Happy Textual Analysis

Happy Textual Analysis:



'Happy' is a 4 minute long song, written, produced and performed by American singer Pharell Williams.

The song was released in 2013 as part of the soundtrack for the children's animation movie: Despicable Me 2.

Hundreds of different camera angles are used throughout the music video of lots of different people lip syncing and dancing to the song across America. They mainly focus of a mid shot to show the mise-en-scene.

There was also a 24 hour long Happy-thon which consisted of people all over the world dancing to Happy. This was all broadcasted live online for users to watch.  Happy Fans across the globe then began producing their own music videos and calling them 'Happy from...' then posting wherever they shot the video. This was done and uploaded to YouTube across the globe, all the way from Sydney to London.
This is a perfect example of Gauntlett's media 2.0 theory which states that users will generate their own content to upload and share online. Even though Pharell and companies perhaps won't be making any money from these and it does infringe on copyright, their product is getting broadcast to a mass audience on a global scale.

The reception theory states that audiences will interpret the text individually, all based on their own cultural and ethnic backgrounds. For instance in Iran, a group of young people who tried to recreate their own version of Happy were sentenced to jail and public flogging for breaking freedom of expression. In Iran, the country is strictly religious and governed on Islamic law. This is an extreme and saddening example of reception theory as those brought up under Islamic rule believe that 'Happiness' can only come from Allah and idolising western influences is wrong.