Movie Analysis between Pursuit of Happyness (2006) and Mr Church (2016).

Introduction of Movies
Pursuit of Happyness, a 2006 film directed by Gabriele Muccino based on a real life
story of entrepreneur Chris Gardner's nearly one-year struggle being homeless.
(Chasing The Frog, n.d) In 2003, executive producer Mark Clayman, a writer and actor
saw Chris Gardner on the television show 20/20. He and his wife were amazed at how
Chris Gardner overcame all those obstacles and challenges, homelessness being a
forefront. Chriss story showed Mark that it wasnt just a typical rags-to-riches story, but
it showcases a compelling yet moving tale between a father and his son, going through
many hardships through his journey of success, according to Levy, E. (2006).

According to Beachum, C. (2016), Mr Church is a 2016 American drama film directed by

Bruce Beresford and written by Susan McMartin. The film is inspired by true friendship
between Charlotte "Charlie" Brooks, a young white girl and her newly employed black
chef, Mr. Henry Joseph Church. The movie portrayed Mr Church, a no-nonsense cook
who moved into the home of a single white mother dying of breast cancer. His role was
to take care of Charlotte even as her mother was bedridden. Even after the passing of
Charlottes mother, both Mr Church and herself developed a lifelong friendship.
According to Bruce, this movie was never supposed to be a racist movie but a movie
that gravitates towards love, unconditional love, and family.

Both the movies contained the sociological theme of social inequality/social

stratification, a system which a society ranks categories of people in hierarchy, such as
racial inequality/ discrimination, gender roles and also social mobility. This movie
analysis would be of comparison and contrasting of social inequality/ social stratification
of both movies, Pursuit of Happyness and Mr Church.
Race
According to Cliff Notes (n.d.), race refers to groups of people who have differences
and similarities in biological traits deemed by society to be socially important, meaning
that people treat other people differently because of them. Whereas, racial
discrimination refers to unequal treatment of people or groups on the basis of their race
or ethnicity. (Pager, n.d.)

Pursuit of Happyness was set in America 1981. Where at that time, the colour of your
skin served as the major factor dividing racial lines in the West. The whites were the
dominant superiors of the blacks. This is evident in the story especially when Chris
Garner landed an unpaid internship in which he stands a chance competing for a
stockbroker position at Dean Witter Reynolds a brokerage firm. In the movie, it shows
that the majority of the working class and upper-class society is that of a fairer skin tone.
Majority of the employees from Dean Witters office were white and as well as the
hospital doctors Chris Garner sold his bone density scanners to. Contrastingly, people
of colour were seen working low paying jobs such as hotel housekeepers, and
convenience store cashiers. Also, many coloured people were shown lining up for a
place to rest outside a homeless shelter alongside Chris Garner and his son in the film,
while the whites were able to afford luxurious cars, fancy suits, and a personal box to
watch a baseball game.

Mr Church was also set in San Francisco, America 1981, showcases racial
discrimination. At the beginning of the movie, young Charlotte continuously addresses
Mr Church as black man in the kitchen cooking eggs and also black chef. This
proves that racial discrimination was still being practiced during that era although it was
not as prominent as the black slavery days. Furthermore, this racial discrimination is
also evident in Charlottes private school where there wasnt a sign of any student of a
different colour. The only people of colour in the film was shown during the time
Charlotte and her friend Poppy stumbled upon a place caled Jellys, where Mr Church
was seen conversing with people of his own colour when he isnt on duty as her chef,
and also during Mr Churchs wake, where the owner of Jellys, Mr Twiggs had visited to
pay his respects.

Therefore both these movies showcases white superiority and racial discrimination.
Only the white were portrayed to have a better profession, and a lifestyle. The coloured
on the other hand were portrayed as poor, less fortunate, and not having the equal
opportunities to be successful. This is because during the 1980s time frame, racial
segregation was still apparent and there was still a distinct racial separation at that point
in time, according to MICDS (n.d).

