By: Wegdan Aly
Analytical Essay Assignment
An outstanding movie that I’ve seen which was, in fact, based on a true story is called “Pursuit of Happiness”. This movie reveals the struggle of a father, Chris Gardner (Will Smith), who has invested heavily in a device known as a "bone density scanner". He felt like he can make a really good living selling these devices. However, they did not sell well even though they were slightly better than x-rays which were more expensive. As Gardner’s lack of success with selling bone density scanners repeated, his wife leaves him and he loses his apartment.
Forced to live out in the streets with his son, Gardner continued to sell bone density scanners while concurrently taking on an unpaid internship as a stockbroker, with slim chances for advancement to a paid position. Before he can receive pay, he needed to outshine the competition through 6 months of training, and to sell his devices to stay afloat. Even though
Chris had a slim chance of success as well as enduring many hardships, Chris refused to give in to despair as he struggled to create a better life for himself and his son.
I truly feel like this movie did a marvelous job in portraying the struggle that the real Chris
Gardner had to endure in a certain part of his life. The reason why I feel this way is because, firstly, the fact that this movie was a reenactment of what happened to the real Chris Gardner gives the audience a clear visual of everything that he had to endure instead reading it in a book and imagining the situations or listening to it as a story someone else is telling. Secondly, this movie contained numerous lessons and powerful messages that the audiences can benefit from. However, personally, out of all the lessons that were shown, the one that stood out to me the most was that in order to succeed, you have got to have will power/ dedication and work extremely hard. In the movie, Chris Gardner had to face a huge financial loss that lead him to be a step away from going broke, his wife leaves him due to the stress and hopelessness she was feeling with him, he gets evicted from his home due to overdue rent payment and becomes homeless, he’s forced to live in shelters with his 5 year old son whenever he’s able to, and he had to work harder than anyone in the stock brokerage to be hired as an official stock broker and actually receive a salary. Despite all odds and all of the hardships he had to endure, in the end, he passed the final stock broker exam and got the job. This teaches the audience that even if you feel like you are failing or the world is working against you, if you are dedicated enough and work hard for your future, you will succeed. Moreover, what made the movie extra special was that, at the ending scene of the movie, the real Chris Gardner appears

as a cameo and walks past the actors playing Chris Gardner and his son as they were still acting out the ending scene.
Another reason why I feel like this movie is truly astonishing is because the actor that played the father (Will Smith) had his actual son (Jaden Smith), who was actually 8 years old, play as his son in the movie. The father and son relationship demonstrated in the movie was more meaningful because all the emotions as well as the acting seemed very realistic. True happiness and true sadness were impressively demonstrated by the two actors because there was a real father and son relationship going on. Whenever there was a sad or heart breaking scene, the actor that played as the son (Jaden smith) would cry. This made his father’s reaction more realistic because he actually felt heartbroken whenever his son did this and his emotions were easily expressed and shown on camera. Therefore, The actors’ (Will and Jaden
Smith) impressive acting helped with giving the audience a better sense of how the real Chris
Gardner and his son felt throughout their entire journey.
Lastly, this movie contains a lot of significance because it’s connected to real life situations and problems. A large number of people can relate to all of Chris Gardner’s hardships such as, homelessness, unemployment, unsuccessful business, no family support, separation of spouse, etc. In the real world, many people become homeless or unemployed sometimes because of reasons that they can’t help. People who are homeless are not a distinct or separate population. In fact, the line between being homeless and not being homeless is quite fluid. Homelessness is usually the result of the cumulative impact of a number of factors, rather than a single cause. Structural factors are economic and societal issues that affect opportunities and social environments for individuals. Key factors can include the lack of adequate income, access to affordable housing and health supports and/or the experience of discrimination. Homelessness and poverty are inextricably linked. People who are poor are frequently unable to pay for necessities such as housing, food, childcare, health care, and education. Arguably, the most impactful factor is the lack of affordable housing nationwide however; discrimination can impede access to employment, housing, justice and helpful services.
In conclusion, “The Pursuit of Happiness” is a remarkable movie that portrays the struggle of a single father, Chris Gardner, who tries to make a living to support his son and create a better life for both of them. Main reasons why I think this movie was truly well done is because it was a movie based on a true story and the man who the movie was about appears at the end of the movie, it contained a really powerful message: in order to succeed, you need to be dedicated

enough and work hard, the actor who played the father (Will Smith) had his actual son (Jaden smith) play as his son. This made their acting and emotions more meaningful because it was personal, and that the movie was connected to real life situations and issues. Therefore, this movie is really beneficial because it teaches the audience important life lessons as well as making them aware of troubling issues that people face in this world.