Kelly Bolhofner If you were to ask a group of people their idea of the American Dream, you would more than likely get many different perceptions. Each person has their own version of what the American Dream means to them, this is what makes us individuals. This semester we have explored several themes of the American Dream and what it meant to immigrants as well as natural born citizens. Many measured their pursuit with their level of social status and money while others found it through fulfillment of their family. Ultimately, no matter what the American Dream means to you, it all comes down to happiness. Of course, when most reach what they believe is the meaning of the American Dream, it doesn’t always bring that with it. Based on the true rag to riches story of Chris Gardner, a down on his luck medical equipment salesman who purses his dreams of being a stockbroker, The Pursuit of Happyness is an uplifting movie that does not disappoint in its theme of reaching for the American Dream and achieving it.
Set in San Francisco in 1981, Pursuit of Happyness is a true story based on the novel of the same name about Chris Gardner, a struggling salesman that wanted nothing more than a better life for his son. As his life begins to unravel around him, Gardner takes a chance on an internship with Dean Witter. Intrigued by the happiness of the workers coming in and out of the building and mesmerized by the cars that they drive, he dreams of a better life. After his wife leaves, his car is towed because of unpaid parking tickets and evicted from his apartment as well as the temporary housing due to not being able to pay rent; Gardner is forced to live on the streets with his son. Making the decision to accept a competitive internship, that accepts twenty interns every six months with only one getting a job with the firm, he becomes determined to make a better life for his son. Balancing the internship while trying to sell the last of the bone density scanners so that he had money just to survive, he leaves the office at 4:00, hours prior to the other interns, to rush to Glide Memorial Church homeless shelter to get in line. Living in the shelter and at times bathrooms at the subway station and even subways, which he felt was the safest places he remains positive and determined.
This story has been called rags to riches story, but Gardner calls it a story of survival and the struggle that he and his son faced and how he overcame adversity. Based on the autobiography by the same name, Gardner says that it “strikes a reverberating chord because it reaches out to every dad who has to be a mom, every mom who has to be a dad, and everyone who refuses to let his dream drift away “(Landscape Management; March 2010, Vol 49 Issue 3, pg 6-10, 3p). Gardner questions his quest many times especially when he says, “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness is mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. How did Thomas Jefferson know to put pursuit in it? Maybe happiness is something we can only pursue and never have it. How did he know that?” He also finds himself telling his son many of the same things that he had told himself as well as heard from others, that he shouldn’t spend a lot of time trying to reach his dreams. Realizing this he tells him to protect his dreams and if he wants something to go get it. He becomes a role model to his son and shows him this philosophy when he works harder than everyone else and despite not getting the respect from his teacher goes on to get the job as stock broker at Dean Witter. This event in the movie is foreshadowed when he fixes the scanner and turns on the light into the darkness of the homeless shelter. He had reached the darkest part of his life and he was about to have the light of fortune cast upon it.
Chris Gardner thought of himself as someone with dreams and did okay in school but stumbled through high school and joined the Navy after graduation. After his service, he went to San Francisco where he fathered a son with his girlfriend who disappeared taking all his possessions. He was left with nothing and $1200 in unpaid parking tickets for which he was arrested and spent 10 days in jail. Upon getting out of jail, his girlfriend returned and left him with a 14-month-old son. Forced to live on the street since the boarding houses would not accept children, he slept in homeless shelters and subway stations. Many times, prostitutes taking pity on him would give him money to feed his son. After two years he had made enough money to move to New York. In 1987, he opened his own firm which is now valued at over $10 million. He spends most of his time traveling and talking to school children about the importance of staying in school. (Chris Gardner: No College But He’s a Stunning Success, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No 26 (Winter 1999-2000) pg 50).
Now a dynamic speaker who is invited to speak at many financial conferences around the country, he tells his story of wealth instead of giving PowerPoint presentations and pie charts of financial success. In an interview published in the Journal of Financial Planning June 2007 edition for the FPA Seattle Convention, he says that he does not talk about the kind of wealth that most financial presenters do. When asked to explain, he says “There’s a different kind of wealth. It’s the wealth of peace of mind. The wealth of peace in your soul and the peace of health. Those things you can’t put up for collateral – but you shouldn’t anyway. They are non-negotiable. “(Journal of Financial Planning; June 2007 Supplement, Vol 20, pg 8 – 30, 2p).
Gardner talks about his time in homeless shelters and how Grice Memorial Church and the ministry of Cecil Williams helped him and many other homeless, which 12% of have jobs that they go to every day, have hope. Grice serves over a million meals a day, 365 days a year to the homeless. When making the film, he wanted to make sure that this important ministry and its works were included. The filmmakers also hired some of the homeless to be a part of the movie which built their self esteem.
There were many themes in the movie that drove home the views of Gardner. The theme of running was like running to a better life and the way you move in desperation is different than how you normally move. Another theme was that good work leads to happiness and having a job and the chance to move forward makes man happy. One of the themes that was most important to Gardner was the desire to be there for his son. He wanted to break the cycle of men not being there for their sons and show the importance of it in their happiness.
In the filming of the movie, he was on hand as an advisor. Many of the places depicted were authentic places and brought back the memories of his time on the street. The Dean Witter office was authentic down to the papers on the desks and stock quotes were actual prices of the day. Many efforts were made to make the movie as true to life as the real struggles that Chris Gardner went through and there could be many different versions of what the American Dream means based on the viewers perception. In an interview with the Italian director, he suggests that as Americans we do not truly understand the American Dream that we have to be foreign to fully understand it.