Facets of the American Dream and American Nightmare in Film

Table of Contents

1.  Introduction  3

2.  The American Dream Historical Background  6

3.  The American Dream today  12

4.  Gabriele Muccino s The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) The American Dream14  

4.1  Story  14

4.2  Chris Gardner and Symbolism  17

4.3  Images of the American Dream  24

4.4  Realization of the American Dream  27

5.  Sam Mendes American Beauty (1999) The American Nightmare  29

5.1  Story  29

5.2  Suburban Life  32

5.3  Suburbs related to the American Dream  44

5.4  Failure of the American Dream  49

6.  Andrew Bergman s It Could Happen to You (1994) The American Dream over  

  Night  50

6.1  Story  50

6.2  New York Living and Dreaming  54

6.3  Gambling in the USA related to the American Dream  56

6.4  Gambling as a Way to Happiness  62

7.  Oliver Stone s U Turn (1997) The American Bad Dream  65

7.1  Story  65

7.2  Dreams and Desires  68

7.3  The other Side of the Dream  73

7.4  American Nightmares  76

8.  Realization of the American Dream Positive Examples  78

9.  Failure of the American Dream Negative Examples  81

10.  Conclusion  84

11.  Bibliography  88

12.  Appendix  93

12.1  Gambling in the United States  93

12.2  Poverty Rate in the U S 2002 by Race and Hispanic Origin  94

12.3  Prisoners and jail inmates in the U S  94

12.4  Superior  96

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1. Introduction

“Predictively, any attempt at abstracting from the plethora of relevant publications something even faintly resembling a definition of the ‘Dream’ is doomed to failure.” 1 Peter Freese

As Peter Freese precisely points out, defining the American Dream is a difficult if not irresolvable task. The reason for this is that “beyond an abstract belief in possibility, there is no one American Dream.” 2 Nevertheless, it is easy to find short definitions in various encyclopedias. In The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language it is defined as

“[a]n American ideal of a happy and successful life to which all may aspire: “In the deepening gloom of the Depression, the American Dream represented a reaffirmation of traditional American hopes.”' 3

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy offers a different definition:

“[a] phrase connoting hope for prosperity and happiness, symbolized particularly by having a house of one's own. Possibly applied at first to the hopes of immigrants, the phrase now applies to all except the very rich and suggests a confident hope that one's children's economic and social condition will be better than one's own.” 4

A rather short and simple explanation of the term American Dream can be found in the

dictionary WordNet by the Princeton University which says that it is

“the widespread aspiration of Americans to live better than their parents did.” 5

All of these definitions describe various facets of the dream, but none of them gets to the point.

In order to get an idea of what the dream really is or what it is assumed to be and how the idea of it came up, it is necessary to have a look at American history. The recapitulation in 1 Peter Freese (1994), American Dream and American Nightmare, p. 94

2 Jim Cullen (2003), The American Dream, p. 7

3 Anthony Brandt – The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (January 2008)

4 Houghton Mifflin Company - The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (January 2008)

5 Princeton University – WordNet (January 2008)

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this work will make an attempt to reveal why it is the American dream and how it is related to American national identity. It will give a brief overview of the most important concepts in the history of the country, starting back in 1585 when the first colonists arrived. It will deal with important topics which, besides colonialization and the connected reasons for leaving Europe, are the establishment of the Declaration of Independence, the Frontier and the westward movement, Manifest Destiny all the way up to the Civil Rights Movement and the struggle for equality. Besides, it is supposed to not only show the bright side of the dream but its shady sides as well in order to give full testimony of the idea of the American Dream. Among these are the struggle of the first colonists and the people moving westwards, the displacement of the Native Americans as well as slavery and the pursuit of equality. During this work, more prevailing topics such as gambling and homeownership with its advantages and disadvantages will be discussed as well. But is the American Dream still a topic discussed in every-day life? Some examples such as political speeches will show that the enchantment and the topicality of this concept are unbroken. The brief overview on American history will make clear that the concept of the American Dream has positive as well as negative sides. But since this topic is rather complex and not easily definable, there is more than just the good and the bad side of the coin. Thus, the dream varies and has many facets.

Ever since, authors and writers wrote about the dream, and people still talk about it. Authors of the 20 th Century such as Langston Hughes, Kurt Vonnegut and F. Scott Fitzgerald write books on it 6 and newspapers of the 21 st Century such as the Newsweek 7 and the New York Times 8 publish articles discussing the existence or non-existence of the dream.

Above all, another medium has joined the discussion – the film. Since Charlie Chaplin’s Gold Rush from 1925, which is one of the first movie adaptations about the American Dream, there have been more films closely related to this concept. Those movies are, for example, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941), Garry Marshall’s Pretty Woman (1990) and Robert Zemeckis’ Forest Gump (1994).

The four movies chosen for this work are recent publications with the oldest one being from 1994 and the newest one from 2006. These films differ in concept and matter though

6 Peter Freese (1994), American Dream and American Nightmare, p. 174 f

7 Peter Freese (1994), American Dream and American Nightmare, p. 177

8 New York Times – The American Dream in Reverse (January 2008)

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they are all related to the American Dream. The purpose of this work is to show that there is a variety of concepts and that these films are manifold in presenting the dream, its vision not only presenting black and white but many different facets. Thus, this work is not supposed to give a detailed analysis of each movie but an overview or in fact a width in order to see the various layers and different facets of it.

Hereby, it is important that all movies are related to the history of America in order to be relevant for the discussion.

Gabriele Muccino’s The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) is an example for the American Dream come true. It offers the typical image of the idea of becoming from rags to riches and thus serves as a positive example. The movie is also linked to important subjects of the American history such as the Declaration of Independence and the American Flag which will be discussed in matters of relevance.

Sam Mendes’ American Beauty (1999) is the counterpart to The Pursuit of Happyness, describing the shady sides or the underbelly of the dream – its failure, so to say. It is linked to the dream of homeownership and upward mobility and reflects its advantages as well as its disadvantages. The film reveals the negative sides of the image American Dream and shows that, instead of being beautiful, it might turn out to be a nightmare. Andrew Bergman’s It Could Happen to You (1994) is related to the idea of becoming rich over night without much effort. It is the contrary to the idea of the Puritans who believed that hard work was the way to happiness. Because the protagonists win their money in the lottery, it is necessary to disclose the American history of gambling in order to understand how it is linked to the American Dream, which will be discussed in that chapter.

Oliver Stone’s U Turn (1997) is an example for the American Bad Dream, a dream that although it is most likely out of reach, still creates desire. It is the story about people desperately trying to fulfil their dreams regardless of the price they have to pay. That discussion questions the Americans’ will to aspire happiness or wealth under the aspect of America’s current situation concerning poverty and inequality, for example.

The questions this work is going to discuss are how manifold films about the American Dream and the American Nightmare really are and in how far they can be related to American history. It will consider if these films are relevant in order to define the dream

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and if it is as easy as to divide them into positive and negative examples or if there are different facets and, if that is the case, how these facets are being illustrated.

Each movie analysis follows the same approach. First, a short overview about the story of the film is given in order to understand its relevance for the topic. Afterwards, the main protagonists, their dreams and desires as well as their nightmares will be examined. These chapters will reveal some obvious facets of the American Dream, positive as well as negative ones. The following excursus will show in how far the topic is related to American history and sheds light on the connection between American Dream and the history of the country. Concluding, all aspects will be discussed to find out how the American Dream is being realized or why its realization failed.

2. The American Dream – Historical Background

“But there has been also the American dream, that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability and achievement.”

James Truslow Adams

In 1931, the American historian 9 James Truslow Adams published his book The Epic of America which became famous as the study which shaped the term American Dream. Adams was the first person to use this expression and it became a phrase frequently used by people all over the world. Today, it is connected to the national identity of America and it is an inherent part of every American’s vocabulary. At that time, Adams defined the dream by saying that

“it is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of a social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” 10

9 Peter Freese (2006), The American Dream. Humankind’s second Chance?, p.10f

10 James Truslow Adams (1954), The Epic of America, p.374

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Today one would say that it is the dream or the opportunity to rise from rags to riches. But although Adams was the one who gave this idea a name, he was not the one who invented it.

Peter Freese, a scholar who is intensely engaged in questions about the American Dream, says that “long before America became a country, it was a continent, and long before it was known to exist as a continent, it was a vision and a dream” 11 . What he means by that is the struggle of mankind to find a place where everyone is free and has the opportunity to live a life of self-determination. He gives some examples which he accounts to be synonyms for a place like America, for instance, “a paradise on earth” 12 , a place where Europeans could be free from religious bondage; “Atlantis” 13 , Plato’s vision of an island that is fertile and paradise-like; “El Dorado” 14 , a country rich of gold and other treasures. In the course of history, other phrases concerning the newly explored continent, America, arose. Worth mentioning are the most famous phrases such as Brave New World, a term first used by Shakespeare in the 5 th act of his drama Tempest and later adopted by Aldous Huxley 15 . Also the term land of milk and honey which can be found in the bible was later being related to America. In 1630, John Winthrop, who was one of the first settlers and governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, wrote in his essay A Model of Christian Charity that this new world “shall be as a city upon a hill” 16 whereby he quotes the bible in which is written that

“ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” (Matthew 5.14-15)

This notion gives hope to many people and again creates a picture of a paradise-like place. But it was not only this idea of a fertile and untouched country which could be an escape from “a sinful and urbanized Europe” 17 , a chance for the people to start anew.

11 Peter Freese (1985), Anglistik und Englischunterricht, p. 8

12 ibid 13 ibid 14 Peter Freese (1985), Anglistik und Englischunterricht, p. 8 15 ibid 16 John Winthrop (1630), A Model of Christian Charity, p. 118 17 Peter Freese (1985), Anglistik und Englischunterricht, p. 9

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Between 1585 and 1630, the first colonists established four colonies whereas the motives of the settlers were very different. In 1585, Walter Ralegh established a colony at Roanoke Island with the purpose to steal gold from the Spaniards 18 . This was not very effective. More successful was the foundation of Jamestown, Virginia, by Captain John Smith in 1607/08 19 . The purpose was to do business and trade and so “Virginia’s early residents were […] preoccupied with a vain search for gold and a sea passage to Asia markets […] until tobacco provided a profitable export.” 20 In 1620, Plymouth Plantation was founded by the Pilgrims, a group of religious refugees who could not live freely in their home country England and were seeking for a place where they would make their own decisions concerning religion. Unlike the people who came to Jamestown, these settlers did not leave England to work for it but they left because they wanted to escape it 21 . The last of the four colonies was the already mentioned Massachusetts Bay Colony, established by John Winthrop who wanted to find the New Jerusalem, a place provided by God for those who were “seeking an earthly paradise in which to perfect a reformation of the Church” 22 . All of these people had more or less one common dream, though their dreams varied – some were dreaming of wealth and others were dreaming of freedom – but in the end all were dreaming of new opportunities, an idea later known as the American Dream. But the history of colonialization was not always dream-like – sometimes and for some people it was also the history of nightmares. There were, on the one hand, the first settlers at Roanoke Island who did not survive this adventure because they could not cope with the conditions of the new continent 23 . People who came to America had to survive an exhausting and dangerous trip by boat and had to deal with diseases that killed many of them. When they arrived they had to fight hunger and cold and so it “must (and did) appear miraculous that the [first] colon[ies] survived.” 24 But the newly arrived inhabitants of the American continent were not the only unfortunates. There were, on the other hand, the Indians, who were fought and forced to leave their territories because they were considered to be “besotted, childish, cruel, degraded, dirty, diseased,

18 Hugh Brogan (1999), The Penguin History of the USA, p. 7 19 Hugh Brogan (1999), The Penguin History of the USA, p. 19 ff 20 David Mauk and John Oakland (2002), American Civilization, p. 47 21 Gert Raeithel (1987), Geschichte der Nordamerikanischen Kultur Band 1, p. 13 22 Peter Freese (1994), American Dream and American Nightmare, p. 100 23 Hugh Brogan (1999), The Penguin History of the USA, p. 7 24 Hugh Brogan (1999), The Penguin History of the USA, p. 21

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drunken, faithless […]; barbarians, demons, […] savages.” 25 Also many Indians died because of diseases brought to them by the Europeans, pox, for instance. Besides the destiny of the American Natives, the new inhabitants moved further westwards to cultivate and civilize the rest of the country. Especially the Puritans, as mentioned before, believed that they were destined to find the New Jerusalem. In 1845, the journalist John L. O’Sullivan coined the term Manifest Destiny which is related to the idea of being destined to explore and cross the Frontiers of America. He says that

