I went to see The Pursuit of Happyness, the Will Smith movie. My friend noted how annoying it was that there's a misspelling in the title. To our surprise, the main character actually points out that "happiness" is misspelled on a mural at his son's daycare building. That was a relief.I liked the movie, but it was often a downer. Smith plays the highly intelligent and personable Chris Gardner, who secures an unpaid internship at Dean Witter hoping to get a permanent job as a broker. There are dozens of interns, all working for free for a six month period. At the end of the six months, only one is offered a paying job.
When he starts the internship, his wife has left him with their young son. To make money, Gardner sells medical equipment on nights and weekends, taking his son along on sales calls. With varying good and bad luck, Gardner ends up homeless but still manages to impress his bosses at Dean Witter. Of course you are rooting for him to succeed and get the permanent job, which he does. But, after reflecting on the movie, I am not sure of the story's moral.
Gardner mentions the "pursuit of happiness" being listed as a fundamental right in the Declaration of Independence. He theorizes that words "the pursuit of" were added perhaps because happiness isn't ever attainable. That was an interesting comment by Gardner, since it's not clear to me that what Gardner pursued was happiness. He certainly had an amazing drive and great intellect. He managed to make a more affluent life for himself and his son. We never got to see, though, what happened after he reached his goal of getting the broker's job.
The end of the movie tells us, with words on the screen, that Gardner started his own investment firm and became a millionaire. I did some research on the real-life Gardner and it turns out that the internship paid a $1,000/month stipend back in 1981. According to the consumer price index, that equates to around $2,100/month today. Also, Gardner was not married to his son's mother. He was married to someone else, but left her to move in with his girlfriend when she was pregnant with the son.
Knowing more of the facts further confused me about whether to admire the real-life Gardner. He likely worked so much that he missed most of his son's childhood. His son probably would have preferred less money and having his dad around more often. I bet that would have made him happy.
