Abstract:America has its unique cultural values while compared with other nations. The Hollywood movie is the vector of the culture and values of this nation. Its operation mode manifests cultural characteristics of America. The reason why Hollywood movie is quite popular among the masses, besides its wonderful story plots and big productions, is that the characters in the movie manifest the American cultural values. The individualism, heroism, religious circumstances and the pursuit of liberty of the American spirits are vividly manifested in these movies. Movie is the social culture flowing in the film, and different information of film culture reflects and reinforces its own values conversely, therefore we can perceive the values of mainstream American culture through the Hollywood movie.
The Hollywood movie The Pursuit of Happiness is a typical inspirational movie that adapted from the memoir The Pursuit of Happiness written by Chris Gardner, the famous stockbroker of America. As one of those single fathers, Chris Gardner fought to raise his young son while being homeless and living on the street of San Francisco. Gardner, who served a brief stint in the Navy and had no education beyond high school, would eventually get back on his feet to become a millionaire stockbroker and business owner. The movie has touched lots of audience at home and abroad and it had a great reputation among the audience. The movie won the 2006 Best Actor Oscar nomination.
From the beginning to the end, the paper intends to analyze the representation of American cultural values in the movie The Pursuit of Happiness to investigate the contemporary American cultural values, through which to interpret the specific characters of this nation as well as its cultural characteristics. Accordingly it would help us have a further understanding of the social lives of American and its culture, eliminate the cultural barriers, and decrease the communication difficulties caused by the cultural differences.
Key words：The Pursuit of Happiness；values；representation
摘要:跟其他民族相比较，美利坚合众国有它自己独特的文化。好莱坞电影是这个国家的文化和价值的载体，它的运作模式体现了美国的文化特征。好莱坞电影之所以为大众所欢迎的原因，除了其生动的故事情节和大制作，还有其在电影中的特性体现了美国的文化价值观。个人主义、英雄主义和宗教情景以及对自由的向往等美国精神都在这些电影中得以生动的体现。电影是流动于胶片里的社会文化，而电影里的不同信息都体现和反过来强化了它们的价值观。因此我们可以通过好莱坞电影理解美国主流文化的价值观。
好莱坞电影《当幸福来敲门》是一部典型的励志电影，它改编自美国著名投资经济人克里斯加纳的自传《当幸福来敲门》。作为一个单身父亲，克里斯加纳无家可归流浪在旧金山的大街上，但他还是努力抚养他的儿子。加纳曾经在海军服役，并且高中后没有接受更高教育，但是最后还是靠自己双手成为了一名拥有百万资产的投资经纪人。这部电影感动了海内外许许多多的观众，并且在他们中有很好的口碑。该电影还获得了2006年的奥斯卡最佳男演员奖提名。
自始至终，该论文旨在研究美国文化价值观在电影《当幸福来敲门》中的体现，以此探究当代美国文化价值观，并以此解释这个国家的特性以及文化性格。相应地，该论文将有助于我们对美国人的生活以及他们的价值观有更进一步的了解，消除文化障碍，以及减少因文化差异带来的交际困难。
关键词：《当幸福来敲门》；价值观；体现