“the untransacted destiny of the American people is to subdue the continent – to rush over this vast field to the Pacific Ocean – to animate the many hundred millions of its people, and to cheer them upward […].” 26

To him, it is the destiny of these people to fulfil this “divine task […] [and] immortal mission” 27 whereby he means that it “was ‘manifest destiny’ that the United States would one day soon come to possess not only Texas but also California, Oregon and Canada.” 28 With this idea of westward expansion and the so-called mission to cultivate and civilize the rest of the country, the Frontier moved further and further towards the Pacific Ocean. The term Manifest Destiny was closely linked to values such as liberty and federated self- government since the idea of it arose at a time where Great Britain and the United States had an argument about the boundaries in Oregon 29 . It becomes obvious that it was not only a matter of belief in a specific destiny of America but a manifested idea which served as an argument and justification to enter and annex new territories. Although O’ Sullivan’s idea described a non-violent westward expansion, it was also misapplied to legitimate wars such as the Mexican-American War in 1846 and the displacement of the Native Americans 30 . Here again it can be seen that while the American Dream became a real chance and opportunity for the people who moved westwards, it became at the same time a nightmare to those who were forced into elopement and fighting.

For the purpose of cultivating the West it was important to convince the people that America was a better place, far better than the Old World, Europe and especially Great

25 Hugh Brogan (1999), The Penguin History of the USA, p. 55 26 William Gilpin (1874), Mission of the North American People, pp. 71, 130 27 ibid 28 Hugh Brogan (1999), The Penguin History of the USA, p. 297 29 ibid 30 ibid

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Britain. Therefore it was promoted as “the country in which the poor and underprivileged masses of Europe would find a chance to improve their conditions and to achieve the desired self-fulfilment.” 31 In 1893, Frederick Jackson Turner read “at the meeting of the American Historical Association in Chicago” 32 from his paper The Significance of the Frontier in American History. Within this paper he stated that

“American history has been in a large degree the history of the colonization of the Great West. The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of the American settlement westward, explain American development.” 33

What Turner was speaking of were the new opportunities that westward expansion possessed and that the American development from wilderness to civilization was the precondition for new settlements and a rebirth 34 . Although there were still more people to come to America, it is worth noting that Turner, in his paper, spoke of the Frontier “in the past tense […] [and i]ndeed […] declared the frontier […] was closed” 35 since the Pacific was reached and there were no more boundaries. At that time, people were far from exploring the space as they began to do in the 20 th Century, and so the expansion was temporarily completed which does not mean that people stopped moving westwards. Since the gold rush had started back in 1848, people came and tried to live their American Dream and the flow of immigrants would not pull down 36 . Nevertheless, not many of them were successful. Not only had the people who came for gold to learn that “the promise of the gold rush proved illusory” 37 , also the ones who tried to make a living as farmers or workers had to face hard conditions. Families who decided to move into the West were predominantly being left on their own devices. There was no governmental help, neither maps and transportation nor agricultural information and medical services were provided 38 . Their dream of opportunity was replaced by anxiety and became nightmarish. All of these ideas and beliefs, the search for a paradise-like place, the new chances and opportunities, the dreams of the settlers, terms such as Manifest Destiny and Frontier,

31 Peter Freese (1994), American Dream and American Nightmare, p. 106 32 Frederick Jackson Turner (1976), The Frontier in American History, p. 1 33 Frederick Jackson Turner (1976), The Frontier in American History, p. 1 34 Frederick Jackson Turner (1976), The Frontier in American History, p. 2 35 Jim Cullen (2003), The American Dream, p. 143 36 Jim Cullen (2003), The American Dream, p. 170 37 ibid 38 Lillian Schlissel (1987), The Frontier Family: Dislocation and the American Experience, p. 81f

