The Difference Between Me and Will Smith
The difference between Will Smith and me isn’t obvious… until you see the preview for his new movie, The Pursuit of Happyness.
At first I thought that trailer made me cry because it was a heartwarming story with a sad little boy and sad music. But no. I realized, upon a careful third viewing this weekend, that the trailer makes me cry because the father character in this movie is such a horrible person.
Maybe I’m wrong and the movie’s going to be brilliant, but this is what I’m getting from the trailer regarding the movie’s plot:
1. Will Smith’s character’s wife leaves him, and he becomes a single dad.
2. Will Smith’s character loses his job, and subsequently gets evicted.
3. Either before or after #2 above, Will Smith’s character is impressed by the stockbroker lifestyle and the fancy sportscars it entails.
4. Will Smith’s character is unable to get an office job, but he does get an internship at Dean Witter.
5. Will Smith’s character and his son are homeless, living in public restrooms, while Will Smith’s character behaves passionately and erratically during his quest to become a stockbroker.
6. [Assumed – not shown in trailer:] Will Smith’s character succeeds and becomes a stockbroker and gets rich and teaches his son that he, too, can be anything if he just tries hard enough.
See, that’s the difference between Will Smith and me. I wouldn’t be in a movie about a man who lets his son be homeless in order to become a rich stockbroker.
Because, if my son and I were facing potential homelessness, I’d take any damn job I could to keep that from happening. Even if it meant I couldn’t eventually afford a fancy sportscar.
I guess that’s why I’m not starring in any movies, though. Silly me.
Speaking of Pretty Cars
A woman in my neighborhood drives a black Infiniti G35. I see her every morning and afternoon, during my commute. And now I covet that car. It has a beautiful shape, for one, and there’s something about the paint job on it that reflects the sky in the awesomest way. Or maybe she hand-waxes the car, and that makes the difference. I don’t know.
Other cars I like this year: the Ford Mustang, the little Scion, and the Hyundai Sonata. I kind of like the Dodge Charger, too. It’s brutish, but still kind of cool.
However, I really don’t care if I drive a pretty car or not. Practicallity is more important to me. I texted all my friends Saturday and told them I got a minivan. Later, one of my friends left me a vmail expressing disbelief that I would pick something so not-awesome. But, dude… my Dodge Caravan is awesome. All my kids fit into it, and it gets better mileage than an SUV, and it was cheaper than the Toyota Sienna. Plus, I lucked out and found one with a V6 and 3.3 L. So it’s strong and stable, too. I like the weight of it on the road. (I didn’t like the Chevy Uplander at all.) And did I tell y’all? It was cheap.
It’s enough for me to look at someone else’s G35 once in a while. I don’t need to own one, myself. And I don’t care what people think when they look out the window at me. I only care about what’s inside… my minivan.
