CBM 0016 – 20
Kylle Cruz
BS Bio 2-1
Reflection Sheet
“Joy” is a movie made in 2015 based on the life story of a woman named Joy Mangano
and was directed by David O. Russel. Joy, was brilliantly played and portrayed by the lovely Ms.
Jennifer Lawrence. The movie portrays the hardships the protagonist went through from childhood
to adulthood; it shows her journey and transition from being nearly broke and hopeless to being a
successful businesswoman. All these happened because of her hard work, perseverance, and
unwavering drive for success.
The movie was portrayed as a third person perspective by the grandmother of the
protagonist. She narrates the life of her grandchild Joy and how she struggles with the hardships
about her parents’ separation as a child. It also shows her suppression of her hopes, dreams, and
ideas in order to deal with their current set-up and situation. For 17 years, she endured and
suppressed who she is. Also, living in a patriarchal society, it also made it hard for her to be
successful without being scorned and ridiculed specifically by some of her family members. The
movie displays her determination and perseverance because she never gave up despite what others
said. She used both the negative and positive criticisms towards her as driving forces to pursue her
dreams and goals – to successfully sell and monetize her invention, the self-wringing mop, and to
be a successful businesswoman in the process.
In my opinion the movie was exceptional and successful in its own right. It is inspirational
and empowering especially to women. Living in a patriarchal society, women are rarely given
equal rights and opportunities as men. The scenes where Joy was constantly mocked and ridiculed
for her efforts and ideas illustrate this. It made me somehow enraged of how society and even her
own family treats her and her efforts. In addition, the movie was also successful in conveying to
the audience its themes of perseverance and confidence. Throughout the movie, after Joy’s
epiphany, she never wavered and gave up. She pushed through even when the odds are stacked
against her. Even I, as a viewer, was swayed by her emotions and inspired by the amount of
dedication she has. Also, the plot, although not perfect, was coherent and deliberate in expressing
and conveying information about the different characters.
The plot of the movie began with a scene from a seemingly old television show where two
women were having emotional dialogues. It was later revealed that they were indeed television
characters. The show then proceeded with a narration from the protagonist’s grandmother where
she introduced the main characters. The protagonist Joy was introduced as a child living in New
York, together with her half-sister Peggy, her father Rudy, her mother Terry, her best friend Jackie,
and of course her grandmother Mimi. The next scene showed her knack for creating things when
she was shown to be playing with different paper crafts she made. Afterwards, she was shown as
an adult where her complicated family was displayed. It introduced the audience to her divorced
parents, two children, and her ex-husband and friend Tony. The following scenes then showed
how awful Joy’s life is because of the constant quarrelling between her divorced parents, her
struggles as a working mother, and her set-up, her living situation with her ex-husband, and her
main struggles with herself. Joy was also having financial problems and was demoted from her
job that is why she called her best friend Jackie where they reminisced the past on how her parents
divorced, how she met her ex-husband, and how they were married and divorced.
The movie then preceded in a scene in her father’s industrial and automotive shop where
she and her sister were helping their father in their business. Her father then told her daughters of
going on a date with a woman because it brings him happiness and drives him to work hard. He
then goes on a date with a rich widow named Trudy. She invites them to her yacht. They spilled
and broke wine glasses where Joy has to clean the glass shards with a mop. She squeezes the mop
and was injured with the shards. She was rushed home where her family told her to sleep and rest
but she keeps having recurring nightmares.
As Joy slept, she dreamt of her dreams of her childhood dream being an inventor and
monetizing her inventions to be successful. Her epiphany drove her to create her product and
discuss it with Trudy to earn her investment. After their dramatic meeting, Joy earned Trudy’s
trust so she searched for patents for her invention and manufacturers for her products. At first
selling her products were hard especially because it isn’t advertised well and her market was
limited to her area. Tony then introduced her to a successful businessman and advertised Neil
Walker where she wowed him with her product.
The first time her product was advertised was unsuccessful so she went to Neil asking for
a second chance, but this time she wants to be the one advertising. She did exceptionally well
because of the help of her best friend Jackie calling her to boost her self-esteem. She grossed a lot
of sales.
She had a problem with her product’s manufacturer where she nearly ended up broke. She
discovered that her sister went behind her back and that her manufacturer was stealing her ideas.
Because of her overwhelming debt, Trudy and her family forced her to declare bankruptcy to which
she reluctantly agreed. She never gave up though. She studied and found out that the patents for
her products were fake and her manufacturer’s boss was extorting money from them. She went to
her manufacturer’s boss and threatened to sue them. She was given 100,000 dollars and she got
the rights to her product back. Afterwards, all the fruits of her perseverance and hard work were
shown. She became a millionaire, continued to help her family, and started her own company.
The movie’s plot was somehow mediocre for me. They were deliberate in expressing their
themes and conflicts and was somehow cliché in way. A character that underwent multiple
hardships and slowly succeeded because of her bold risk-taking, and determination – a common
plot for a lot of movies. The movie was also full of obsolete scenes like the scenes where the show
being watched by her mother was shown. I can’t comprehend what’s even happening in those
scenes. They were only somewhat useful in showing the movie’s main conflict – Joy’s inner
struggles within herself and how she put on a façade for 17 years. It was a mediocre movie for me
but because of Jennifer Lawrence’s outstanding performance as an actress, she somehow carried
the movie up. The emotions and artistic acting she showed swayed and inspired the audience even
with this plot. Also, because the movie is based but not accurately depicts a true story, it adds
amazement to the film itself.
To conclude, the movie has a mediocre plot, but is interesting and inspiring because of the
acting of the main protagonist and because it is based on a true story. It inspires the audience to
never give up despite the predicaments life gives; just continue to find solutions and persevere.
Also, it teaches the audience that in business, you are constantly taking risks so, you need to weigh
those risks and study them before pushing through. Success is never given on a silver platter; it is
earned through countless hardships and trials.