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arose before James Truslow Adams coined the expression of the American Dream. The idea of it can be found in the motives of the first colonists as well as in the most important documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution which are both linked to freedom and self-government, or, to get to the point, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It also functioned as a tool to overcome slavery since equality and freedom were declared for everyone in 1776 and finally realized in the course of time. Big names such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, two of the authors of the Declaration of Independence, and Abraham Lincoln who was President during the Civil War, can be closely related to the American Dream since they all fought for the ideals it represents. One of the last people to mention in the history of the term American Dream is Martin Luther King Jr. who fought for the dream of equality. His American Dream as an African-American was to have the same rights and the same opportunities as it is granted to everyone in the Declaration of Independence. In his famous speech I Have a Dream he says that

“in a sense, America is essentially a dream, a dream as yet unfulfilled. It is a dream of a land where

men of all races, of all nationalities and creeds can live together as brothers.” 39

In his book The American Dream, Jim Cullen says that there is not only one dream but that there are many and that these dreams have chanced over time 40 . As history shows, even in the past there has never been the one American Dream but a wide range of ideas, ideals and hopes that were sometimes successful and sometimes doomed to failure. What was a dream for the one was a nightmare for the other, and not always was everyone treated equally. The question is if, after all that time, the American Dream is still present in the Americans every-day life or if it is a subject of the past.

39 Jim Cullen (2003), The American Dream, p. 126

40 Jim Cullen (2003), The American Dream, p. 7

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3. The American Dream today

“The chance for every American to get ahead, regardless of background, is the engine of America's economic growth and social progress. A growing economy and a growing middle class go hand in hand. To remain strong in the world, the American Dream must be strong and alive here at home. And as we continue to navigate through these changing economic times, restoring the promise of the American Dream is the central economic issue of our time.” 41

The Candidates for the 2008 presidency, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, as well as many other American politicians, mentioned and are still mentioning the American Dream. At the end of 2007, Clinton and Obama go on vote catching by referring to it in concern to problems of Middle-Class living. Speeches of former presidents show that this is a common tool in U.S. politics. In his first inaugural address in 1969, Richard Nixon says that “[t]he American Dream does not come to those who fall asleep.” 42 Also Ronald Reagan refers to the American Dream in his first and second inaugural addresses in 1981 and 1985 when saying that “[w]e have every right to dream heroic dreams” 43 and that “we, the people, will build an American Opportunity Society in which all of us – white and black, rich and poor, young and old – will forward together, arm in arm.” 44 These are only three of many examples for the usage of the term American Dream in American politics which do not only make obvious that it is still an important topic and tool – it also shows that the American Dream still is a vision that did not come true for every American since politicians frequently promise that they will fight for its realization. This means that for many people, people of minority groups, poor people and people with other disadvantages, the American Nightmare might be more omnipresent than the dream of a good life. But also in other areas of public life the idea of the American Dream is ubiquitous. There are, for example, many American organizations which deal with topics concerning this vision. The American Dream Foundation, on the one hand, is engaged in “provid[ing]

41 Hillary Rodham Clinton - Saving the American Dream (November 2007)

42 Peter Freese (2006), The American Dream. Humankind’s second Chance?, p.12 43 Peter Freese (2006), The American Dream. Humankind’s second Chance?, p.13 44 ibid

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positive educational resources that inspire and motivate America’s youth and future leaders to reach for their dreams.” 45 Oddly enough, the Foundation’s Head Office is in Las Vegas, a city famous for its attraction to people who want to fulfil their dreams by winning and gambling 46 . The Center for a New American Dream, on the other hand, has a different purpose, namely to provide informative literature about the protection of natural resources and the environment, “enhance quality of life for all Americans, and promote social justice.” 47 The web site offers advice, for example, which provisions to buy and how to live more consciously in reference to save the environment 48 . It becomes obvious that the term American Dream serves many intentions and that the dream or the goal is not always the same. It varies because of the different opinions about what the real dream is. There are other Foundations, Organisations and Associations and unless they all use the same term, their purpose varies 49 .

The vision of the American Dream also finds its way into the bookshelves and racks of the Americans. If one enters the search criterion American Dream at amazon.com, the search engine finds 36,683 books 50 , among other things China and the American Dream, Crime and the American Dream and Who Stole the American Dream II: The Book Your Boss Still Doesn’t Want You to Read! 51 . Also here it can be seen that there is a great variety and many associations about what the American Dream really is.

