MovieChat Forums > The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) Discussion > Despicable Movie

Despicable Movie

posted 8 years ago by johny_walker_blacklabel
16 replies | jump to latest

This movie is bad and i don't mean bad in quality,i mean bad to the core.

Now,if you set aside some things like the motivational mumbo jumbo and the fact that a seemingly brilliant individual can make such a stupid mistake of investing most of his money on these medical machines without making some research before,like asking the damn doctors,"do you think this machine is important?necessary?Would you buy it?" the movie otherwise is quite good.Good pace,good music,excellent acting.

But if you think for a second the core of this movie.What this movie actually has to say and the way it says it, it's quite frightening.

So the movie,is about a man who struggles to make ends meet,living with his wife who can't stand being poor anymore.Living in his misery he comes across a stockbroker with his expensive car,the emotional music kicks in,
-Ohh,man i got two questions for you what do you do and how do you do it? He asks.
-I am a stockbroker.
Glances at the crowd near the building. "They all looked so damn happy to me.Why couldn't i look like that?"

And that is what the movie is all about.

At first,the movie seems to be about the journey of the man who finally makes ends meet and not be so poor anymore or about making his dreams come true.But all of this is negated by the fact that he becomes a millionare stockbroker in the end.

I first saw this movie the year it aired, i was a kid back then but when Will Smith said
"This part of my life is called happiness" it just didn't sit well with me,even as a kid.So happiness is becoming a millionaire stockbroker?A useless profession where you just make profit at any cost? Or even making ends meet?I mean making enough money to live makes you pretty happy but you can become a paid assasin to make money,i wouldn't empathise with you though if you succeeded.And its not just that.
What if the story was about a man who couldn't pay his bills but he finds a job cleaning toilets and finally has enough money to pay his bills so in the end he feels happy?Would the movie have the same impact?Would it feel as inspirational as this one attempted to be?No.
Making a living was never the point of this movie.Making your dreams come true,winnning a place at the high society and ultimately making a lot of money was the point.Well, happiness has nothing to do with all that.Even making your dreams come true is not happiness when your dreams are void.

This movie is the embodiment of the american dream.It is targeted at the low paid people whispering in their ear: "Don't worry you're poor,you can make it big here.If only you try hard enough.Everyone can.If only you work hard enough.You can become a millionaire.Others have made it too,right?So it's possible,right?

I mean,the two "bad guys" that try to steal from Chris Gardner are both hippies wishing they could go back to the sixties?Really?Was this movie written by an old,rich,conservative man thinking that there two kinds of people: Normal religious people and hippies?

[–] paulodrums 8 years ago

Man, I couldn't agree more with you.

It is a very good movie in terms of technicalities, but the message is the ugly side.

Basically it is motivating people to believe that this is correct model of society: there are the losers, who are poor and miserable only because they are lazy hippies, and the winners, those who make anything (even push old ladies to get their bus slot) to succeed in life.

The worse of it all is that the movie glorifies this kind of attitude, as if the only way for human race to exist is in a world which is a competitive enviroment in all of its aspects.

[–] herschie 8 years ago

I see it differently. Sort of like how "Rocky" is supposed to motivate you to stick through the bad and good to succeed with whatever you're doing in life, and not necessarily to take up boxing, this movie carries a far more powerful message. As a salesman with much potential but very little results, this hit home for me. Here's why:

Right now, I sell websites at my friend's startup. I have other means of income, which is almost enough to live off of. I walk in lackadaisically around 11:30 in the morning, go on Facebook all day, text the wife. I'll make sales calls. Then leave at 6 with very little to show for it. Then get frustrated as I drive my Jeep back to my fairly comfortable apartment.

Do you think I'd be strolling in at 11:30 if I was living in a homeless shelter with a small child, with my website sales job my only hope of getting out of it? Gardner was successful because he did what he had to do. Despite all the numerous problems he had, he saw to it that he would succeed no matter what. If he had my job in that situation, I guarantee that he'd be waiting for 8 AM to roll around so he could start dialing and make those sales. Wouldn't worry about how tired he was or how bad he wanted to see the ballgame.

I guess the message it sends is to go all in or go all out. Nothing worthwhile is easy. I actually have to get to bed in a little bit. I'm thinking about how successful I would have been had I had his heart and determination. Maybe I ought to try it for awhile.

[–] johny_walker_blacklabel 8 years ago

I think most people see it that way,hence the high rating.And i think that's they way the movie wanted to be perceived.As inspirational.I do not judge the struggle this man had to face to overcome his economical situation.That's the good "side" of the movie.
But he became filthy rich working in an unethical side of business.If the movie was about to go all in or to go all out it would have shown a strong,ruthless man doing whatever he can (ethical or not) to climb the ladder and win the job.And that would have had my respect.But the way the movie is potraying this whole story like a fairytale (the voice-over,the tender music,the american happy ending,)is very manipulating and contradicts the harsh nature of the raw story of Chris Gardner.

