The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) is a film based on the true story of Chris, his son Christopher Jr., and their struggles with financial stability and homelessness. At one point in the film, the two have a moment while playing basketball in which a brief speech is presented by Chris (the speaker) to his young son (the intended audience). The intention of the speech was to teach Christopher Jr the importance of protecting one’s dream and to never let anyone get in the way of it. Through a Neo-Aristotelian view, the speech was effective in terms of the immediate situation and of the film as a whole.
Prior to the speech while shooting hoops with his son, Chris told him not to get his hopes up on his basketball dream. Noticing he had hurt his son’s feelings, Chris then inspires Chris Jr and does so through direct eye contact, powerful pauses between sentences and precise articulation. At the same time, this speech was very much spontaneous, unplanned and unrehearsed (it would not have occurred if Christopher Jr wasn’t affected by his father’s previous statements), making it that much more effective as the sincerity of it is very persuasive.
In addition, Chris’ credibility is also enough for the speech to be believable. When Chris tells his son to never let anyone discourage him from his dreams, his statement is already proven by the fact that he himself had faced a similar situation earlier. Always being criticized and put down by his wife and Chris Jr’s mother (who abandoned the family early in the film), Chris could have easily accepted that he is a failure in everyone’s eyes. Instead, he continued fighting for jobs and making the best of the situation while raising a son as a single parent. Adding to his credentials is also the fact that this speech was not only presented from speaker to listener, but from father to son. Five year olds in general look up to their parents very much and see them as role models while parents in turn are always looking out for their kids. In this case, it is natural for Christopher Jr to trust his dad’s inspirational advice and to take it to heart as he intently watched his father with thoughtful eyes.
In the end, Chris’ speech was effective because its genuineness and power in such a short amount of words was able to provoke deep thought and inspiration not only in his son but also us as the outside viewer. As the ending of the film concluded with Chris securing a job and eventually becoming a very rich man, one can’t help but remember and reflect back on the speech he had presented on the importance of protecting one’s dream.
Pop Studies and Rhetoric 
This was indeed not only a very powerful speech, but also one that was given “in the moment” of things where Smith made it much more believable in terms of delivery. Not only that, but even though this speech speaks out to Chris Jr, in terms of the audience, it can also be said that it reaches out to people of all ages, not just children. Every person has dreams and aspirations of their own, and this speech talks to each individual equally about going after those dreams. It all comes down to perseverance and making the best out of the worst of any given situation presented to you, which is exactly what Smith did and encourages others to do.