The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Christopher Reeve took some time off from his acting career to teach at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate Acting Program.
After some time off, he landed a role as the father of a six-year-old named Zachary Quinto, and completed filming of The Pursuit of Happyness while finishing his master’s degree.
The Pursuit of Happyness is based on the true story of Chris Gardner, a successful entrepreneur who wrote a best-selling book and planned on retiring.
However, he was convicted of tax evasion and spent most of his life in prison. Chris was extremely close to his son, Zach, and was distraught over the idea that he would not be around for many more years.
With the help of his friend Todd Plitt (played by Russell Crowe), Chris makes it back into society and realizes that he is loved by his friends and family, even his son.
With Chris’s newfound fame, he finds work on Wall Street and uses his financial knowledge to start a bank that is designed to help the poor.
This film was released in December of 2006 and was a great success.
The Karate Kid (1984)
Although the Karate Kid is not an obvious example of a success story, it does a fantastic job of illustrating that even one person can make a big difference in someone else’s life.
It is a story about a boy, Johnny, who is sent to a boarding school called Campbell Hall, an all-boys school that contains several Asian students.
During the first few days of his stay at Campbell Hall, Johnny meets Daniel, a boy who runs the school’s karate dojo, and the two form an unlikely friendship.
Johnny struggles with his dislike for school and his lack of any training, and while spending a day practicing karate at Daniel’s dojo he is invited to a lunch at the school’s social worker.
Johnny is invited because he has a difficult time adapting to society but soon realizes that he is slowly becoming a part of the Campbell Hall community.
Eventually, Johnny finds the courage to ask Daniel to teach him karate, which he takes quickly.
In the process, he realizes that his lack of confidence is the cause of his frustration with school, as he lets the other students make him feel small.
At first, Johnny feels that he can make a difference by proving that he is different, but soon discovers that a difference only makes him happier and more content.
He later meets with his father, but his father is disappointed with him for not living up to his expectations.
Johnny learns that successful people are those who love what they do and want to do what they love for the rest of their life.
Win a Date With Tad Hamilton! (1985)
In the tradition of Mean Girls and Boys on the Side, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! follows the lives of sixteen high school girls.
One of the girls, Robin, becomes the subject of a series of cartoons published in the school newspaper.
The series humiliates her, so she shows her tormentors how to paint. They take up the painting lessons and the girls eventually have a painting show at the school.
All of the girls in the group are shown fighting over a boy, Tad Hamilton. Robin and Tad’s relationship becomes one of the central themes of the film, but one of the more obvious ideas of this movie is that the girls need to learn to deal with their anger.
Their anger at Robin turns the class into a battleground and creates a divide between the women.
Another central theme is that girls will do anything to get attention from a boy.
They can go to any lengths, including dating someone outside their race, to win Tad’s attention.
Throughout the film, girls demonstrate their willingness to hurt one another to get Tad’s attention.
Children of Men (2006)
The concept of a refugee crisis in the year 2027 is highly relevant today. What made this movie memorable was its depiction of one of the main characters, Theo, and his future hope.
Theo is a British army officer stationed in London, England. Theo is taken prisoner in a bar by a group of Americans, who discover that Theo is the only surviving male in his family.
Theo is sent to London, a city run by a corrupt military governor. Theo does not realize that the Americans plan on killing everyone and leaving the city to the storming of the country’s prisons.
Theo’s experiences in London show that he has hope in his ability to rise above the evils of the world.
Eventually, Theo decides that he will return to Britain and take the streets. The film is a cautionary tale about what life in the future might be like, with time travel, natural disasters, and wars.
It is also a study of the lengths people will go to, and of how they will use their ability to manipulate time.
Holes (2006)
In a way, this movie reminds us of Mean Girls, as a group of teenage girls on a spring break trip to Florida, set out to change the culture of the small town they live in.
One of the girls in the group decides that instead of partying, the group should kidnap one of their elders.
The group kidnaps the town’s school principal, Mr. Kruger, and takes him along on their quest to change the town’s way of life.
This group of friends decides to change their country and their world, but what the movie really teaches us is that everyone can change the world.
By changing ourselves, we can change the world. By changing our world, we can change the world.
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Many of you probably grew up watching this classic Disney movie over and over again. This movie is filled with fantastic visuals and amazing acting.
We follow Belle as she goes to live with her father, after she tries to escape from her town, but was captured.
Belle is attacked by a witch who tries to turn her into a beast. Belle spends a great deal of her time in captivity trying to figure out what she wants out of life.
Belle is living her life to be something other than who she is. She is not just a girl who dresses differently than her neighbors, and she is not an inventor.
By the end of the film, she decides to be herself. This is the key lesson of this movie.
Sometimes the smallest change can change the course of your life.
If you try to be someone else, you’ll never find your true self. Be who you are and be a great person.
