After securing an interview with Dean Witter to become an intern stockbroker, he is arrested for unpaid parking tickets. While trying to sell one of his bone scanners downtown, he meets Jay Twistle, a manager for Dean Witter, whom he impresses after solving a Rubix cube puzzle in a taxi ride. In honor of one of the greatest success stories of our generation, here are the life lessons we can take from Chris Gardner and his "Pursuit of Happyness." "The Cavalry Ain't Coming, You Got To Do This Yourself." It's a true testament to the idea that if you work hard enough and long enough, you really can achieve anything. It's about perseverance, determination and hard work. People gravitated to the story of Chris Gardner because it's the ultimate success story: the story of the underdog. Within one year, he manages to become a stockbroker at a top firm and goes on to run his own multimillion dollar firm. Unable to sell many of the bone density scanners he invested his life savings into, he finds himself struggling to pay rent. In the movie, Will Smith plays Chris Gardner at the point in his life when his wife has just left him and he is now a single father, struggling in poverty. Thus, we really can take from the film the true story of the inspirational homeless man turned millionaire. He was on set for the filming of it, making sure nothing was distorted or given false representation. In an interview with Chris Garner after the release of the film, he stated that the film was an honest and accurate depiction of his life. It was so good they didn't even wait a year to make a movie based on his life it was released in December 2006. The book was an inspiration to millions, shocking people with this once homeless man's determination to become a millionaire. Later translated into over 40 languages, his book took the world by storm with its honest portrayal of a man's quest to better his life. The story of Chris Gardner first appeared in his autobiography in May 2006 and became the number one New York Times best seller for 20 straight weeks. Chris Garnder, "The Pursuit Of Happyness" People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. I had seen "The Pursuit Of Happyness" in theaters when it came out in 2006, and maybe one time after when Blockbuster was still around, but hadn't revisited it or really even thought of it in seven years so I decided to reexamine the story of Chris Gardner.
It was about fighting for your dreams, never letting anything get in the way.Īs a millennial currently working to find my place in the world, I felt a special connection to this quote and an overwhelming urge to learn more about the story of its owner, Chris Gardner.
#PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS MOVIE FULL FULL#
No matter what.I recently came across a quote from the movie, " The Pursuit Of Happyness." It was a good quote, full of inspiration, wisdom and determination. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But the word comes to signify Chris' own pursuit of happiness. Chris "took offense" to the fact that the world happiness was spelled wrong on the wall and became irritated by it. Chris wanted to make sure that his son was taught things the correct way, so that he could grow up to be an educated man and make something great of himself. The word "happiness" in the title is deliberately misspelled, just as it was on the wall of a day care center where Gardner once sought care for his young son, Chris Jr., during some of his worst days." Chris (Will Smith) even points out the misspelling to the Chinese care-giver that the mural decorating his son's daycare is spelled incorrectly. From the article on Chris Gardner on ABC's site: