The American dream is something that everyone in America wants to achieve. Being able to achieve your goals and working hard will help you get what you want. The American dream is having a family, a stable job, being rich and happy, and once you are able to put all of these pieces together you have lived the American Dream. In the movie The Pursuit of Happiness, the character Chris Gardner was able to achieve his goals by working hard, using his talents, and being persistent. In the movie Chris did not doubt himself, he always had faith that he could reach his goals. It is important to remember not to doubt yourself because if you lose faith within yourself, you will not be able to achieve your goals. Chris Gardner shows us that the American Dream is achievable through perseverance, despite the difficult challenges and obstacles that he faced. Chris did not let anything stop him from getting a job. Chris Gardner had nothing left, no money but he only had his relationship with his son, which gave him the motivation to push himself even harder to get what he wants. Even though, he was from a lower socioeconomic status and he was able to move up the social ladder. In this movie, Chris Gardner goal was to find a stable job and a safe home for his son, which he successfully able to attain.Chris Gardner is an embodiment of the American dream, and he shows us that by working hard you can make something of your life.
In the movie the Pursuit of Happiness, the character Chris comes from a poor background and he is struggling to make his way to the top. When looking at Chris living conditions, you can tell that he is from the lower class, and that he didn’t come from a wealthy background. Chris knew that if everyone knew that he was homeless, it would have made it even harder for him to get a job, but that didn’t stop him from achieving his goals. We are taught that everyone should be treated equally, and that we shouldn’t judge someone based on their background. However, in the film Chris knew that he needed to hide that he was homeless, or he wouldn’t able to get the job and work for Dean Witter. In the movie he tries to destroy this stereotype because it shows us that even if your poor or homeless, that if you work hard that you can be successful. Another stereotype that was challenged in this film was that a mother would raise her children on her own. Chris is a single dad who is doing everything in his power to raise his son after his wife left them. In the film we see that Chris breaks down and starts crying allowing us to see that men are also human and experience a wide range of emotions too.
The American dream, is that if we work hard and play by the rules, we can accomplish anything. The idea is that everyone in America has the opportunity to live the life that they envisioned for themselves as long as they are willing to put in the work. The Pursuit of Happiness is a perfect example of this. The movie is about a single father of one that falls into homelessness due to his wife leaving him because of his financial status. The main character then goes on and struggles to fight his way out of homelessness by trying to outperform his colleagues and obtain a job at a firm and gain security with a salary. Although the movie is named “the pursuit of happiness”, to me, the movie was more about the pursuit of wealth which, in the American dream, is equated with happiness. Popular culture in American society glorifies money. The idea that all you need is more money and your problems will be solved. In essence, this is what the main character strives for; money. He is chasing wealth to solve the problem of homelessness, to solve the problem of lack of dignity, and to solve the problem of not being “enough” for his child needs. Although it would be accurate that a reliable source of income for an unemployed homeless person would be a source of happiness, I also thought it was an accurate representation of the importance of the pursuit of wealth in America. This movie also brought to light the negative attitudes of one of the most vulnerable groups of people in America; the homeless. Throughout, the movie, we see in various ways how the homeless are treated and seen. This movie did a good job of shining a light on how American society dehumanizes the homeless.
Through many examples of interactions between the main character and supporting characters, we see how unsympathetic working class people are to those less fortunate. This is also represented by the main characters actions in going to great efforts to try and hide the fact that he is homeless in fear of being discovered and being deprived of opportunity. This can also be linked back to the American dream. Since the American dream states that each individual is responsible for his or her life, homelessness is often assumed to be the effect of laziness on the homeless person part. This is interesting seeing as how the main character, although working very hard toward his aspirations and even exceeding his colleagues, fears the exposing of his financial state because he knows the negative assumptions linked with being homeless will severely limit and possibly even hinder his success. Therein is the catch 22. Homeless are criticized for not being hardworking and getting a job when most people are unwilling to hire homeless for the simple fact that they are homeless. I think the movie did a great job in showing this side of American attitudes.
