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Catherine Edmonds

Dr. McLaughlin

Multimedia Writing & Rhetoric

8 March 2017

Happy |hap|: Noun. Community and Family Support

Touring the world and capturing the moments of happiness in many forms is the perfect

way to describe Happy. The film is aimed at Americans as the opening scene states, the

Constitution only guarantees the American People the right to purse happiness (00:00:29). Even

though the audience is the American people the film is shot in many different cultures to argue

that happiness can be felt by anyone in many different ways. The focus of the film is appealing to

the audiences emotions through empathy for a community that struggles, desire to be a

generational community, and respect for a community focused on their children. Through

positive and negative emotions, the film builds the idea that community and family create

happiness.

Through a scene at a middle school, the audience experiences positive feelings,

specifically one of empathy. The film is effective at eliciting this feeling by using the technique

of appeals which are, used to evoke audiences emotion towards a subject rather than an

argument towards a reason (Herrick 13). Michael, the comedian/educator, tells the story of a

Special Olympian, Annie, he coached. Annie was winning the race, but stopped before she would

cross the finish line to wait for her opponents. All six kids holding hands ran across the finish

line together. [Annie says], Together we all want to win together we all want to win (56:04-

56:16). Mikes tone of voice became soft and everything around was silent. Through this effect it

established a sense of happiness and invited the viewers to take the dis out of disability. The
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way this was conveyed in the film was through, the diegetic sound, which are the internal sounds

of the film, establish an environment of excitement and change ("Importance of Diegetic and

Non-Diegetic Sounds in Film"). The positive emotions, specifically empathy for Annie, felt by

the viewers cause this scene to be powerful in showing the relationship between happiness and

community.

While travelling the world through Happy the emotional appeal of desiring to be a

generational community is evident in many scenes. Ideologies conveyed in the film emphasize

everyones culture specifically centered around community. In Okinawa, Japan a community of

all generations gathers together believing, having a lot of friends is happiness (49:57). One of

the elders in an interview said, you are already brother and sister. Even if it is for the first time

(48:55-49:00). These beliefs create an ideology, shared set of values and beliefs through which

individuals live out their complex relations to a range of social structures (Sturken and

Cartwright 21). In Okinawa there is great happiness among the generational community as they

all have a similar ideology. This creates an internal desire among the audience to live a similar

life surrounded by community and family members.

In the co-housing communities in Denmark the film shows the value of happiness from

living in a generational community. Through the rhetoric of interviews and reframing the

audience is able to make this connection. The frame where the children are piled on the couch

together being interviewed shows the community built together. One of the kids said, its like a

big family (41:00-41:02). The kids facial expressions of laughter and joy brings the audience to

believe that community creates happiness. Documentary produces the referential illusion and

in fact derives its prestige from that production (Lancioni 107). Through the production of this

scene and the interviews that take place, lead the audience to believe that a tight knit community
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creates happiness. Accompanied with the interviews are shots of the children playing together

and times where the families are gathered for dinner in laughter and conversation. In reframing

filmmakers show viewers part of a photograph and then whole of it (Lancioni 111). Through

reframing it causes the audience to piece together that a strong community brings about

happiness. The desire for a generational community is a want of the viewers as they see the

happiness it brings the characters.

Another scene centered around traditions among the family is the Blanchard family.

Through framing and reframing the film provokes positive emotions in the audience. The film

explored this with close ups of the family members laughing and smiling and then zoomed out to

the entire family eating together. The close-ups achieved through mobile framing and reframing

enable viewers to experience the past on the intimate terms they have been conditioned to regard

as reality (Lancioni 107). The framing of the scene creates an overall appeal that family is a

key component to happiness. Reframing appears again in this scene as the film flips through their

family album starting from generations ago to their current family photo. Right after these

photographs Ed Diener, Professor of Psychology, said, we study some of the happiest people

and we found that without exception that they all had close family and friends (27:53-28:00).

The films manner of presentation calls attention to itself, encouraging viewers to pay attention

to the construction of the photographs and to the ways construction and reconstruction affect

meaning (Lancioni 108). In reframing of this scene the audience is convinced that happiness is a

result of families specifically from visual images and outside evidence provided. The audience

has a desire to live in a generational community as they see the radiating happiness in the scenes

the film explores.

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Another community that radiates happiness is the Bushmen community in Namibia,

Africa. The film appeals to the audience through respect for the raising of their children. Through

the framing and icons suggested it is powerful in showing that the care of their children is the

most important characteristic for happiness. One of the Bushmans head leaders said, just being

together thats what makes us happy (1:00:09-1:00:12). This is very evident in the laughter

conveyed, the games played, and the emotions on their faces. The sound displayed through this

scene is upbeat, tribal music. The film used non-diegetic sounds which are sounds that are added

during the editing process. These types of sounds help explain the important message found

within the movie and reinforce the plot ("Importance of Diegetic and Non-Diegetic Sounds in

Film"). Through the sound and farming of the scene it creates an immediate feeling of positivity

among the audience. In the ways the Bushman are displayed: hunting for food, wearing barely

any clothes, and gathering around the campfire for warmth, tend to fill in the gaps for the

audience. This scene provides, a complex relationship of images, words, sounds, and music that

encourages viewers to fill in gaps (Lancioni 114). The gaps between sound and visuals allow

the audience to establish themselves in the story. The scene points towards the positive

connection between happiness and gathering of the community.

