The Movie : The Pursuit of Happyness
The gist
A biography of the journey from homelessness to millionaire of Chris Gardner. It is wonderfully acted by Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith. The film promotes a "can do" attitude along with the idea that success comes from pursuing your dreams, working hard and overcoming hurdles.
Best quote
Martin Frohm: What would you say if man walked in here with no shirt, and I hired him? What would you say?
Christopher Gardner: He must have had on some really nice pants.
Other Memorable Quotes
Christopher Gardner: I met my father for the first time when I was 28 years old. I made up my mind that when I had children, my children were going to know who their father was.
... snip ...
Christopher Gardner: Hey. Don't ever let somebody tell you... You can't do something. Not even me. All right?
Christopher: All right.
Christopher Gardner: You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period.
... snip ...
Christopher Gardner: It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?
... snip ...
Reverend Williams: The important thing about that freedom train, is it's got to climb mountains. We ALL have to climb mountains, you know. Mountains that go way up high, and mountains that go deep and low. Yes, we know what those mountains are here at Glide. We sing about them.
Question The Lie
The film promotes the idea that success means making money and a name for yourself and that meaning and happiness in life is found in overcoming adversity.
To most Americans, success is equated with "making it" especially when it is not handed to you. The truth is, many people who have made money are in no way successful. Success transcends wealth. It transcends making a name for yourself. It transcends overcoming adversity.
In God's economy, the notion of "success" translates to finishing well. In other words, a life faithfully lived.
Luke 12:15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
... and ...
Heb 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
The lie of The Pursuit of Happyness is that success is measured in effort and outcomes, and is found in something other than a life united to Christ.
Expose The Truth
The film depicts a warm relationship between a father and son. Millions in our culture grow up with no dad, or dads who are self-absorbed. Gardner's quote in the beginning of the film is outstanding: "I met my father for the first time when I was 28 years old. I made up my mind that when I had children, my children were going to know who their father was."
The role of father is huge. Father's provide, protect and teach. They must lead. I like that aspect of this film.
Columbo Question
Ask a friend who saw the film,
Do you think Chris Gardner would have been a successful dad even if he did not end up getting the job at Dean Whitter and ultimately becoming wealthy?
Let that lead you into a conversation about what success means and what fatherhood means.
Footnote
"Question The Lie, Expose The Truth" is an exercise in worldview thinking that I taught in apologetics this past semester. The idea is to watch a movie (or listen to a song) and identify the lies embedded in the presuppositions (worldview). But, also look for a redemptive element too. Then, develop a question that you can ask someone who has seen the movie to lead to a redemptive conversation about truth. I just saw The Pursuit Of Happyness, so I thought I would put this exercise into practice on my blog.
Welcome back. You've been gone for quite some time.
I haven't seen the movie, but from what I know about it, its other problem is that it perpetuates the Horatio Alger myth.
Posted by: tgirsch | June 14, 2010 at 16:14
I felt that this film was deeply racist because it implied that all blacks have to do to pull themselves out of poverty and oppression is to go become stock brokers. Heck, Will Smith did it, why don't ALL of you?
Posted by: ZZ | June 14, 2010 at 22:15
I have never heard the term Horatio Alger myth.
According to Wikipedia, it is ...
"By leading exemplary lives, struggling valiantly against poverty and adversity," Alger’s protagonists gain both wealth and honor, ultimately realizing the American Dream.
I explained my problem with that worldview. I would like to know why you think that worldview is a problem. Please explain.
ZZ, I personally did not detect racism in the film. It seemed to me like the story would have worked as long as the main character was poor and struggling.
It seemed to me to have two messages. One, be a good dad and here is an example of a good dad. Two, the "have nots" can become "haves" if you hold on to your dreams and work hard.
I personally missed the racism in the film.
If anything, the one wealthy white CEO (at the phone company) seemed quite color blind and happy to spend his day with Will Smith and his son at Candlestick park watching a 49ers game. The wealthy crowd (who were white) accepted Will Smith and his son as one of the guys. There was no tension there. Maybe there was something really subtle there I missed.
Posted by: Mr. D | June 15, 2010 at 11:06
Not much explanation needed, really. I have a problem with that view because real life doesn't actually work that way. There are meritorious, hard-working, intelligent individuals who slog away and never manage to get by. Meanwhile, Paris Hilton is a multi-millionaire. Not only are hard work and virtue not sufficient conditions for earthly success, as the Paris Hilton example shows, they're not even necessary conditions.
There's a thought process that's pervasive in America that claims that anybody can work themselves out of poverty, if only they try hard enough (and a corollary that says that if you're poor, it's somehow your fault, or because of some personal shortcoming). Except that it's simply not true. And at the risk of getting political, whether or not that's true has real-world policy implications. We'd all like to believe that Reagan's "pull-yourself-up-by-your-boostraps" idea really works, but wanting it to be true doesn't MAKE it true.
(And don't even get me started on the Ayn Rand crowd, grumble grumble grumble.)
Posted by: tgirsch | June 17, 2010 at 16:16
One, please get started on the Ayn Rand crowd. I am all ears.
Two, have you read Gladwell's book Outliers http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/index.html and do you agree with Gladwell's hypothesis?
Posted by: Mr. D | June 21, 2010 at 08:50
Mr. D:
Well done on your critique of The Pursuit of Happyness. I'm currently reading through Dietrich Bonhoffer's Cost of Discipleship . He does a great job of setting out the successful life - and that with our focus on the Cross we shouldn't even be aware of our success or failure.
T:
Are there counterexamples to the Horatio Alger hero? Sure. But to dismiss hard work and self-discipline as critical factors in being able to provide for yourself and your family, because of such counterexamples, is illogical.
Posted by: matt curtis | June 24, 2010 at 09:45
Mr. D:
Yes, I've read Outliers. See your thread on that.
And you don't have enough space for me to rant about the Ayn Rand crowd. Suffice it to say that most of them seem to suffer from the delusion that because they woke up to find themselves on third base, they must have personally hit a triple, combined with the delusion that selfishness is an unquestioned virtue (i.e., if I look out for nothing but my own personal interests, this will always benefit everyone and not just me).
matt:
The question isn't whether there are COUNTERexamples to the Horatio Alger hero. The more important question is whether there are any bona fide EXAMPLES. It seems that if there are, they are EXCEEDINGLY rare to the point of irrelevance, as Gladwell's book points out. Hard work and self-discipline CAN be contributing factors, but they're not strictly necessary, and they're ABSOLUTELY not sufficient.
Posted by: tgirsch | July 02, 2010 at 12:27
Thanks for the Ayn Rand rant. I personally think her followers are desperately searching for justification for being self-absorbed.
Posted by: Mr. D | July 02, 2010 at 14:14
Mr. D:
Re: Randites, see, even YOU and /I/ can agree wholeheartedly on SOMEthing. ;)
Posted by: tgirsch | July 15, 2010 at 16:51
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Posted by: Air Jordans | November 11, 2010 at 00:47