“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to try just one more time” (Thomas Edison).
“Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming. Success is an attitude” (John Wooden).
In ‘Hidden Figures’, directed by Theodore Melfi and ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’, directed by Gabriel Muccino, we meet characters who are defined by their status in life and throughout the course of the movies they break the barriers holding them back, to become great success stories.
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‘Hidden Figures’ follows the story of three unassuming African-American mathematicians, Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson in the 1960’s working at NASA’s Langley Research Centre. These three women played a vital role in the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit as well as orchestrating his safe return. ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ follows Chris Gardener, a financially unstable salesman, who struggles to get by in day-to-day life having to support himself and his young son, Christopher. Chris eventually lands an unpaid internship as a stockbroker which sets the course for his rise to greatness and wealth and finding true happiness. The protagonists in both movies discover that it is their inner resources and not their social status or race that gives them the success they achieve at the end of the films. Both story lines demonstrate great success stories, however, ‘Hidden Figures’ highlights what can be done in the face of adversity, when sexism and racism put you in a box and what can happen when you break free of those confines.
The three women highlighted in ‘Hidden Figures’ each face hurdles due to their race and sex. The movie focuses on Katherine G. Johnson, however, by the end of the film, all three women have risen above the societal challenges placed on them to make invaluable contributions to the NASA space program. Their success was not only a personal success for the three women, but for all women working at NASA, and their contributions are now part of the history not only of NASA, but of the struggle of women, and particularly women of color, in the 1960s.
In ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’, Chris Gardener’s pursuit is not about the pursuit of money but rather about the happiness that being a responsible father will bring. It would be easy to misunderstand his real pursuit as he is struggling with financial hardship and earning money is his prime goal, however, that merely demonstrates that having financial security makes life easier and therefore creates a happier life. Throughout the movie, Chris Gardener makes numerous difficult moral decisions which takes his life in different directions. His perseverance in trying to sell his medical machines when no-one was interested in buying demonstrated his perseverance but also his naivety. Where a lesser person would have given up, like his wife did, his commitment to being a good father was put above all else and whilst it would have been easier for him had he not had his son in his care, we were not going to give up. He defines his happiness, his success, as being a responsible father and accepts all difficulties that come with that decision.
Whilst both movies demonstrate success, they are both different versions of success. The first is the success of finally being accepted for their mathematical genius rather than their sex and race and the second is the success of finding true happiness in being the best father he can be (with financial success thrown in as a second). Success should not be defined in monetary terms or acceptance by others but rather how you choose to live your life and about what brings you happiness, satisfaction and meaning. Richard Branson, another inspiring success story, says: “Too many people measure how successful they are by how much money they make or the people that they associate with. In my opinion, true success should be measured by how happy you are”.
References
- Christopher D. Connors. 2020. The First Step Toward Success Is Defining Success for Yourself. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/the-mission/the-first-step-toward-success-is-defining-success-for-yourself-92dcfc3dd61c [Accessed 14 March 2020].
- Unity. 2020. The True Meaning of Success | Unity. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.unity.org/resources/articles/true-meaning-success [Accessed 14 March 2020].
- Bell Média. 2020. Hidden Figures. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.iheartradio.ca/newstalk-1010/features/movie-reviews-by-richard-crouse/hidden-figures-1.2291551 [Accessed 14 March 2020].
- The Pursuit of Happyness Movie Review. 2020. The Pursuit of Happyness Movie Review. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-pursuit-of-happyness [Accessed 15 March 2020].
- WisdomTimes. 2020. What Is the Real Meaning of Success. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.wisdomtimes.com/blog/what-is-the-real-meaning-of-success/ [Accessed 15 March 2020].
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