I don’t know for sure whether it is the cold or the movie that kept me tossing and turning in bed, but one thing is certain: many scattered fragments of the movie again and again flashed in my mind. My cell phone read 4:16 am at that time, but I was not sleepy at all. So I decided to get up and write something.
”The Pursuit of Happyness” — the title comes from a misspelled schoolhouse mural — has a lot on its mind but mostly this: If America is about the promise of bettering oneself, why does it have to be so freaking hard? In the movie, Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence words about happiness kept recurring to Chris Gardner. Every day, Christ had to work hard from morning till night, but still could hardly make a living. Chris saw a bunch of suits, mostly male, pouring out of the Dean Witter Reynolds brokerage firm in downtown San Francisco. They all looked “happy,” “Why not me? “ Christ wondered. He did have an adorable boy, Christopher, but wife Linda was becoming a scarecrow of overworked anxiety. Finally, his wife left Christ because of life pressure, leaving him and her five-year-old son, Christopher. And naturally, Christ became a single father.
With the failure of his business, Christ had no money to pay for the rent, so they were driven away from the flat. They became homeless. They slept in asylum, subway station public bathroom or anywhere as a temporary shelter. The destitution of life was absolutely depressing, but for his son’s future, for his own belief, Christ never gave up and he still strongly believed that happiness would come one day if he worked hard enough today.
With his great efforts, Christ won a six-month internship at Dean Witter, but there was no pay at all. So on one hand, Christ had to work hard to make a living; on the other hand, he had to fight for his intern work, since only one of the twenty interns would succeed finally. Besides, he had to take good care of his son after day care. However, Christ made it with his amazing willpower.
Christ was unfortunate, for he got a wife who was not understandable at all (though she has her own difficulties) and was in bad luck with his business. But he was very fortunate also, for he got a son who was very thoughtful and, I think, tough life experiences always make a great person.
It is said that this movie is inspired by a true story, and I want to say, this movie does inspire me a lot. What impressed me most are: Christ’s wife left him because of life pressure; Christ’s love to his son and Christ’s strong belief towards life. Through these, I know that it is not easy to be a good husband and a good Papa, since in reality, only love cannot only make everything. And I also learn that one has to strongly believe in himself, no matter how difficult the situation is, but of course, hard-working is indispensable.
I like to watch The Pursuitof Happyness.
From Gardner, who realized that what I do is the real men and how to do good is