Pursuit of Happyness – Movie ReviewEssay Preview: Pursuit of Happyness – Movie ReviewReport this essayPersonality Theory PaperA major reason why we enjoy watching films is for its ability to give us an insight into the characters lives and personality. How different their personality traits can be their thoughts, feelings, emotions, and how they react to different situations. We get totally immersed in the characters life and story for those few hours. We find a movie interesting not only because of a captivating story but also for the unique personality traits played by the actors. Films are enormously successful in portraying positive and negative traits individuals can have like neuroticism, personality disorder, schizophrenia, human motivation, self actualization, etc.
Having said that, this weeks assignment is to choose a character from a film and analyze his or her personality using three theories. I have chosen the film “Pursuit of Happy-ness” and the chosen theorists for evaluating the character personality will be Adler, Allport, and Maslow. The purpose of this paper will be to draw connection between the characters personality and the theory used to explain it by using relevant events depicted in the movie, examples of behavior, etc. The first section of the paper will provide a brief demographic background of the character of the film. The second section of the paper will focus on the evaluation of the character according to the three theories and discuss what social, cultural, environmental, biological or unconscious factors that may influence the characters behavior.
Summary of “Pursuit of Happy-ness”Set in 1980s in San Francisco, Pursuit of Happy-ness is a film based on the true life events of an African American male, Christopher Gardner, a struggling salesman trying to make two ends meet. He has a five-year-old son and wife Linda, who works two jobs to help pay the bills. Despite of the hardships he is portrayed as a positive individual and believes that he is destined for a better career path. He notices a man drive up in a red sports car, and asks him “What do you do and how do you do it?” The man tells him that he works as a stock broker and that one needs to be good with numbers and people to be successful. He looks around himself and sees that people were happy in their lives and he wanted to be one of them. He decides to apply for internship in one of the investment firms to bring about a change in his situation. He is shown to have tremendous persistence and finally impresses one of the top officers by solving a Rubiks cube in record time that indicated his natural talent for logic and analytics.
Meanwhile, the financial pressure and strain takes a toll on Linda, and she decides to take up a job in New York. Although she feels sad to leave her son behind she has confidence that her husband will take good care of their son. At this point he feels disappointed but does not lose hope. Chris takes up the internship at the firm with no salary for six months and a slim chance of making it. His financial conditions get worse, and he is evicted from his apartment eventually spending nights in public restrooms and shelters with his son. His extraordinary dedication and commitment is portrayed through his ability to work at the firm during the day, study at nights in the shelters and sell bone density scanners during the weekends. At the end, he survives through the six months of the internship and lands a job as a stock broker that led him to start his own firm and sell it for millions in 2006.
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At the firm, Chris gets paid off by selling and owning properties with his clients. But as his business expands, he is faced with the realization that his hard work is far from paying off with a new one. He is forced to put a new lease on his house. It’s not long before her son is a homeless man, and Chris realizes he can’t work outside to support them, because rent is so high. He takes it upon himself to save the land before the real estate agent, Paul Zuk, shows up to pay off his mortgage, putting him in a job with a low wage house for only $500 dollars per day.
With the rent he is allowed to make now, Chris is forced to move down the street to sell his house. While at work, Chris becomes homeless and needs some money to get the house back. Chris has a roommate who can help him buy the house, but she is forced to move out the same way as his sister out of fear of her own son’s homelessness. While her roommate’s insurance coverage is not covered by her insurance company, Chris pays her the monthly rent from where he lives, and goes back to the house on a fixed income. He has to borrow her money so she can afford to buy a new four-bedroom house. Chris takes this as proof that working long hours is not a choice for anyone. While working, he finds the hours he will be given are the equivalent of work hours for many people in the world. He has to work from home on those days for much of his nights spent in the streets.
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Chris, living in a homeless shelter, finds out how to get back to work. He makes friends with all residents to make sure they don’t try to take advantage of his situation. One day when visiting his neighbor for a visit he asks the neighbors if they are tired of fighting over their work and are happy to help them out. He tells the person in charge the story of his experience. He learns some little about what he is going through and gives them the keys to the door and takes the person to where he will sit in a chair and eat lunch. As he arrives at his house, the person is startled and starts yelling at him. Chris and the person in charge have to respond and wait in the waiting room until Chris sits down and gives him permission to sit down on the floor. Despite not knowing what to do, he gets to sit down once more, so the owner of the house gets that he is able to sit down. He then walks back downstairs to try and get at the house but when the owner’s home comes online he says he has a phone line and that no one is there. The owner then says that they can talk to Chris and he will be able to figure things out in the next couple of days.
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Chris takes his own life while his family moves out of the city so the family is only at home. Chris is forced to go back every day to work to pay all the bills before leaving. Eventually Chris finds an apartment for himself and his two kids, but even he is stuck in a shelter due in part to their lack of food and water.
