Show Me the Money
“The Pursuit of Happiness”
University of Phoenix Fis/200
Tonda Bolinger

I chose the film The Pursuit of Happiness. This movie is a very good example of how money can either make you or break you. It is about the real life a guy named Chris Gardner. He is a well-known stockbroker in California. Chris had just moved in with his wife and young son Christopher when he decided to use his whole life savings to buy these bone density machines. The original thought was that this high profile device would eventually replace the X-Ray machine by providing better imaging. Chris would soon figure out that these bone density devices were luxury item and considered to be well over priced. This making it very hard to sell those to anyone much less make any money to live off of. This was the start of all the problems Chris would face in the upcoming months.
Lack of money was a big factor in how the whole movie unraveled. All of the problems he encountered while trying to sell these machines made a huge impact on his income. This led to his wife having to work a whole lot of extra shifts to be able to cover all the bills, adding pressure and financial shortcomings which led to difficult struggles between Chris and his wife. On top of making sure all the bills were paid she also had the young son to take care of.
One day Chris was on his way to a potential sale. As he was walking along he saw this guy pull up in this very nice car. When the man steps out he asks him “What do you do, and how do you do it?” The man replies to him that he is a stockbroker; all you have to do is be good with numbers and have good people skills. This really gets Chris’s mind a rolling and making him realize he could reach his dreams. He asks himself “Why can I not be happy like him?” When Chris got back home he was eager to tell his wife all about it, unfortunately she was not as happy to hear it as he was to tell it. She told him that he was not being serious about their situation. The buildup of all the stress and the lack of faith she has in him leads to her leaving and going to New York to work for her sister’s boyfriend. The only thing Chris demanded from her was that she leaves their son with him in San Francisco. He made a promise to himself when he became a father that he would never leave his son like his father did him. Chris did not know his dad till he was 28 and he did not want this for his children.
It becomes apparent that the story of his life revolves around the desire to have money. Chris’s wife chose to leave because the lack of money. The lack of money is what drove Chris to want to be a stockbroker. His desire was so strong that he worked for free for many months as an intern with only the hope that it would lead to a fulltime job as a stockbroker. Not all of the interns became legitimate stockbrokers. One day Chris found himself looking at the face of a nickel and he wondered “How did Thomas know to put the word pursuit?” referring to the quote “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”. He then realized that happiness can never be a given entity; you need to pursue it. When Chris’s wife decided to leave they was already four months behind on rent, they was behind on their taxes. Money was definitely the reasoning for his family falling apart.
Chris became very desperate for money. His land lord came to his door one day because he was four months behind and Chris begged him to paint the walls for an extra week at the apartment. He also got in a fight with one of his friends that owed him 14 dollars. The friend felt he did not owe him the money because he had helped him move. Even after a big screaming match he did not get his 14 dollars owed to him.
There was one day when Chris got to work and there was one of the board members of Dean Whitter, the firm at which Chris had applied for, steps out of his taxi and asks Chris to borrow five dollars to pay for his cab fare. Although this amount meant nothing to this gentleman it was devastating to Chris. This would leave him with only 3 dollars to his name after lending him the 5 dollars. In what would be a life changing event for Chris; at the time was just another reminder of how well the rich lived. Chris lent him the money anyway even though he knew what pain it would cause for him. One day Chris decided to take Christopher with him to meet a potential client. He runs into Mr. Ribbon as he was heading to a football game, so he pretended to be going to the game also. Chris proceeds to tell him that he is going to sit in the seats on the upper deck of the stadium. He knew by mentioning this that Mr. Ribbon would offer him and Christopher a seat with him. Mr. Ribbon did insist on them coming and sitting with him in the box seats. He had told Christopher that they might be going to a football game so when he offered them to sit in the box seats Christopher was very happy. As they all get in the car Mr. Ribbons asks Chris why he does not leave his thing in the car, Christopher blurts out we do not have a car. Chris is able to save face by interrupting his son mid-statement by an “ouch”, followed by a comment about a bee stinging in him in the neck. This just shows what separates the rich from the poor.
Chris was able to provide for him and his son, although it was very minimal amount, through the bone density scanners he sold throughout his internship. By selling one machine was like providing groceries for one month, if he sold two of them that would mean a months’ worth of rent and some daycare. When Chris is going for his interview he was embarrassed to carry the machine in with him so he leaves it with a hippy that is playing music out front for a dollar tip. While he is in his interview he looks out the window and sees the hippy running away with his machine. This machine meant a whole lot to him and his son. If he could sell it they would have some money and now it is gone.
Human interaction became a big role in this movie, following money. Scenes such as the bone density scanner being stolen and the board member asking for $5 really depicted the harsh reality he had to face throughout his journey. It all paid off though when he was offered a stock broker position at Dean Whitter. As he is leaving the office the same gentleman that borrowed the 5 dollars yells Chris and hands him a 5 dollar bill all while saying “Told you I would not forget.” This just shows that even though he had to make major sacrifices to get where he is he never gave up and it paid off in the end.
In conclusion, this movie showed how money reflected on people’s lives. Chris’s wife was not able to stick it out with him and make it through the hard times and the financial problems they encountered. However, he thrived with the pressure of having barely anything to continue with his dream of wealth and prosperity. The message I got throughout the whole movie was if you dream of happiness then you need to be the one to pursue it to make it happen. You will have much pain and obstacles to get over, but through hard work and lots of motivation anything is possible whether you are considered poor or wealthy.

References
Conrad, S. (Director). (2006). The Pursuit of Happiness. [Digital Versatile Disc].
10202 W. Washington Blvd. Culver City, California 90232-3195: Columbia