Themes

Happiness 

An important theme in the film The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) directed by Gabriele Muccino is happiness.

At the beginning of the film, Chris believes that happiness is a right, and he is entitled to it. He wonders why he cannot be happy, when the people around him all look happy, and there is some self-pity in his reflection. In this scene, as well as when he repeatedly questions the misspelling of the word “happyness”, it seems as if he is trying to find his own place in this social construct, where he does not yet feel like he belongs.

Later Chris realizes that he is not guaranteed happiness, but only the right to pursue it. This realization appears to make him hopeless for a while: “maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue, and maybe we can actually never have it, no matter what.” (00:31:41-00:31:49). This shows Chris’ realization that happiness is something he might never achieve, even if he tries to pursue it. 

However, even as Chris comes to this harsh realization which brings him down, he is making progress. He no longer questions the misspelling of the word, which means that he no longer struggles to achieve happiness artificially as a ready-made construct. Instead, he begins to actively pursue it, as an ongoing process which takes effort and time. 

The concept of happiness and lack of it is again brought into focus by Linda’s claim that she is not happy, which is why she chooses to take Christopher with her ...