Also musicians frequently use the image of the American Dream in their songs. Madonna, for instance, in her song American Life states that “I'm just living out the American dream and I just realized that nothing is what it seems” 52 , casting a damning light on the dream. Bob Dylan, in his song Heartland, complaints “[his] American dream fell apart at the seams” 53 , again a negative picture. Bruce Springsteen sings about “the streets of a runaway American Dream” 54 and Frank Zappa suggests that he was the American Dream himself in his famous song Bobby Brown 55 . Also here, dream and nightmare are closely related because the American Dream is nothing that became true for everyone – there are 45 Kate Burns (2006), Is the American Dream a myth?, p. 85

46 American Dreams (November 2007) 47 Kate Burns (2006), Is the American Dream a myth?, p. 86 48 New American Dream (November 2007) 49 Kate Burns (2006), Is the American Dream a myth?, p. 84 ff 50 Amazon (November 2007) 51 ibid 52 Lyrics – Madonna (December 2007) 53 Lyrics – Bob Dylan (November 2007) 54 Lyrics – Bruce Springsteen (November 2007) 55 Lyrics – Frank Zappa (January 2008)

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positive images as well as negative ones which once again show the variety of opinions about it.

It becomes obvious that the vision, the idea of the American Dream is not an idea of the past. It is not something the Americans have left behind as a part of their history, but rather something that is part of every-day-life. Political speeches, Foundations, musicians, books - everything can refer to it, and everything can refer to it in a different way. Madonna says that nothing is what it seems, Hillary Clinton is of the opinion that the dream is yet unfulfilled, title of books suggest that the dream also has something to do with crime or that it is non-existent.

These examples reflect the choice of films for this work because they are supposed to show different aspects of the American Dream and the American Nightmare. The publication dates show that the topics of the films are recent ones and that the dreams – regardless which dreams – are also up to date in Hollywood.

4. Gabriele Muccino’s The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) – The American Dream

4.1 Story

Gabriele Muccino’s The Pursuit of Happyness is set in San Francisco in 1981 and it is about the life of Chris Gardner from whose point of view the story is told. Chris is a salesman who sells portable bone-density scanners. He lives in a small apartment together with his wife Linda and his son Christopher. They do not have much money since the scanners are said to be “unnecessary and expensive” 56 and Chris hardly ever sells one. Linda works for a large-scale laundry where she has to do double-shifts in order to earn enough money to make a living. Because of working very hard, there is not too much time for the son who spends most of his days at a day-care center. Chris has to do his visits to the hospitals by bus because he got too many parking tickets which he is not able to pay for. The Internal Revenue Services also gets money from him and his wife but he repeatedly has to ask for an extension of time which causes angry discussions with Linda. To pay for rent, day-care and groceries, Chris has to sell at least two scanners a month,

56 The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), Columbia Pictures

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but actually he sold none over the last period of time. Christopher already knows that his parents are rather poor and therefore his wishes for birthday are decent. One day, Chris is on his way to sell another scanner, when a Ferrari drives by and the driver pulls in right beside him. Chris is thrilled and asks the driver “What do you do? And how do you do it?” 57 and the owner of the Ferrari answers that he was a stockbroker. Chris becomes curious and since he does not have a university degree, he wants to know if this was a requirement. The stockbroker tells him that for doing this job, you “have to be good with numbers and good with people” 58 and thus puts the idea of becoming a stockbroker in Chris’ head. He makes an appointment at Dean Witter, a Resource Department, and tells Linda the next morning, but she is not very happy with it. Instead, she teases him and asks him why he did not want to become an astronaut instead. Again, their conversation ends in a discussion about money and the rent with which they are “already two month behind.” 59 Nevertheless, Chris keeps the appointment at Dean Witter because right at that time, the firm is offering internships at a Broker Trainee Program, whereas “the program took just 20 people every six months. One got the job.” 60 Because Chris has to sell another scanner after the interview and does not want to take the machine with him, he asks a “hippie girl” 61 who is singing in front of the building to keep an eye on it. When he comes into the office of Tim Brophy, he gets an application form but Tim does not raise Chris’ hopes since there are many people who have already applied for the position. While he is talking, Chris suddenly runs out of the bureau because through the window he sees the hippie girl leaving her place with his scanner in her hands. He runs after her but she disappears in the subway. After having taken Christopher to the day-care center the next morning, he goes back to Dean Witter to hand in his application form, giving it to Jay Twistle, the Head of Resources, whom he wants to explain that although his educational background is rather short, he was the right person for the job. Twistle tells him that he would give him a call if necessary and is gone the next moment. On his way to visit another hospital in order to sell something, he sees the hippie girl with his scanner and again runs after her. He had once “spent [his] entire life savings on these things” 62 , one

