Everyone loves a good rags-to-riches story, and I'm no exception. But I think I may be one of two people on the planet who thought last year's father-and-son-overcoming-adversity yarn, The Pursuit of Happyness, was a study in crappyness, and not just because it starred Will Smith who, though hotter than hot, annoys the bejeezus out of me.
As the other person who hated Happyness so astutely points out, this film celebrates a man who "gained his monetary success at the expense of
his family. He kept his family in abject poverty to pursue his “dream”
job, all while he and his son lived in shelters and slept in public
bathrooms. During that time, he worked at a job that didn’t pay and was
not guaranteed to last. Why has this been turned into an “inspirational
movie?”.
Though father and son share a deep love and support each other emotionally, Dad is so bent on becoming a stockbroker - a noble profession if ever there was one - that he would rather raise his son in homeless shelters and sleep in public bathrooms, than get a steady paycheck at a lesser job. There's a happy ending of course - it is a Will Smith movie, after all - but the overall message the film sends out is that it is heroic to pursue financial and personal success at the expense of your family. Bottom line: as long as you get rich in the end, it doesn't matter how, when, or who you disappoint or endanger on your path to greatness...excuse me, happyness.
Another point to consider: if this was the story of a
woman sacrificing the well-being of her child for personal gain, would she be seen as a hero, or a bitch? Still another point: there are millions of people in this country living below the poverty line, struggling to raise families while working
at least one minimum wage job that provides no health benefits and no sick leave. If America is the richest country in the world why are so many Americans still forced to chose between their jobs and their families?
