Relations of Power: The Pursuit of Happyness

Michael Foucault’s concept of power is interesting.  In Brenda Allen’s book, “Difference Matters”, she relays Foucault’s term, “Relations of power” (Allen, 2011, p.25).  This implies that power is derived through and defined by interpersonal networks.  Foucault further wrote that, “We define our relationships and how we should behave in relation to each other in terms of power differences and similarities” (p.25).  

  

Gabriele Muccino’s film, “The Pursuit of Happyness” was inspired by the life story of Christopher Gardner, a homeless single father whose intelligence, likability, and perseverance lead him to become a CEO at a prominent financial institution.  It was also these attributes that were the foundation of Gardner’s network that he builds throughout the movie.  This network becomes his “relations of power” which, ultimately, leads to his success story.  This powerful movie has many great quotes, of which one of my favorites is: “You got a dream, you gotta protect it.  People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can't do it.  You want something?  Go get it.  Period” (Muccino, “The Pursuit of Happyness”).

Cited

Allen, B. (2011). Difference matters: Communicating social identity (2nd ed.). Long Grove, Ill.: Waveland Press.

The Pursuit of Happyness [Motion picture on DVD]. (2006). USA: Overbrook Entertainment.