Pursuit of Happyness” is an emotional rollercoaster about a man trying to work his way up to a better life for his family, but he faces multiple challenges in the process. The end implies that landing this job ends the pursuit.Sometimes, people in the world have to work overtime and make sacrifices to get to their dreams, to succeed, and reach their end goals to live a happy life. Gardner’s inner monologue: “I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence…how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? Maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can never actually have it.” But his perspective changes by the end of the film, when Jefferson makes it as a stockbroker and seems to achieve happiness. Although they can help, money and status must work with other mitigating factors to promote true personal satisfaction. We must beware of promoting the American myth that professional/financial success leads to happiness. But will a high-paying job really solve all these problems? We can viscerally see that he is unhappy, and rightfully so. If we examine Gardner’s pre-millionaire situation through the lens of the ten happiness domains, we see that he lacks in some key areas: financial security, environmental quality, confidence in government, and perhaps even social connection.
![pursuit of happiness movie will smith pursuit of happiness movie will smith](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jwoxYUrxZsM/hqdefault.jpg)
And he won’t be completely happy until he makes it there. As a film review by The New York Times states, “Chris’s pursuit of happiness eventually becomes interchangeable with his pursuit of money…His desires aren’t just upwardly mobile they’re materialistically unbound.” Yes, Gardner wants a more secure, safe situation for him and his son, but he also wants to be in the top 1%. This film seemingly defines happiness only as financial success. Though financial security is a domain of happiness, it is notably just one in ten. However, the reason I am focusing on this film during Sustainable Happiness Week is to inquire into its underlying message about happiness, which feels problematic to me.
![pursuit of happiness movie will smith pursuit of happiness movie will smith](https://static.toiimg.com/photo/msid-78518630/78518630.jpg)
It’s essentially the American dream realized on screen. He eventually goes on to establish his own multi-million firm. For nearly a year, Gardner and his son must sleep in a church-run homeless shelter as he pays his dues in time and hard work.īut Gardner is able to hide his circumstances from those at his work, and through his ingenuity and determination he eventually gets offered a full-time position. But Gardner struggles to find a place to live after he is evicted for not paying rent. Despite these troubles, Gardner decides to quit sales to enter stocks as an unpaid intern. After they separate, Gardner gets custody of their son Christopher (played by Smith’s actual son Jayden. These financial strains cause an irreparable rift between Gardner and his wife early in the film. Set in 1981 San Francisco, Gardner lives in a run-down neighborhood with his family, who seem on the brink of poverty. In this film, Smith’s character asks the question everyone wonders at some point: “They all looked so damn happy to me.
![pursuit of happiness movie will smith pursuit of happiness movie will smith](http://gentleninja.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/The-Pursuit-of-Happiness.png)
This harrowing role got Smith nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. Will Smith plays Gardner, a salesman who decides to risk everything by entering into stock brokerage, despite the fact that he had no home and sole custody of his young son. This very-American drama is based on the true life of Chris Gardner and his experience of homelessness. To celebrate the end of Sustainable Happiness Week, I thought I would take a look at one of the leading contemporary films about the issue, The Pursuit of Happyness.