Developed Response: Pulling it all together.
The end of Unit 3 is an important time for the course because it marks the end of the theories, the end of viewing three classic representative films, and the beginning of analyzing some very important points about happiness.
The Pursuit of Happyness, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Groundhog Day have many differences. The very fact that they are separated by half a century certainly is one. But the characters vary considerably. But by the end of the films they are changed tremendously, and on some level so are we. They are on some level all of us. They represent our discontents, our desperations, our loves, our disappointments, and our needs. When Chris Gardner and his son are at their lowest, they remind us of when we are at our lowest. When Phil cannot find happiness no matter where he looks, he represents our moments of depression and sadness when there seems no hope left. And when George is ready to take his own life because he feels he has let down his family and friends, he represents those moments in our own lives. And when these characters find hope at the end of their films, they remind us of the hope we can find in our own lives.
So for this Developed Response essay let’s draw together these three films for the messages they provide and for how they reflect the theories we have studied in Units 1-3. Here are the three areas I would like you to analyze in an essay about the three films.
1. What is the greatest difficulty that these men share?
2. What role do relationships play in their overcoming?
3. What are the three theorists that throw the most light on these three characters? If you want to choose three different theorists for each character that’s fine.
4. What conclusion can you draw regarding human suffering and its connection to happiness from these films?
5. If there is one theme can you can draw from the three what is it?
