Happy! (Season 1; 2017)
What actually makes us happy? It seems that from time immemorial, we go around looking for that unattainable wish. Happiness, Bliss, Utopia, Eudaimonia, we refer to it with different names. What we actually yearn for a state of mind oblivious to things that happen around us and one that puts us in a state not wondering what tomorrow may bring and whether we will be left out from it. We want to feel, experience, the wonder of our brain immersed in the feel-good chemicals, serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin. The question why this drowning is self-limiting, numbs itself spontaneously with tolerance setting in. We need ever more of the same for the desired effect. We are still in search of true happiness if there is one. In the meantime, we divert our attention to other paths and convince ourselves that that indeed is happiness even though most do not buy it!
We create stories. We tell ourselves that the Law of Nature is just. Somehow happiness is portrayed as a wrong virtue. We should suffer in pain in that therein lies true happiness. Enduring pain (the antithesis of joy) is looked upon as a respected virtue which would be repaid in many folds in another realm. The mortals are left confused, scratching their heads wondering which part to follow. Like Sisyphus, we are told to find happiness within the gruelling continual rolling of the boulder uphill which repeatedly rolls back when we thought the peak is reached and our job is over. In that mad cycle of torture and disappointment, we are expected to find peace.
We threaten our kinds that happiness is indeed not to be experienced here on Earth but in the afterlife. Is it just a pacifier to thumb people down to submission and subjugation.
'Happy!' is anything but a happy story. It tells of a 'down-and-out' disgraced cop who is now a hitman. He is a walking zombie after suffering a massive heart attack. He sees an apparition of a talking blue unicorn who tells him of his child (which the cop is unaware) who has been kidnapped. The cartoonish looking flying unicorn is his daughter's imaginary friend who appears in his consciousness. Together they have to tract the site she is kidnapped against the mob who is out for his blood and the deranged man who is up to something no good with the children he has kidnapped. Then there are the kidnapped girl's mother and the cop's ex-partner who are all engrossed in their sorrows.
The cop finds happiness in intoxicants; the mother finds it in her child; the madman in the weird things he does; the mob in exerting authority; the ex-cop's partner and caring for her mother; the mother with her anti-depressive medications and the mob's family find solace in reality TV. The miniseries indeed show a rather weird world that we live in.
The problem with looking for happiness is that it is not a finite destination. The goal post always keeps shifting. We work hard towards a goal thinking that by achieving it, we will be happy. Unfortunately, when our desire is reached, we find no happiness. Conversely, we find a higher bar to reach and the vicious cycle continues.
Maybe we are looking for contentment in all the wrong places. This seemingly attainable feat may just lie within us but in the outside. Like Saint Nicholas who find joy in giving presents at Christmas, we should do the same. Incidentally, this season is set around the Yuletide with the message of giving screaming all over the set. And whats more, the main character's name is Nick Sachs! Christopher Leoni of 'Law and Order: SVU' fame stars.
What actually makes us happy? It seems that from time immemorial, we go around looking for that unattainable wish. Happiness, Bliss, Utopia, Eudaimonia, we refer to it with different names. What we actually yearn for a state of mind oblivious to things that happen around us and one that puts us in a state not wondering what tomorrow may bring and whether we will be left out from it. We want to feel, experience, the wonder of our brain immersed in the feel-good chemicals, serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin. The question why this drowning is self-limiting, numbs itself spontaneously with tolerance setting in. We need ever more of the same for the desired effect. We are still in search of true happiness if there is one. In the meantime, we divert our attention to other paths and convince ourselves that that indeed is happiness even though most do not buy it!We create stories. We tell ourselves that the Law of Nature is just. Somehow happiness is portrayed as a wrong virtue. We should suffer in pain in that therein lies true happiness. Enduring pain (the antithesis of joy) is looked upon as a respected virtue which would be repaid in many folds in another realm. The mortals are left confused, scratching their heads wondering which part to follow. Like Sisyphus, we are told to find happiness within the gruelling continual rolling of the boulder uphill which repeatedly rolls back when we thought the peak is reached and our job is over. In that mad cycle of torture and disappointment, we are expected to find peace.
We threaten our kinds that happiness is indeed not to be experienced here on Earth but in the afterlife. Is it just a pacifier to thumb people down to submission and subjugation.
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| A simplistic formula to happiness. We try to convince ourselves that indeed it is. Deep inside we know but, with the dearth of any other suggestions, we persevere. We call this cognitive dissonance. |
The cop finds happiness in intoxicants; the mother finds it in her child; the madman in the weird things he does; the mob in exerting authority; the ex-cop's partner and caring for her mother; the mother with her anti-depressive medications and the mob's family find solace in reality TV. The miniseries indeed show a rather weird world that we live in.
The problem with looking for happiness is that it is not a finite destination. The goal post always keeps shifting. We work hard towards a goal thinking that by achieving it, we will be happy. Unfortunately, when our desire is reached, we find no happiness. Conversely, we find a higher bar to reach and the vicious cycle continues.
Maybe we are looking for contentment in all the wrong places. This seemingly attainable feat may just lie within us but in the outside. Like Saint Nicholas who find joy in giving presents at Christmas, we should do the same. Incidentally, this season is set around the Yuletide with the message of giving screaming all over the set. And whats more, the main character's name is Nick Sachs! Christopher Leoni of 'Law and Order: SVU' fame stars.
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