Has anybody seen the movie - Persuit of Happiness? My thoughts on the film.

[The Crazy Canadian]

I like the film, but also found it's underlying messages disturbing. No doubt it was a powerful and moving film and would represent what most Americans would call, pursing the "American dream". If you work hard enough and persist, you too can enjoy the good life that wealth can bring. Everybody likes a "rags" to "riches" story but for the great majority of people who are trying to get by, it just doesn't represent reality. It kind of leaves the underlying message that if your poor, it's your own damn fault.

I liked the film because it showed someone who was determined not to fail and not to give up in his determination in making something of himself and to provide a better life for him and his family. He worked hard, studied hard and finally achieved his goal. Great qualities everybody should aspire too.

The things I don't like about the film was its glorification of money and wealth. It's view that government is bad and only interested in putting their "hands in your pocket". That people are truly happy when they are driving in Ferraris, living on huge estates and watching football games from the "box".

In my view, this is a great propaganda film that America is a great country where anybody can succeed, even a poor black man from the slums. That people in "suits" (the capitalists) are happy and have the power to bring happiness to others and give them a slice of heaven. At it's core, I think the movie is about the promotion of greed and materialism which I find is destructive for society and our environment. Sure we all need to make money to buy the things we need and want, but we also have a responsibility to the poor and to protect our planet that sustains life. So there are aspect of the movie I liked and disliked, but essentially, we can't live our lives guided by the idea of chasing after the almighty dollar.

Just my 2 cents.

[zalinda]

1. The real guy who the story is about

refused to go to the premiere. I guess he disagreed with what the movie was promoting.

zalinda

[Selatius]

2. You are right to say it is propaganda.

To be sure, hard work can lead to success. I emphasis "can," but the statistics don't lie.

Every day millions of people work hard, yet few have ever risen beyond modest means. The notion that hard work equates to wealth is a lie. You can increase your chances if you get an education. You can increase your chances if you meet the "right people," but it should not be considered a guarantee at all of future success.

In a world where people like Dick Cheney get to retire with tens of millions of dollars, money earned off the blood and misery of innocents, is it fair to say those who have lived honest lives and never sought to fool or deceive many people deserve a fraction or even nothing compared to Dick Cheney?

[Duer 157099]

3. I wasn't so disturbed by that message

I was much more concerned about how a superficial viewing might cause one to come away with the conclusion that "if someone really worked hard and really wanted to, they could succeed."

One cannot underestimate the effect that pure luck played in this man's story. No question at all that he was an unbelievably hard worker, stubbord, brilliant, dedicated, all those things, but that without a few timely breaks in his favor, it would all have come to naught, like it does for so many who don't get the breaks.

And what about those who are not as brilliant, or cannot work as hard, or cannot be as dedicated? Screw them!

That's the message that worries me.

[siligut]

4. I won't see the film

I can comment on what you have said. I agree, there is a sort of insidious air that wealthy people are happy and that propaganda is filtered past the left wing controlled media everyday. From print ads in magazines, Ralph Lauren Polo brand comes to mind, to moronic TV programs celebrating the fabulous life of some rich celebrity. Truth is, some rich people obsess about money and they want us to so we will help them make more money. The pursuit of happiness is a carrot on a stick if you can be made to believe you need money for it.

This is the blurb for a book at Amazon.com, on the book The Rich and How They Got That Way From Publishers Weekly: In a series of portraits that are intended to enlighten readers not only about the particular traits of the wealthy but also about their characteristics over the centuries, Crossen, a senior editor at the Wall Street Journal and author of Tainted Truth, examines the lives of 10 extraordinarily affluent people from before the Middle Ages to the present. Among the most engaging figures are Machmud of Ghazni, who tortured his tax collector when the man couldn't wring any more money out of Machmud's subjects, and John Law, who supported himself as a gambler while he learned banking and finance. Perhaps the most intriguing chapter describes Hetty Green, known as the "witch of Wall Street" for her frugality and her amazing ability to choose profitable stocks. Outside her investments, Green was a miserable woman whose only son had to have his leg amputated because she refused to pay for proper medical care. Although Crossen sketches the historical overview of each period and discusses broad economic trends, the book remains a scattered collection of brief biographies. The book's title seems to promise that readers will learn what it takes to be rich; however, the lessons of these stories agreed, frugality, selfishness are all too obvious.

[caligirl]

5. We saw and enjoyed the film. Liked that Glide Memorial and its

pastor were in the film, the man does a terific job feeding the homeless in Oakland.So in that regard I was happy Glide Memorial was the real thing.
I see some of your points but I saw an individual who had a natural talent and persued it. I felt that he was the exception, not the rule for people in this situation. I thought it showed the successful men as insensitive to the difficulties and hurdles the main character was facing daily, which can be very true as we saw with Barbara Bush's insensitive comments concerning NOLA victims in Houston after Katrina. The Bart station scene with the bone scan box reminded me of a scary event I witnessed on that same spot where a mother and daughter( about 7-8 years of age)were separated as the child got onto a Pittsburg(east bay) bound BART train, the doors shut just then with the mom just cut off and still on the platform. Several adults on the platform started screaming for help as the train began to leave the station. Fortunatly the train was stopped and child and mom were reunited a few feet down the platform.

[Orangepeel]

6. I was discomforted by a different message -- big risk taking is good

I kind of think that it was Will Smith's character's own fault that he was poor, at least a little. He wasn't sleeping in subway bathrooms (with his kid!) because he didn't have any other choice. He was doing so because he had a "millionaire or bust" mentality. As smart, hardworking and smooth talking as he was portrayed to be, he probably could have gotten a managerial level job that would have given him and his son a nice, comfortable, middle class life.

I have no doubt that many homeless people, including those with kids, are homeless because they don't have/see any other options. But this guy in the movie? He purposely took an option that would make him homeless because he was looking for the big payoff.

There's nothing inherently wrong with being a big risk taker and it probably is the only way of becoming a "self made" multimillionaire. But I don't think it is admirable to be a big risk taker with someone else's health and welfare, especially when it is a little kid.