A Critique on the Clip "In Pursuit of Happiness" (Book Review Sample)

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The pursuit of Happyness
Introduction
Happiness is defined as the state of being happy; every person has his way of determining his happiness in life. It could he make people happy, being able to survive, or even making money for some people. An article by Oprah interviewing Dalai Lama talks about how different people achieve happiness in their lives, and how one can achieve happiness by doing some practices. Also, another article called "Fatherhood" talks about the importance of the father's role in the family and how the typical father should be, and also debunk the idea that a father should not raise his children, the mother has to do that. Similarly, the movie The Pursuit of Happiness talks about the importance of the father in the family and how he can influence his and his child's happiness. Both of the texts relate to the film regarding fatherhood and what it means to be happy. In The Pursuit of Happiness, the director used figure behavior, long shot, nondiegetic sound, and extreme close up to show how happiness could be achieved by determination and companionship.
Pursuit of happiness analysis
To begin with, figure behavior is widely used in the movie especially in the case of Chris Gardner in relation to his son. Chris being a struggling salesman with no steady income took the custody of his son and decided to give the best that he could. Despite his state of poverty and uncertainty as a salesman he refused to relinquish his responsibilities as a father. Chris life was altered in the early life but he remained steadfast to make the ends need and give the best that he could to his son. Despite the challenges as a salesman he wakes up every morning dress up and gets ready to face life and give the best kind of life to his son. Chris goes through a series of problems from being left by his wife, loses his apartment and his motel room till he finally gets a job as a stockbroker. All this struggles happen in the face of his son and the son is in a position to learn a lot from his father. He acts as the best father figure to his son. In the fatherhood article figure behavior is represented where sociologist note that fathers has overtime changed in the American society. The behaviors by the fathers are seen in the style of parenting where they seem to have redefined masculinity. In this regard they seem to be involved in various activities that their children engage in (Lisa, 4). For instance, in the recent times men help their kids in doing their homework; they hug them and remind them of their love for them. This positively impacts the lives of children in the long term as they can copy the figure and behaviors as represented by their father. There is high possibility that when children grow up and have families they will be in a position to treat their children in the same way. Figure behavior is meant to bring out the role model character of a man to his children whom they can copy later in life when they are parents.
Consequently, has being in a position to use long shots in the movie. Long shots, in this case, are used to reveal the actual scene, clear of ambiguity, show the entire object. A long shot is seen in the part where Chris is moving towards Mr. Twistle so that he could talk to him. The shot shows that they are all dressed in official suits showing that they were attending official matters. Mr. Twistle is seen to be in a hurry and has no time to talk to Chris. The shot becomes shorter as they get closers to each other and the moment they get to the same taxi, and they begin talking along the way. This scene is used to show the courageous part of Chris and how he struggles to connect with the right people in his pursuit of happiness. He struggles to get the attention of Mr. Twistle, and when he does, he does not in any waste time. He capitalizes in the short time he gets to speak with Mr. Twislte. This shows how men struggle to be dads as they aim at taking care of their families. In the article by Lisa shows how the society makes it hard for dads who have actively taken the role of parenting. Men feel the pressure of providing for their family while taking chores that are considered too feminine jobs. Men who take parenting are considered to score lowly in the society, and this may discourage them to continue moving forward. Men must, therefore, be brave in their provision and parenting roles to avoid being discouraged as they should key their eyes on the ultimate price for accomplishing their responsibilities.