by Vic Ryan Agot

Created on: August 26, 2009

Imagine a life of security and stability lived alone versus a life of poverty and unemployment but living with the ones you treasure most; which one would thee choose?

Just another Sunday movie marathon, just got done with the fifth one... The Pursuit of Happyness.

Chris Gardner, played by Will Smith, is just an average family man who spent all his life making ends meet for his family. Chris initially worked as a salesman selling some bone density reading devices to hospitals. As a salesman, his salary depends on his sales which often fell short to cover his bills. With his wife, Linda, leaving him and his son, Chris is confronted with challenges just to get through the day with his son. The father and son endured nights sleeping in a train station's wash room and a charity institution.

Being a man of will and principle, Chris decided to make it big by joining a killer internship at Dean Witter to become a stock broker. He excelled and he did good, but there's more to what he was doing that mattered most; his son Christopher, played by Smith's real-life son, Jayden Smith. Amidst the financial dificulties Chris faced, he nailed the position and fulfilled his dream.

The movie is based on the "rags-to-riches" life of Christopher Gardner, who became a multimillionare and had his own brockerage in the 80's.

I can remember a French-Canadian PE instructor of mine, who told me that life in the US is often not what it seems. In this movie, you will somehow get an idea how Filipinos and other migrant workers make a living in a country dubbed as the land of milk and honey. it will make you appreciate what you have and what you do for a living; how a man faced and emerged from poverty with dignity.

Locally, jobs are so abundant that we tend to hop from one career to another. Often, we value which one we get paid more for, but for Chris Gardner, a job that could get them through the day was more than enough; and indeed, his job gave him more than enough.

I will never forget the scene of Chris' first encounter with a broker who had a muscley red car; with Chris asking him, "What do you do and how do you do it?" I guess it would be by wanting a job and want it bad enough that you get to love it when you have it regardless of what it is.

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