Gender
Gender Roles
According to The World Health Organization, WHO (2015), gender roles are defined as
"socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities and attributes that a given society considers
appropriate for men and women". In most families, the father is seen as the head of the
family and the mother is the heart of the family. Fathers provides physical needs such
as income and security for the family, while mothers provides emotional needs like
encouragement, emotional care and support for their child.

In Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner plays an active role in providing expenses for
his family, although he was struggling to earn a living by selling bone density scanners
to hospitals. Even so, he still made time for his son, Christopher by sending him off to
daycare almost every day. However when Linda, Chriss wife separated with him, Chris
was forced to take on both gender roles when caring for Christopher. He took on full
responsibility of being the sole parent of Christopher by trying to generate income,
provide food, and a roof above both their heads even though he was financially
unstable.
Next, in the movie Mr Church, there is a however twist in gender roles. Usually females
are the ones doing tasks related to cooking, cleaning, sewing and buying groceries but
Henry Joseph Church, a hired chef-turned-caretaker does all these chores. Mr Church
took care of Marie and her daughter, Charlotte for almost 6 years after she had survived
breast cancer. In the movie, Marie and Charlotte seldom do the womanly duties, they
rarely cook or clean the house as Mr Church seem to do such chores. Also, when
Charlotte is about to attend her schools prom, Mr Church sew her prom dress instead
of her mother, Marie. Mr Church also cooked their meal everyday, bought groceries,
and cleaned the house as well. The only task Charlotte has to do was to bathe her
bedridden mother once in 2 days, while Mr Church willing handles the rest of the
chores.

Gender Influence/ Discrimination

Moving on, in the Pursuit of Happyness, women were portrayed as less superior than
men. In Dean Witter Reynolds, there wasnt any woman present in the board of
directors or people who has high authoritative in the office. Women were only portrayed
as social care services, receptionists, secretaries, and housekeepers although both
genders are more than adequate of getting the job done.

Furthermore, in Mr Church the movie portrayed that men and womens social standing
is equal. Charlotte was able to enroll to Boston University with the help of Mr Churchs
savings. She managed to further her studies in Boston but due to being pregnant out of
wedlock, she decided to halt her degree studies and moved back to her hometown.
When she was in Boston university, there were equal distributions of genders furthering
their studies there, so it is evident that the movie portrayed equal social standings
between both male and female.

Therefore, both movies took a similar approaches when it comes to portraying gender
roles. Both male lead characters in the films took on both gender role. Chris Gardner
from Pursuit of Happyness took on both gender roles after his wife, Linda decided to
leave him and Chris, by providing not only income and security but also love, care and
support for his son. While Mr Henry Joseph Church from Mr Church since the
beginning of the movie defied traditional gender roles by doing traditionally female tasks
like sewing, cooking, cleaning and caring for the women in the house, and at the same
time paying utility bills, Lindas medical expenses, and Charlottes Boston University
fees from his own savings.

Also, in Pursuit of Happyness females were portrayed as less superior when compared
to the males. Women were discriminated against as in the movie, the females
profession were of a lower pay and less authoritative. Whereas, in Mr Church the
movie portrayed genders equally. Both genders were not discriminated. In the movie,
there seemed to be equal amount of female and male students when Charlotte was
studying in Boston University.

Social Mobility
According to The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica (2002), social mobility is a
movement of individuals, families or groups with a system of social stratification or
hierarchy. One of it is called, horizontal mobility it involves a change in ones position,
mostly in occupation but there is no change in social class. The other mobility is called,
vertical mobility whereas the movement involves a change in their social class and it
involves an upward mobility or downwards mobility.

