The Pursuit of Happyness

The film, the Pursuit of Happyness was inspired by the true story of Chris Gardner, who while homeless in the 80s managed to care for his young son and work his way into a stock broker position through an internship at Dean Witter.

The film stayed true to Gardner’s struggle for success and dedication to his son.  In San Francisco, 1981, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) can’t make ends meet selling portable overpriced bone density scanners, while his embittered wife Linda waitresses 2 shifts a day. Impressed by a man with a sports car on the street one day, he asks him what he does for a living.

Reluctantly at first, when he learns it’s non-paying, Chris joins a competitive Internship training program at Dean Witter. He must be at the top of his class after six months in order to be hired. Meanwhile, pressures continue to mount. He becomes homeless with an absentee wife, no money, no paying job, and a 5-year-old son (played by his real son, Jaden Smith). Yet against all odds, Chris Gardner overcomes the obstacles. This film is a must-see for any student of success.

Note: Happiness in Pursuit of Happyness is intentionally misspelled. The misspelled phrase is actually taken from an essay written in 1776 by Lemuel Haynes.  Haynes, a biracial man living in New England during the Revolution, quoted Jefferson’s phrase “Pursuit of Happiness” but spelled Happiness with a Y. He argued that whites and blacks were created equal.  

In this scene, while obviously personally discouraged about his own life, Gardner catches himself squashing his son’s dreams. He recognizes what he did and says, “Don’t ever let anyone tell you; you can’t do something! How many times have we been put down by those closest to us?    Don’t let anyone tell you – you can’t do something!