Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs Essay

Abraham Maslow was a highly influential psychologist who developed the ‘hierarchy of needs’ model in the 1940s. Maslow’s model featured 5 key psychological needs, which are believed to be central to everyone’s human life. The first stage starts with the most basic and fundamental need, during each stage, a person works their way up the hierarchy by sequentially fulfilling the demands of their current stage. Obviously, if a person continues to work towards higher levels of the model, their quality of life improves. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can be seen in many films, the film being evaluated in this essay is The Pursuit of Happyness, directed by Gabriele Muccino.
In the film The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardener (Will Smith) and his pre-adolescent son (Jaden Smith) face many challenges throughout the movie. In the beginning of the film, Life isn’t easy for the two. Unfortunately, the two are evicted from their apartment leaving them homeless. Chris at one point obtains a job as an intern, although it does not provide a source of income. Throughout all of the hardship, Chris decides that giving up is not an option and pursuits to create an outstanding life for himself along with his son. This is where Maslow’s Hierarchy begins to take its place.
As viewers, we witness endeavor to satisfy the need for safety, our biological needs, and our desires for belonging and love. The film “The Pursuit of Happyness” truly embodies the fight so many that are living on the streets have to endure. We are extermely lucky to not face those challenges. In life, we are taught that we should never give up on our dreams, no matter the circumstances, “ You got a dream...you gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you that you can’t do it. If you want somethin’, go get it. Period.” - Chris