The movie Pursuit of Happyness tells a story of the various movements one can take
both up and down the social ladder. Throughout the movie, Chris Gardner tries to
overcome homelessness and joblessness and he does. In present day of the movie, the
man is a millionaire owner of an investment firm. This is an example of social mobility,
where Chris experienced both downward and upward mobility in society. The movie
starts with Chris being in the lower class tier. During his internship he drops below the
poverty line where he and Christopher find their belongings removed from their motel
room, with no money or place to go. leaving them no choice but to fight to stay in a
homeless shelter. Showing a downward social mobility. Chris gets so desperate at one
point that he is forced to sell his blood to survive another day. Chris situation seems
stagnant until he finally secures a position with the company. Where he makes an
upward social standing progress, earning a middle class income and lifestyle, and
eventually went on to become a multi-millionaire stockbroker, motivational speaker, and
author, settling finally in the upper class world.

In Mr Church, the main characters social standing is stagnant throughout the movie.
Mr Church was employed as a cook for a single mother, Marie as an arrangement by
her ex-boyfriend for she had breast cancer and needed to be taken care of and in
return, Mr Church was given enough money to spend for the rest of his life. Thus
showing how Mr Churchs social standing has moved up by working for Marie and her
daughter. He is then able to afford to pay for Charlottes college education even after
the money that was given to Mr Church to take care of Marie for 6 months was used up.
In the movie, it also seems that the house Mr Church lives in is probably middle class as
the environment and the area he lives at looks like a suburban area. His house and
neighbourhood was shown for the first time when he took Charlotte in home when she
came back from college pregnant.

Therefore, both movies differs when it comes to the aspect of social mobility. In Pursuit
of Happyness, Chris Gardners social mobility moved upwards gradually throughout the
movie; he portrayed vertical mobility. He was jobless and then became homeless during
the first half of the movie but he managed to climb up his social class by landing a job
as a stockbroker in Dean Witter Reynolds. Later on at the end of the movie, he was
then a multi-millionaire stockbroker, motivational speaker, and author, settling finally in
the upper class world.

In Mr Church on the other hand, Mr Churchs social standing is stagnant in the middle
class throughout the movie; he portrayed horizontal mobility. However, it is hard to
diffused his social class because of how little Mr Church disclose of his own personal
life. Mr Church does not revealed much of his personal life details to Charlotte and her
mother although it has been implemented that he may be in the middle class because of
the environment he lives in and with the sum of money he gave Charlotte for her college
education.

Conclusion & Opinions

In conclusion, according to Mondal P, (n.d), social stratification is a form of social
inequality and it comes in terms of superiority, inferiority and equality. It is a process of
differentiation and interaction. This could be seen between the two movies reviewed
above, Pursuit of Happyness and, Mr. Church.

In the movie, Pursuit of Happyness, there were some scenes where Christopher was
homeless, jobless, and struggling to make ends meet alongside his son after his wife
left them. This shows that although men in society are usually perceived to only work,
Chris Gardner made a twist to his gender role by taking great care of his son financially,
emotionally, and psychically even without help from his wife. The director also portrayed
that white people have better privileges as they could be seen in a speeding luxury car,
having fun together. Throughout the movie, Christophers social mobility had changed
upwards. Initially he was struggling to overcome his financially unstable life by getting a
job and when he finally did, he went upwards and became middle class. By the end of
the movie, he managed to become a multi-millionaire and eventually shot up to become
an upperclassman.

In the movie Mr Church, Henry Joseph Church is a chef-turn-caretaker for Marie and
her daughter, Charlotte in which his role are usually done by a female. Thus in the
movie, he was shown taking on both gender roles as he cooks, cleans and pays bills for
the Brookes family. Furthermore, the movie displayed little to no gender discrimination
in Boston University, when they showed considerably equal amount of both genders
pursuing their higher education. Furthermore, Mr Churchs social class can be proven
as middle class although little of his personal life was exposed to the Brookes family
and the viewers. However, he was able to pay for Charlottes higher and lives in a nice
suburban neighbourhood so Mr Church is assumed to be of a middle class.

In our opinion, we would say that we received the films positively well on certain
aspects. Both movies, Pursuit of Happyness (2006) and, Mr Church (2016) have
shown racial division between black and white people. To us, the director of the movie
has produced the movie with much realism, in a sense by showing the viewers of how
one is treated based on their skin colour. Thus, giving us awareness and enlightening
us about how this social issue is still happening even until today. This relates to us
because we are living in Malaysia which consists of many different races and racial
division is still evident in our society. Therefore, I strongly feel that all Malaysians should
curb this issue and be united as a multiracial nation.

