Poverty In The Movie: The Pursuit Of Happyness

Poverty is an ongoing issue that affects people all over the world. Although some individuals are able to turn their lives around, not everyone who works hard ends up attaining the American Dream. In the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, the protagonist, Chris Gardner, analyzes the famous quote from the Declaration of Independence after his wife tells him she is leaving and wonders if some people only pursue happiness, but never actually achieve it. While the movie is an inspirational story, it portrays the wrong message that money is the only key to happiness.
Throughout the movie, the intention is to inform the audience that anything is possible with hard work, but instead it gives off a false perception. Although the movie is based off of a true

While the movie is successful in capturing the emotion felt by Chris and the hardship he endures on a daily basis, it is unsuccessful in sending the right message and fails to mention how all of the other “Chris Gardner’s” out there are unable to achieve wealth. There are millions of people in the world who are in poverty that do not go from rags to riches. From a realistic point of view, the extreme wealthy only make up 1% of America, therefore showing that not everyone can become millionaires just from working hard. The kind of success that Chris Gardner achieves is extremely rare. The filmmakers do a good job of distracting the audience by appealing to their emotions, when in fact the movie is inherently contradicting itself. Towards the beginning of the movie, after Chris has another long day full of tragic events, he discovers that his wife is leaving him and taking their son, Chris Jr., with her. After noticing a nickel while using the payphone, he begins to reflect upon Thomas Jefferson and all human’s unalienable rights, “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” He focuses on the pursuit of happiness and wonders how Jefferson knew to include the pursuit part.