57 The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), Columbia Pictures 58 ibid 59 ibid 60 ibid 61 ibid 62 The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), Columbia Pictures

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being worth a months groceries. He gets it back and instead of coming home without one of these machines, as promised to Linda, he comes back with two. In the evening, they have another discussion, Linda having lost her confidence in him. One month later, Chris still got no response from Jay Twistle and because of that he waits for him in front of the Dean Witter office building, persuading him to share a taxi and have a talk. Chris talks about his time at the Navy and his know-how, but Twistle is occupied with a magic cube, not being able to solve it. Chris impresses Twistle by doing it for him and suddenly is left alone in a taxi he can not pay for. He tries to flee, looses another scanner, and when he calls Linda to tell her that he will be late, she lets him know that she is going to leave him. Chris runs home, but the apartment is empty. When the phone rings, it is Mr. Twistle asking him to come to an interview on Monday. The next day, Chris meets Linda at the day-care center and says that Christopher will stay with him. But soon they loose their apartment because of unpaid rents and Chris has to spend a night in jail for not having paid his parking tickets. He comes out of jail on Monday morning, being dressed in dirty clothes in which he painted the apartment when he was arrested, and also being late for the interview. Nevertheless, Mr. Frohm, the head of business, gives him the position, being convinced that Chris was pretty determined and smart. But there is another problem since the internship is unpaid and Chris is not sure if he can make it. In the end, he accepts. Now, living at a motel but again being late with the rent, selling scanners, working for Dean Witter and having to learn for the final exam, Chris is much occupied. He shows up early, does favours for the office manager, calls people and tries to sell something, still “feeling underrated and unappreciated.” 63 He has to work harder than others, always being under pressure because he has to pick up Christopher from the day- care center. So instead of “working [his] way up call sheets to sign clients” 64 , he calls the number on top of the sheet, Walter Ribbon at the Pension Fund CEO, and makes an appointment which he actually misses. Instead of giving in, he and Christopher visit Ribbon the next day and because of a white lie are invited to a football game where Ribbon tells Chris that “there’s not a chance [he’s] gonna let [him] direct [the] fund.” 65 Four month later, all scanners are sold and Chris is confident until he receives a letter saying that the Internal Revenue Services has confiscated $600 from Chris’ account for unpaid

63 ibid

64 ibid

65 The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), Columbia Pictures

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taxes, leaving him broke. All he has left is one scanner which he lost before but gets back although it is broken now. He and Christopher are thrown out of the motel and from there on have to sleep in public rest rooms, on trains or, if they are lucky and in time, they get a room at Glide Memorial, a place for homeless people. At work, he does fine, working fast which he has to in order to get a room at Glide Memorial. Finally, it is the day of the final exam. That day, they do not get a room and have to stay at the train until they fall asleep. To get some money, Chris even sells his blood. With the payment he buys a lamp for the broken scanner and repairs it at a doss house, being able to sell it for $250 the next day and now having enough money to pay for a hotel. Back at work, “rumour has it [he] signed

31 accounts for [Dean Witter] from Pacific Bell” 66 which is true to having met some

important people at the football game with Walter Ribbon. Finally, he gets his appreciation. During work the next day, his office manager orders him to Mr. Frohm’s office, him already waiting along with Jay Twistle, offering him the job as stockbroker. Chris accepts and starts crying, having reached his goals. Since the movie is based on a true story, the credits give information about Chris Gardner’s development, revealing that he “founded his investment firm Gardner Rich in 1987” 67 and that he “sold a minority stake in his brokerage firm in a multi-million dollar deal [in 2006].” 68

4.2 Chris Gardner and Symbolism

“Maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue.”

