Talk:The Pursuit of Happyness

Errors in Opening Paragraphs

The first paragraph misuses the word "eponymous". Chris Gardner's name does not appear in the title of either the film or the book. The sentence should read, ". . . is based on the best-selling memoir of the same title written by Gardner . . .". The second paragraph is largely a discussion of the coincidental misspelling "happyness" in an 18th c. document. Unless this fact is relevant to Chris Gardner's thought process in titling his memoir - or relevant to the thinking of the graffiti artist whose work is displayed in the film - it is absolutely irrelevant to discussion of the film and should be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.139.204.201 (talk) 15:49, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Plot

The Plot section is a total mess. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.93.65.136 (talk) 21:29, 15 February 2010 (UTC)

Taiwanese Flag

Did anyone notice the excessive Taiwanese flags in the movie (in the rooftop basketball scene)? As far as I knew, the Taiwanese flags shouldn't be publically flown in US...

And why not? 89.242.0.24 19:56, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Taiwan has "cultural centers" in the US and in many western countries. These centers compensate for the lack of embassies, although the operate in a more informal way and lack diplomatic protection. I'd say that the taiwanese flags we see in the movie (which we see floating behind a small basketball field) most probably represent Mr Smith's real-life political opinion on the matter. 207.134.187.165 21:51, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

The film was partially set in San Fransisco's Chinatown in the early 1980s, when there were fewer people from mainland China than Taiwan, so it is reasonable that some people choose to fly the ROC flag. Maybe the Taiwanese flags will stop the film being pirated in China! Kransky 07:26, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

Scanner

Does anyone know what the real name is for those bone scanners? is there an article on them JohnGaltJr 03:16, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

Rubiks

Um, no, you are incorrect 68.36.197.244 01:24, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

I think you meant 10.48 seconds, in a single attempt, by Toby Mao; however, the official, recognized world record is 13.22 seconds, an average out of the 3 middle of 5 cube attempts, by Anssi Vanhala.

You know... just in case you didn't feel like looking up the Wikipedia Entry for Rubiks Cube.

i cant find the article on the net yet but according do Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet Smith was actually taught by some swedish champion called Lars Petrus

Can we please sign our posts, people. Jabberwockgee (talk) 04:37, 12 October 2009 (UTC)

Title

Shouldn't this article be called 'THE Pursuit of Happyness?' Gunslinger 21:20, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Correct, per IMDB and movie poster, and fixed in the article and with a page move. --MCB 02:57, 2 September 2006 (UTC)I'm just going to note that I love the trivia section as it's currently written.

Forget the grammar, what about the spelling?--A gx7 07:46, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

it's meant to be spelled Happyness. seen the movie? LonelyPker 22:33, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

can you elaborate? 15.219.233.70 04:53, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, I've just bumbled over to this page after seeing a trailer for the movie on TV, and was wondering... why is the title spelled wrong? Don't care about spoilers, if they're necessary to explain it... - Chris McFeely 00:09, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

I would have thought it quite necessary, in an encyclopedic sense, to explain why the incorrect spelling in the title is intentional! 124.180.9.77 10:39, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

The incorrect spelling is part of the story, Will Smith's character talks about it several times in the film and mentions every time it should be written with an 'i'. 81.246.93.2 03:28, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

WATCH THE MOVIE TO KNOW WHY IT IS HAPPYNESS AND NOT HAPPINESS. It bothers me you are discussing edits to a movie you clearly have not seen!

Oh be quiet, you moron. 86.151.54.171 22:46, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

So WHY is it spelled that way - The Lake Effect 16:05, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

They just told you you illiterate ****. It is because of the misspelling of the sign on the daycare where he takes his kid. It is owned by an asian woman and while she can speak english fine she has the same problem they all have with the fact that we have several letters that make the same sound and several sounds represented by the same letter. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.14.203.32 (talk) 02:50, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

It says it in the second paragraph. It should not be "THE Pursuit of Happyness" per WP:MOS, or any other title besides "The Pursuit of Happyness". moocows rule 06:23, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

Book vs. Film

The book differs form the film in quite a few ways, shouldn't there be a seperate article for each. -kres

There are 9 differences listed here, you mean you want to make 9 different articles for each one? What's the point? And how would you write an entire article about the film's character spending one night in jail and the real Gardner spending 10 days? 81.246.93.2 03:33, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

He means there should be a different article for the movie and book, genius.

I think there ought to be more mention of the book, the article only seems to make a passing reference to the book towards the end. - drigz

I didn't see any reference to the book. Ok double checked and whatever slight mention had been there is gone. Thanks to whatever moron decided that the article on the movie should have no mention whatsoever on the book. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.14.203.32 (talk) 02:53, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

Unclear Statments

The line "The church choir and band, The Glide Ensemble and the John Turk Change Band, may also be in the film." seems out of place, considering that the movie is in theaters now. Does anyone know whether or not they actually are in the movie?Ricree101 03:52, 31 December 2006 (UTC) They are in the movie. You really should go see it.

