The American Dream in the Pursuit of Happiness

The Pursuit of Happiness tells the story of a father and his son coming back from the brink of poverty and homelessness to getting hired at a wealthy and prestigious brokerage firm. The American dream is the persistent theme throughout the movie, and it can be said that the movie is really symbolic of the American Dream itself. As Chris Gardner, the movie's protagonist battles with countless hardships and financial troubles, he gets a chance of making it to the very top of American society through his own wit and intelligence ( a select scene with a Rubik's cube symbolizes his success in the business world). One of the biggest selling parts of the movie is that it sells the American dream as the hope that any person armed with their own will and determination can create their life and change their own situation. But this optimistic view is a little too much, the movie really avoids some of the harder questions and injustices within the American Dream, Gardner has intelligence and wit to get through his troubles, that the normal man just wouldn't have. While the film paints a great picture of the success of one man, it fails to capture how this American Dream is flawed, and at its very core is a harsh and unforgiving - rather painting a nicer picture in the vain of universal approval.