On another note,even if Chris Gardren wanted a job of a doctor and tried his best to get the job it would still be a miss to call the winning of the job happiness.HE would feel happy at the time but not in the way the movie showed it,like saying "Hey guys look... this is happiness.That's the recipe.".Because happiness in a broader sense ,i think, is much more than that.This is just a successfull result.Not insignificant but not happiness.Not "the happiness".

[–] herschie 8 years ago

I see what you mean. Can't argue with the fact that he beat unhappiness. Money can't buy happiness, some say that. But you're going to be miserable without it.

[–] johny_walker_blacklabel 8 years ago

Agreed.

[–] wylierichardson-966-922691 8 years ago

You are ignoring the fact that it's an autobiographical movie. What makes Chris Gardner's story notable is the EXTREMES that he went through - through struggling to make ends meet, to being homeless, to working his way back up to the point where is he a successful businessman. I guess you have moral issues with the finance industry, but it certainly seems to have helped Chris.

[–] eshanthaperera 8 years ago

I don't think the kind of happiness he was talking about had anything to do with getting a job, getting money, becoming a millionaire, or any such thing. The happiness he speaks of is when he runs to his son, picks him and hugs him, with tears coming down his face. The happiness was knowing that he could give his son a home again, and to make ends meet. Happiness is subjective, but this is a real life story of a man who near killed himself to somehow make sure that his life came back on track, just so he could take care of his son. I'd say that's happiness enough.

[–] AmyJolamb 8 years ago

I agree. The happiness isn't the money. It's the effort you make in life. The pursuit of it.

[–] goodfolk 8 years ago

You don't think being rich is better than being homeless?

[–] dlbearcave-2 8 years ago

It might be the root of all evil, but I'd rather wallow in soullessness and self-pity while being able to pay my bills.

[–] moviedilan 8 years ago

I disagree bud. To quote the great Jay Z-

"If you grew up having holes in your zapatos, you was celebrating the minute you was having dough"

He wanted to be a stock broker, and he did what it took to do it. Thats what he was happy about. He was happy that he could now afford to provide a life for his son. He has every right yo be happy after all the hard work he did.

[–] johny_walker_blacklabel 8 years ago

You had me at Jay Z.

[–] Lin301 8 years ago

Agree with OP, I also wonder how many people he, as a stockbroker, indirectly send into poverty when the crisis hit

[–] nishivijay 8 years ago

I agree for my own reasons. It's one of the saddest films I've ever seen.

You see a recent divorcee struggle and take the kid away from his ex, force them both into homelessness and then fight for a better life for all of them, even the ex with alimony and things like that... and he needed the kid with him to stay sharp because you can't calculate how much that could have helped his performance... but he had serious mental issues that he was enforcing on others such as the child... and he won at the end of the movie and that was great, but the way he won was his way. If he lost and displayed certain characteristics, they would be bad. Winning and being the same way is still bad but will he ever learn if he won this time?

It's a sad film to me because he's a good person and he won and built up quite a successfulness but he had a bunch of internal issues... However because he 'wins' he never deals with those inner issues... or that's the fear. And then all of the extremism, that's not necessarily a happy ending. It's a happy, well deserved moment. But did he learn anything the rest of the way, or is he going to push all these extremist mental characteristics and *impose them on others* just because he's winning? The way he's winning is saddening because it belittles the unhealthy characteristics that are most likely to continue forever... it just didn't seem like he would smooth out the way he won.

[–] ssjtom-1 7 years ago

I think the main value I took from the movie wasn't 'Happiness is being a stock broker' or 'Happiness is being rich' it was the pursuit of his own success and finding his place in the world. In one of the closing monologues he talks about how when he got good grades in History he got this great feeling that he could be anything and then he became nothing. Getting a job at this prestigious brokerage firm was him finally reaching a run on a ladder he'd been fighting for his whole life. To give his son what he never had, a present father who could also provide for him and teach him valuable life lessons.

I felt similar watching this to someone who mentioned selling websites, I run my own design and marketing agency I left a good job to do it and there are weeks and days where the business isn't doing so well, when you don't have money to pay bills or buy food that you need something like this in your life, it helps motivate you and let you know if you work hard it will pay off. I see this movie as the antithesis of the 'American Dream' - work hard and you will be rewarded eventually. It may be idealistic but it's a nice message to think that success is based on hard-work and perseverance.

The down side I saw to the movie wasn't the career he ended up in, more that his life was such a struggle that almost everything seemed to be against him it started to feel very very emotionally manipulative but what makes it an effective movie is that manipulation works. That when he finally gets that pay off/break through you watch him struggle so hard for even when no one believed in him - he finally made it. He cries and it's a huge emotional release for the audience and an incredibly effect character Drama.

Obviously I really liked the film, probably because I can relate to the message personally but I don't think the whole point is wealth makes you happy, I saw it more as working hard for something and achieving a goal for the betterment of your life and family will make you happy. Which I don't think is a 'bad' message.

[–] debtfull 7 years ago

I don't know, showing the reality of being broke despite working and trying makes up for the rest. Showing all the things in our society taking a bite out of our ass every day is something.