I'm not sure what section to post these comments under. I don't recall Jay Twistle being the stockbroker with the car in front of the Dean Witter building. I recall that being an unnamed character. Twistle was in Human Resources, no? I also do not recall the Chris Gardner character looking down on homeless people at any point in the movie. Melyssa57 20:12, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Critical Reception

As of now, it stands in the article that "The film garnered mixed reviews from critics." It currently has a 68% fresh rating on rottenmatoes, and a 7.3 on the IMDB. Is is neccessary to say that the reviews leaned towards the positive? TheKillerAngel 18:36, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

Differences between the film and actual events

One of the differences notes that Chris was actually from Wisconsin, not Louisiana. But according to this site, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/10/10/DDGVLF4AI81.DTL, he was born in Louisiana and moved to Wisconsin at an early age. Based upon that, I'm removing that difference. 66.75.8.138 23:48, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

Another difference notes that telling the truth about his clothing during his Dean Witter interview got him fired. However, according to http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/10/DDGVLF4AI81.DTL, and also the article on Chris Gardner, this did not happen; he was hired because of a sympathetic interviewer. This was removed.

I removed this section in its entirety because none of it was substantiated by verifiable references. If an editor is able to provide one for each or all of the differences noted, feel free to revert them with the proper citations. Thank you. MovieMadness (talk) 18:14, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Money made?

How much money did the film make? Why do some films have the amount of money made shown whilst others aren't? Tourskin 20:59, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

According to boxofficemojo.com 163 million on a budget of 55 million. Smith was a producer and so it's reasonable to assume that he pockets the lions share of the net income. It's likely his fortune dwarfs that of Gardner so this piece of work is certainly consistent from a class consciousness perspective. Lycurgus 08:05, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

Another Possible Trivia Entry

I've just watched the DVD, and noticed Will Smith said "T-Rex" (on about 1.26:40 on the timer, may vary with your observation). I was a bit befuddled, since the phrase "T-Rex" hadn't been popular in the US by the '80s (I think the phrase itself became widely popular as the movie Jurassic Park gained its popularity in 1993). On a side note, however, there was an 1960s English band with the same name.

I was going to add that, but thought it's better to discuss the whole thing first. 125.163.84.202 18:33, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Provide a citation from a reliable source indicating that "the phrase "T-Rex" hadn't been popular in the US by the 80's" and then we'll talk. Otherwise, please keep your original research out of the encyclopedia. Thanks. --ZimZalaBim ^talk 14:28, 5 August 2007 (UTC)

I agree with ZimZalaBim. Keep in mind the setting for the events where the T-Rex reference took place was 1981, which is, in fact, part of the 80's anyway. Regardless, you'd need to substantiate your comment anyway, like ZimZalaBim said. mercator079 22:40 16 Aug 2007 (UTC)

No you are apparently too young to know the facts. I remember the term T-Rex from childhood in the 60s. However you might have inferred that the shortened form would crop up early as 1) the species has been popularly known for most of the 20th century having appeared in silent films, 2) 'Tyrannosaurus' is a mouthful that calls for abbreviation, 3) pop groups such as T-Rex don't take the names of things until they are well established in the general culture. and finally 4) the form T.Rex is consistent and conventional in the Linnean system and so would have been present from the first identification of the species. Lycurgus 09:46, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

You need to get out more Lycurgus. 86.151.54.171 22:47, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes out of this primitive form. Lycurgus 01:44, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

This anachronism couldn't have happened...

The note in the anachronism section about Will Smith passing "a billboard for Zack Snyder's 300...released in 2007" is impossible!

The film was shot in San Francisco in late 2005, long before the movie posters for 300 had yet begun to be posted around the city. If there indeed was a poster for 300, it could only have been placed there intentionally by the filmmakers. Otherwise, this note is just plain wrong. Could someone back it up and clarify it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.128.109.242 (talk) 19:53, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

Summary

This article really needs a summary, not comparisons between real life and the movie. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.192.12.173 (talk) 20:18, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Music

Andrea Guerra link redirects to the article about a football player with the same name.

Plot Summary Plagiarization

The plot summary is partially plagiarized from IMDb.145.116.9.201 (talk) 02:45, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

Lemuel Haynes essay

This paragraph was removed from the article until someone comes up with a source showing the connection between the film and the essay by Lemuel Haynes:

The title is intentionally misspelled, as it also appears as graffiti in a scene in the film. The misspelled phrase is actually taken from an essay written in 1776 that argued that whites and blacks were created equal. The essay, which was written by Lemuel Haynes, a biracial man living in New England during the Revolution, quoted Thomas Jefferson's well-known sentence from the United States Declaration of Independence, but spelled the last word of the sentence with a y. The sentence, as it appears in Lemuel's essay, is as follows: "We hold these truths to be self-Evident, that all men are created Equal, that they are Endowed By their Creator with Ceartain [sic] unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happyness."

Haynes is not mentioned in the movie. In fact, his essay containing the phrase "the pursuit of Happyness" was unknown at the time the events in the movie take place, since the manuscript was not discovered and published until 1983. Without a source linking the film and the essay, any mention of it in the article would be orignial research. —Kevin Myers 02:54, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Or perhaps original. Jabberwockgee (talk) 04:40, 12 October 2009 (UTC)

References

The point of the misspelling

As the misspelling of happiness in the title of the film is a point I think there should be an explanation in the article.

What do you think?

--Mortense (talk) 21:58, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

It is explained: "The unusual spelling of the film's title comes from a sign Gardner saw when he was homeless. In the film, "happiness" is misspelled as "happyness" outside the daycare facility Gardner's son attends."--Askalan (talk) 09:29, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

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