The film focused on an impoverished family that centered their time around raising their

children. Through faming and icons, the film appealed to the audience emotion of respect for

those in this community. In the Indian slum a Rickshaw driver, Manoj, spends most of his days

pulling a chariot around filled with people. Through some of the worst conditions he is always

doing his job, he mentions that at night he is sometimes abused by drunk passengers. At the end

of the day he spends time with his community and family. There is a shot in this scene including

a close up of him holding his little son, and Manojs face is beaming. The film deliberately slows
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down on this shot. The more time the viewers spend moving through the illusionary depths of

the image, the more significance that image takes on (Lancioni 110). Through the slow

movement of the frame it causes the audience to feel respect for Manoj who cherishes every

moment with his son even after a long day of work. A professional said in the film, in a recent

survey this rickshaw driver, Monaj, was found to be as happy as the average American (2:31-

2:37). During this voice over it zooms in on the uneven road and his feet trudging through the

streets. This scene uses the technique of framing in which they piece together a voice over and

photo that cause the audience members to reflect on their own lives, especially as it makes a

direct connection with the viewers (Lancioni 112). The organization of this scene makes the

audience unconsciously reflect on their own lives. The audience develops an emotion of respect

for those in the slum as they live less material lives and are as happy as Americans. This creates

the connection that happiness lives within the community and family support is evident with the

story of the Indian Slum.

Even though this film is based on happiness there are scenes that elicit negative emotions

within the audience. The use of framing and symbols in the scene focused on the intense work

environment in Japan provokes mixed emotions among the audience. There is a family with a

baby girl, Ami, whose father is gone all the time for work. At the beginning of the scene Ami

runs up to her father getting home from work and Ami looks blankly at her father. Her father

says, Who am I?, [her mom chimes in] Ami who is that? (33:03-33:13) Happy integrates

the importance of family in the film, and through the framing of this scene it creates a stir of

negative emotions in the audience. Another part of the scene is focused on wives gathered

together for one reason, they lost their husbands from being overworked. During this scene, it

flashes to tired business people, crowded trains, and at the very end a sign in the train station,
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Be Happy (34:32-35:59). Through these camera shots we find the image and its meaning

together form the sign (Sturken and Cartwright 29). The viewers piece together the sound and

images to believe it is a sign that a person from the crowds shown could be the next victim. It

also establishes that even though they are experiencing this tragedy the wives have come

together as a community allowing them to see happiness in the worst days. This is a counter-

argument that family brings happiness, as losing a family member creates grief and the audience

experiences saddened emotions.

One may argue that not every tragedy brings a community together, but destroys a family

or community. Through the films editing and framing audiences automatically feel anger and

frustration against Melissa Moodys family. In the scene there is a shot from inside the car of

Melissas sister-in-law that is coming down the hill about to run over Melissa. Then Melissa

describes the tragedy, She drove off in a hurry and my hand was in the door handle I was

running alongside trying to get my hand out and screaming. Then I fell and when I fell I was

dragged until my hand was disengaged. And, I fell under the truck and I was crawling and

clawing the gravel trying to get away and I couldnt. And it went over my spine and up my head

and crushed my face into the rocks (18:38-19:12). The voice over is direct information from

Melissa, the victim, leading the viewers to completely believe the information. This creates a

greater emotional appeal to the audience. Another narration of Melissas causes more negative

emotions experienced by the audience when she says, I was angry I was alive (20:47-20:49).

The images and words are clearly connected emphasizing the negative emotions felt by the

audience. Melissa valued her time with her kids and at her step-daughters wedding she found

the man she is married to today. This is a special moment as she is laughing and the audience

feels excitement for her to find the missing piece to her puzzle. Mobile framing encourages
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viewer awareness of the linkage between seeing and knowing and the epistemological

assumptions involved in that linkage (Lancioni 105). The arrangement of Melissas story

establishes a variety of fear, anger, sadness, and excitement experienced by the viewers and

connect them with the visuals throughout the scene. This displays two ways in which family can

cause anger and happiness, but through this journey the audience directly connects happiness

with a strong community.

In a world centered around material objects it is difficult to look beyond and realize that

happiness stems from a strong community. Through the growth of social media, the youth have

become focused on what others have falling into the hedonic treadmill, which is the feeling to

have to keep running in order that your happiness stand still (Layard 48). The hedonic

treadmill can block the vision of achieving happiness through a community. In Happy the

audience experience many different immaterial ways to attain happiness, supporting the

argument that a strong community creates happiness. Even though the targeted audience are

Americans, I would highly suggest the youth, our future, to watch this film. It will allow them to

view happiness through many different lenses. This creates a call to action against the societal

norms of the hedonic treadmill, and to form a strong community that values each other as this

leads to greater happiness.

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Works Cited

Happy. Directed by Roko Belic, Wadi Rum Films, 2012.

Herrick, James A. The History and Theory of Rhetoric. 2nd ed., Allyn and Bacon, 2001.

"Importance of Diegetic and Non-Diegetic Sounds in Film." The Artifice, 8 May 2016.

Lancioni, Judith. "The Rhetoric of the Frame Revisiting Archival Photographs in The Civil War."

Western Journal of Communication, 60, 4, 1996.

Layard, Richard. Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. Penguin, 2011.

Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture.

Oxford UP, 2017.