In the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner is primarily described as being an opportunist on the one side, and a good and loving father on the other. First, he is a person who constantly tries to take his chances. When he was younger, he and Linda invested all of their money in bone-density scanners and “spent [their] entire life savings on these things” 70 , being optimistic about the future and confident in this technical

66 ibid

67 ibid 68 ibid 69 The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), Columbia Pictures 70 ibid

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innovation. Instead of buying only a few and waiting if it is profitable, Chris buys many of them because he thinks that it is a good idea and he wants to take the opportunity. Unfortunately, the scanners turn out to be “unnecessary and expensive” 71 and Chris hardly ever sells one. Nevertheless, he does not settle for it. When he finds out that stockbrokers do not necessarily have to have a university degree but instead “have to be good with numbers and good with people” 72 , which he is, he decides to give it a try and applies for a Broker Trainee Program without having any experience, a university degree or business connections of any kind. He just takes his chance and spontaneously changes his goals. Instead of being a salesman, he wants to become a broker now. Although it seems rather unlikely that he will get the opportunity to be taken for the program, “since [it] took only 20 people every six months” 73 , he is chosen and in the end Mr. Frohm offers him the only available job. However, he did not achieve all of this without effort. One month after he applied for the program, he still did not receive a request and so he waits in front of the Dean Witter office building to talk to Mr. Twistle who actually has no time for him. Instead of letting Mr. Twistle go, he convinces him to share a taxi and thus turns rejection into victory with the result that Mr. Twistle calls him later to invite him for an interview. Another example for Chris’ opportunism is his own initiative. He is supposed to “[work] [his] way up call sheets to sign clients” 74 , with small firms and rather unimportant business people at the bottom of the list and the big fishes on top of it. Because he wants to be successful, he calls the number on top of the sheet instead of working it up, taking his opportunity and making an appointment with Walter Ribbon from Pension Fund CEO. When he misses this appointment, he does not let the matter rest but visits Ribbon at home and with a trick is invited to a football game. There he comes down to earth, learning that Mr. Ribbon will not let him direct the CEO fund. But though he suffers a setback, he is opportunistic enough to socialize with other business people and later uses these contacts to sign “31 accounts for [Dean Witter] from Pacific Bell.” 75 It becomes obvious that Chris Gardner always takes his chances and is unimpressed by setbacks. He focuses on his goals and no matter if he is successful or not, he does not give up.

71 ibid

72 ibid 73 ibid 74 The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), Columbia Pictures 75 ibid

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Besides being an opportunist and working hard, Chris is also a good father who loves his son. He himself did not know who his father was until he was 28 years old, deciding that “my children were gonna know who their father was.” 76 Every day, Chris and his son Christopher go to the day-care center together with Chris being concerned about things such as the wrong written phrase “Pursuit of Happyness” and his son watching too much

TV at the center. When his wife Linda leaves him, he is devastated, not because his

marriage is broken but because Linda takes Christopher with her. The next day he points out that Christopher will stay with him, telling Linda to never “take [his] son away from [him] again.” 77 When his son asks for Linda, Chris does not tell him about their problems but asks him “are you happy” 78 , reassuring him that “if you’re happy and I’m happy, then that’s a good thing, right?” 79 Thus, he only wants the best for his son and in his opinion being without a father is not good at all. Later, when Christopher asks him if Linda left because of him, Chris tells him that she left because of herself and that it was not his fault. Christopher tells him that “[he is] a good papa” 80 which is everything Chris wants to be. Nevertheless, he is afraid of losing his son. When he is arrested and has to stay in jail for a night, he asks Linda to pick up his son from the day-care center, allowing his wife to go to the park with him but at the same time saying “alright, just bring me my son back.” 81 That day, Linda and Christopher are late and Chris is so nervous and frightened that they might not come that he constantly watches the street through the window and even waits in front of the house. Chris also tries to be a good father by teaching his son values and making clear that there was nothing he could not do if he only wanted it. Christopher is not a good basketball player and so Chris tells him not to dream of a career as a professional player. When he sees that he disappointed Christopher, he excuses and tells him that

“[d]on’t let ever somebody tell you you can’t do something. Not even me. […] You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period.” 82

76 ibid 77 ibid 78 ibid 79 ibid 80 ibid 81 The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), Columbia Pictures 82 ibid

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