Truth be told, some of us aren’t doing well or lost our life incomes even though things are slowly getting back on track. While we try to gather ourselves and get on with job hunting, here are some movies to help inspire and keep you motivated during this period.
1. The Pursuit of Happyness
Many of us are familiar with this movie and the mere mention of the title is known to make fans tear up.
Based on a true story, it tells a story of a father of one, Chris Gardner (played by Will Smith) who struggles to land a good-paying job to provide for his son. Unfortunately, all is available to him is an unpaid internship with no guarantees of becoming a permanent paid staff.
This film will make even the coldest hearts shed a few tears yet be inspired to put in the work to achieve success.
2. Joy
The film Joy is loosely based on the life story of home entrepreneur and inventor Joy Mangano. In the film, Joy (played by Jennifer Lawrence) is a divorced mother of two who had to make ends meet the best she could.
With encouragement from the people close to her, she decided to pursue her inventing ambitions. After going against all odds, she slowly became a self-made millionaire of a business empire.
3. The Greatest Showman
After the previous tear-jerking movies, it’s time for something on the light side. If you really think about it, the circus is a startup in its day.
PT Barnum (played by Hugh Jackman) lost his job as a clerk when the company went bankrupt and used whatever loans he got to set up a museum showcasing wax models and later on, oddities and freaks. After scathing reviews from a well-known critic, Barnum was fired up to pursue a new venture which is a circus.
4. Freedom Writers
Freedom Writers is based on a true story by teacher Erin Gruwell and a city program called City at Peace. Erin Gruwell (played by Hilary Swank) accepted a job to teach at-risk students in a school where racial segregation is apparent.
One day, she received a racist drawing that prompted her to teach the students about the Holocaust which they have no knowledge about. This inadvertently kickstarted a project where the students were encouraged to write and share about their hardship in life.
With her grit and determination, the students gradually disregarded the hopelessness in their lives and put in the effort to make positive changes. The real-life events and the movie have served as an inspiration to many teachers and at-risk youths, and still do today.
5. The Devil Wears Prada
Sometimes the job sounds amazing in every way but it requires you to sacrifice every part of your life. The film tells the story of Andrea Sachs (played by Anne Hathaway) who lands a job as a prestigious fashion magazine in hopes to work for the publication she really wants in the future.
She reports directly to Miranda Priestly (played by Meryl Streep) whose demeaning approach put the lives of many in the company in misery. Andy soon finds out that her personal life deteriorates the more she claws up the career ladder.
The takeaway lesson at the end is that we have to decide whether the compromise in taking a good job is too high in the long run. Also, not getting the dream job isn’t the end of everything but continuing to work hard will eventually lead you somewhere.