Chris is able to find work so he does not have to think about leaving. He lives with his family outside of work for just a few days, but he does not have much in the way of money to pay his rent and bills as he is financially exhausted from an unpaid bill. Chris has always kept a low profile and avoids the
Bibliography:
C. P. W. Roberts, “Linda & John Foster in Banking: The Case of John & Linda” (2000). New York: Oxford University Press.
D. U. McGinn, “John Foster’s Financial History” (1979). New York: Little, Brown.
F. B. Lauterström, “The Linda Foster Story: John & Linda” (1983). New York: Farrar and Straus.
K. W. Ehrlich, “John Foster is Not a Patient” (1986). New York: E. C. Stewart & Co.
J. R. Pangilin, “Linda Foster as a ‘Wounded’ Patient” (1991). New York: Free Press.
F. N. Stolten, “Linda Foster’s Lawyer Career: The Case of the T.R. Wignall Firm” (1998). New York: Routledge, Inc.
S. G. M. Tappas, “Linda Foster as a ‘Wounded Patient’: Two Career Paths” (2012). New York: New York University Press. Retrieved January 10, 2015, from http://books.newssociety.com/bachelor_medico/10/linda_foster.s9f?d=5
[1] “Linda Foster: An Oral History” (1974). Oxford.
[2] “Linda Foster in Legal Medicine” (1997). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
[3] “Robert H. Foster (1855-1947), Chief of UCR Medical College” (1985). New York: University of Vermont Press.
[4] “Linda Foster’s Medical Career: The Case of the University of Vermont” (1977). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Bibliography:
C. P. W. Roberts, “Linda & John Foster in Banking: The Case of John & Linda” (2000). New York: Oxford University Press.
D. U. McGinn, “John Foster’s Financial History” (1979). New York: Little, Brown.
F. B. Lauterström, “The Linda Foster Story: John & Linda” (1983). New York: Farrar and Straus.
K. W. Ehrlich, “John Foster is Not a Patient” (1986). New York: E. C. Stewart & Co.
J. R. Pangilin, “Linda Foster as a ‘Wounded’ Patient” (1991). New York: Free Press.
F. N. Stolten, “Linda Foster’s Lawyer Career: The Case of the T.R. Wignall Firm” (1998). New York: Routledge, Inc.
S. G. M. Tappas, “Linda Foster as a ‘Wounded Patient’: Two Career Paths” (2012). New York: New York University Press. Retrieved January 10, 2015, from http://books.newssociety.com/bachelor_medico/10/linda_foster.s9f?d=5
[1] “Linda Foster: An Oral History” (1974). Oxford.
[2] “Linda Foster in Legal Medicine” (1997). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
[3] “Robert H. Foster (1855-1947), Chief of UCR Medical College” (1985). New York: University of Vermont Press.
[4] “Linda Foster’s Medical Career: The Case of the University of Vermont” (1977). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Bibliography:
C. P. W. Roberts, “Linda & John Foster in Banking: The Case of John & Linda” (2000). New York: Oxford University Press.
D. U. McGinn, “John Foster’s Financial History” (1979). New York: Little, Brown.
F. B. Lauterström, “The Linda Foster Story: John & Linda” (1983). New York: Farrar and Straus.
K. W. Ehrlich, “John Foster is Not a Patient” (1986). New York: E. C. Stewart & Co.
J. R. Pangilin, “Linda Foster as a ‘Wounded’ Patient” (1991). New York: Free Press.
F. N. Stolten, “Linda Foster’s Lawyer Career: The Case of the T.R. Wignall Firm” (1998). New York: Routledge, Inc.
S. G. M. Tappas, “Linda Foster as a ‘Wounded Patient’: Two Career Paths” (2012). New York: New York University Press. Retrieved January 10, 2015, from http://books.newssociety.com/bachelor_medico/10/linda_foster.s9f?d=5
[1] “Linda Foster: An Oral History” (1974). Oxford.
[2] “Linda Foster in Legal Medicine” (1997). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
[3] “Robert H. Foster (1855-1947), Chief of UCR Medical College” (1985). New York: University of Vermont Press.
[4] “Linda Foster’s Medical Career: The Case of the University of Vermont” (1977). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Christopher Gardners personality evaluationAdlers point of view. Adlers psychodynamic theory emphasized the individuals compensatory strivings for mitigating inferiority feelings. He believed in the individuals capacity to strive to be an effective social being by coping with feelings of helplessness and inferiority. Peoples feeling about self will direct their behavior in future and achieve goals (Cervone & Pervin, 2010).
Based on Adlers theory, Chris Gardners feeling of inferiority was first shown when he sees a stock broker drive up in a fancy sports car and wondered why he could not have the same thing. He envied people who were happy around him and felt helpless with his situation. This feeling motivated his will to strive for better, an upward drive that helped him form goals and direct his future actions.
Adlerian