The Movie

Abraham Maslow is known as the father of the humanistic psychology; an approach that look at people from a more optimistic perspective than the behavioral and psychoanalytical approach do. For instance, Maslow held that neurotics and person with abnormal behaviors are not the best representation of the humanity; by the contrary, are those who live a normal life and become self-actualize. Abraham Maslow’s theory states that every single human being have the innate potential to become an achiever driven by inborn needs. His researches were not made on animals, or mental illness people’s case studies, because his ideology; if not, in successful human being such as Franklin D. Roosevelt to found what make does people been high achievers. By successful human being Maslow means rich, full and satisfied human being. The film The Pursuit of Happyness is a case study about Christ Gardner a man whose life may be used as a perfect portray of the Maslow’s Theory.

According with Maslow, all human being do have the same innate needs that active and drive their behaviors. These needs were organized from stronger to weaker in a pyramid known as hierarchy of needs, where the stronger need should be meet before people can have the need to accomplish the weaker one. Moreover, people can go back to the first need at any point of their life. The first two need are known as deficit needs or biological needs because without them people create a deficit in their body. The last three one are known as growth or psychological needs and are not essential for human survival.

The Hierarchy of Needs is organized as follow. The first need is called Physiological Needs such as food, water and sex. When people successfully meet this need, then arise the Safety N...

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... prove that when people have meet the physiological need they do not need to worry about it; thus, his behavior is drive to meet the next level of need such as safety need. Other example is that he worked hard in the internship to get the job because it promises a lot of advantages that ensured the first and second needs.

The powerful of the Abraham Maslow’s theory is that everybody have the innate ability to being an achiever and become a self-actualize person. That’s why, Christ Gardner could overcome all the challenges. Because the movie did offer enough information about the ex-wife of Christ Gardner, for the spectator is unsure if he did met Belonging and Esteem Needs. In the other hands, the movie explicitly states that he became a millionaire businessperson: an important investor and stockbroker; hence, he did achieve meet the Physiological and Safety Needs.