In Pursuit of Happyness and Mr Church, the movies portrayed how gender roles are
just a social construct in our lives, because both a male and female have the ability to
give care, love, guidance, security, while generating income at the same time while
raising a child. Both directors have shown a twist in both characters by defying such
traditional gender roles. Showing people everywhere that our gender does not have to
define our actions, and occupations. Therefore, we believe that we are all free to pursue
whatever we want, and only you have the rights to say otherwise.

Also in Pursuit of Happyness, social mobility has been shown most of the time
throughout the movie as there were many choices that Christopher has made to move
upwards in his life by getting a stable job to support his family. This has inspired us that
in order to move upwards in society, we have to work hard and have strong
determination to reach our goals. Our reaction towards Christophers efforts has given
us hope that no matter how hard the challenges we face in life, we could always
overcome it by never giving up. Just like the English saying goes, when there is a will,
there is a way. With that being said, all of us have the power to change and move
towards a better social class by enhancing our education background, followed by
obtaining a reputable profession, contributing to a better society, and so on.

Lastly, socialization is the lifelong social experience by which individuals develop their
human potential and learn culture, values and beliefs from people of different ethnicity,
race and cultural background. So in that way, we develop friendships that could last a
lifetime just like Charlotte and Mr Church from the movie, Mr Church. By doing so, we
are able to reduce discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes of people who are of a
different category than we are. Giving a chance to make a harmonious and peaceful
life filled with understanding, tolerance, and kindness.
References

Beachum, C. (2016) [WATCH] Writer Susan McMartin (Mr. Church) on adapting her
own life story and the amazing Eddie Murphy. Link:
http://www.goldderby.com/article/2016/susan-mcmartin-mr-church-eddie-murphy-britt-ro
bertson-video-news-975318642/ (Accessed: 1/12/2016)

Chasing The Frog (n.d.) Questioning the Story. Link:

http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/pursuitofhappyness.php (Accessed:
1/12/2016)

Cliffs Notes (n.d.) Race and Ethnicity Defined. Link:

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/sociology/race-and-ethnicity/race-and-ethnicity
-defined (Accessed: 1/12/2016)

Hassenger J, (2016), Eddie Murphy gives a rare dramatic performance in the banal Mr.
Church. Link:
http://www.avclub.com/review/eddie-murphy-gives-rare-dramatic-performance-banal-24
2460 (Accessed: 2/12/2016)

Henderson O, (2016), Mr Church. Link:

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mr-church-2016 (Accessed: 2/12/2016)

Levy, E. (2006) Pursuit of Happyness' Gabriele Muccino. Link:

http://emanuellevy.com/interviews/pursuit-of-happyness-gabriele-muccino-9/ (Accessed:
1/12/2016)

MICDS (n.d.) 1980s: A time of turmoil for American Minorities. Link:

https://sites.google.com/a/micds.org/townsley-race-and-racism/home/1980s (Accessed:
1/12/2016)

Mondal P, (n.d), Social Stratification: Meaning, Types, and Characteristics | Sociology

(2446 Words) Link:
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/sociology/social-stratification-meaning-types-and-char
acteristics-sociology-2446-words/6199/ (Accessed: 2/12/2016)

Pager, D and Shepherd, H. (n.d.) The Sociology of Discrimination: Racial Discrimination

in Employment, Housing, Credit, and Consumer Markets. Link:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2915460/ (Accessed: 1/12/2016)

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica (2002), Social Mobility. Link:

https://global.britannica.com/topic/social-mobility (Accessed: 2/12/2016)
World Health Organization (2015) What do we mean by "sex" and "gender"? Link:
https://web.archive.org/web/20150818074425/http://apps.who.int/gender/whatisgender/
en/index.html (Accessed: 1/12/2016)