Symbolism I Found in The Pursuit of Happyness

There are a million and two "motivating", "tear jerking", and "heart warming" movies based on true stories. When it comes down to it, reality does get to you when you put it into a movie and find something that you relate to.

Usually, I don't bother with this kind of movie. I have enough reality going on in my life, and the last thing I want to watch is somebody else who faces the same hardships, and then have a happy ending. Although those things are meant to be motivating, I usually feel more discouraged, as though my happy ending will never come. I'm not trying to be negative, I'm just being honest. I usually don't watch these kinds of movies.

A few weeks ago, I was flipping through an outdated Reader's Digest while in the waiting room at a hospital. I came across a brief biography on Chris Gardner, the man whom "The Pursuit of Happyness" was based on. After reading this story, I decided to check the movie out. I was not disappointed. In fact, I was quite taken aback with how deeply this movie touched me.

I noted a lot of symbolism, and I can't say it wasn't just my perspective while watching this movie but I did find a lot of depth beyond the messages relayed. If you have not yet heard of this movie, or what it is about, then I will only briefly summarize. Chris Gardner was a salesman, struggling financially. One day he asked somebody who was parking a very nice car "What do you do" and "How do you do it?" The man replied that he was a stock broker.

Gardner goes on to pursue a fierce, competitive internship as a stock broker, fighting for a dream that would seem impossible without the fierce fight he gives. There is no salary, and after his wife leaves him and his son, he is evicted. While living in a missionary, some night even sleeping in a bathroom at a train station... Chris takes care of his son and continues to fight for his chance to gain employment as a stock broker.

Okay, knowing what is about may or not help you make the decision to see this movie. I wish I could go to everybody who has ever felt like giving up and make them watch this movie. There are so many messages here... and I related on so many levels to the constant despair that Chris Gardner suffered. I know in those situations, I myself would have given up numerous times, but he kept fighting and yes, there is a happy ending.

In the movie and in reality both; Chris Gardner went on to open his own brokerage and became a Wall Street legend. But please do not even read any reviews or descriptions of this movie! This is something you have to see for yourself and I can't begin to explain why this movie has become one of my favorite movies.

An example of the symbolism that at least I noticed, in case you have already seen this movie, is the fact that Will Smith, playing Chris Gardner, was always carrying one of those machines he was selling. He had described them as one would equal a month's worth of groceries. It was very clear that these machines were important. On so many levels, that says a lot. Everytime he chased after a hippy girl or a homeless man who had stolen one of those machines, it said more to me than a thousand words.

Yet what stood out most is how he was always holding a machine. I thought how heavy those machines look, and how carrying around all that weight can be so exhausting. I realized that we all symbolically carry around that weight. It may not be in the physical form of a salesman's product=money, but it is always just as heavy to carry around the symbolism of what money means, period.

I also noted how negative his girlfriend was in the movie. She did not believe in him, and she seemed settled with the disappointment of her life. She worked double shifts, and she was very unhappy about her life... but she was settled with it as it was. The two things I took to heart with her was the negativity, and the way she didn't support him. She had given up.

Clearly, this is just another movie about having a dream, believing in that dream, fighting for that dream, and in the fairy tale ending having that dream come true. Clearly, as I expressed earlier, I had the same problem as the wife. I had lost all hope. The fact that there was stress on the happiness and unhappiness really showed me a side of myself I had not quite understood.

Finally, I will end this article with a quote from "The Pursuit of Happyness". I will add that there are many forms of symbolism to be seen in this movie, and a lot to learn.. but I really want everyone to see this for themselves. Now the quote I would like to include is this. (Referring to Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence:) "How did he know to include the pursuit? As if happiness is something we can only pursue, and never actually have".

(Note, pay attention to what causes the discussion between Chris Gardner and his son about the spelling of happiness. It is a misspelled graffiti on a wall they pass that says "F* Happyness".)