HAPPINESSA documentary on the Pursuit, Study,

& Capturing of Happiness

BY:Shelly May Roby

December 19, 2008

CINE 724: Film Theory IFall 2008

Professor Aaron KernerSan Francisco State University

All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.

-BLAISE PASCAL1

1 Quoted in Tom Morris, If Aristotle Ran General Motors (New York: Henry Holt and Company, Inc, 1997), 10.

HAPPINESSA documentary on the Pursuit, Study,

& Capturing of Happiness

All my life I have searched for happiness. I have never

been one to settle for something because it pays well or

that it looks good. I got my dream job when I was 28, only

to quit it two years later when I realized it was not making

me happy. Over the course of my life I have moved anywhere

and everywhere in my pursuit of happiness. From San

Francisco to Chicago; L.A. to Austin, and then back again. I

have always tried to listen to my gut and follow my heart.

But I trip up, I fall, and lately it seems that I run

circles around life frantically looking for happiness, never

really finding it.

What about those individuals, like myself, who are extremely

grateful for one’s life, and appreciative for all that they

have and are, but still after all the self-help books they

read, therapy sessions they attend, and journals they fill,

their desperate quest for happiness continues? Is happiness

really such a quest, or is it merely a decision one makes in

each moment of one’s life?

MY HAPPINESS THEORY

I have a theory about happiness – I believe that happiness

is not a pursuit and a mission one sets out to accomplish in

life, but simply a momentary intention set for oneself. It

is as simple as deciding to wear your blue shirt, rather

than your yellow shirt on a random Tuesday.

If we are able to simply pull the happiness switch within us

on a moment to moment basis – and not base our present and

future life on our specific memories – allowing what has

happened to us in the past influence our present moment and

future moments – we are able to free ourselves from our

individual stories which we wear proudly, and most of the

time, unconsciously, throughout our life. In a nutshell, we

are then able to magically create the life we have always

intended for ourselves.

“Happiness depends on ourselves.”-- Aristotle

THE DOCUMENTARY

Happiness is a documentary dedicated to the discovery,

study, and pursuit of happiness. It explores present day

theory on obtaining happiness, also examining the

relationship between our happiness, our memories and our

stories. How does our memory contribute to our present day

experience? And, do the stories we tell ourselves about the

person we are and the life we have lived thus far, aid us or

hurt us? It is my belief that together, both memory and our

individual story create our present day experience. If we

choose happiness as our present day experience, focusing

only on pleasant memory and pleasant story, will our life

become one of happiness? In contrast, if we focus only on

unpleasant memory and stories which do not serve us and

ultimately layers our individual life, will our life become

one of discontentment?

EXAMINATION OF THE SELF, THE HUMAN BEING

Happiness will examine well-known life situations from what

the average, everyday individual has to experience to

unimaginable life events most of us only read about in

books. For example we look at the ending of a romantic

relationship, and also extreme experiences, such as the

Holocaust. How does one find meaning in such an experience

as the Holocaust? What does one take away? Is it possible to

bloom embedded within such horror? Author, scholar, and

Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl comments on this in his

extraordinary book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”:

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way…It is this spiritual freedom – which cannot be taken away – that makes life meaningful and purposeful.2

Throughout “Man’s Search for Meaning,” Frankl

speaks of this innerness within each of us, and

ultimately the inner decisions we have for

living our individual lives. It is my belief that

this “innerness” which Frankl writes about in

his book, acts as one’s powerful happiness switch, which at

any given moment we each – individually – are able to check

in with ourselves and make the decision to be happy or not

to be happy, to act with meaning in our life, or to act

without. It’s our ultimate free will. As Frankl explains in

his book, this inner decision was the one thing that could

not be taken away within the gates of Auschwitz, Dachau and

other concentration camps – as one was stripped of their

family members, robbed of their clothes -- their entire

physical life disregarded and destroyed -- the inner

workings of these men and women could not be touched, no

matter how vulgar or inhumane the keepers were. The 2 Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning (New York: Washington Square Press, 1959, 1962, 1984), 87.

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decision to choose one’s attitude, one’s state of happiness

-- these inner workings of the human being -- are what I

believe fuel the outer workings of the individual’s world,

and ultimately the world as a whole. For if one could find

the sacred buried beneath the rubble of horror and at the

same time have the insight to access this inner place,

imagine the power which must reside within each of us at any

given moment in our lives.

MEMORY

So too, does memory play a key role in Frankl’s survival

while in the concentration camp. Specifically he says, it

was the memory of his wife, his beloved, which fueled him

and helped him to continue day after day:

But my mind clung to my wife’s image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and encouraging look. Real or not, her look was then more luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise…I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way – an honorable way – in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment.”3

3 Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning (New York: Washington Square Press, 1959, 1962, 1984, 56-57).

Within the walls of the concentration camps, the memory –

the image – of Frankl’s beloved wife comforted him and

brought him out, however slight, from his present day

reality of being a prisoner. The memory of his wife, whether

one sees it as a mask, a method of survival, or simply a

memory from the past remembered today, colors Frankl’s

present reality and alters it in such a way which lifts

Frankl up, allowing him to stand on ground unimaginable to

the everyday human being.

Elie Wiesel, the well-known writer (most

famous book, Night), professor, Nobel Peace

Prize Winner and Holocaust Survivor, also

speaks about the power of memory. On

September 11, 2001 I was working as a

television producer for the Oprah Show in Chicago.

Immediately following the attacks we put together our daily

shows attempting to make some sense of the horror,

confusion, and tragedy America was feeling at that time in

history. One particular show we produced was called “What Do

You Believe?” We decided to feature and interview

individuals who had experienced unimaginable situations, and

find out how they remained hopeful and faithful in such

extreme and dire circumstances. Elie Wiesel was one of those

individuals. This is what he had to say:

During the war I was so young and so old at the same time, I had no belief, I had no anchor, but after the war whenever there was a challenge, I said to myself what is the alternative, to stop believing? I believe in memory, the memory is a dimension -- without which I could not go on I think. I believe that memory must serve as a shield – because I remember there are certain things I will not tolerate. Of course I remember what people could do to other people. My faith in God has been severely tested, I never lost it, but it became wounded, and still is. God and I have problems with each other and nevertheless I remain inside faith. The opposite of love is not hatred but indifference, but then it means the opposite of beauty is not ugliness but indifference, the opposite of education is not ignorance, but indifference, the opposite of life is not death, but indifference to life and death. Hatred devours the hater as well as the hated.”4

Like Viktor Frankl, Elie Wiesel speaks of memory as a tool

for his present day survival. This dimension of memory acts

somewhat as a vessel where one is able to pull from and in

turn, breath from; a vortex of sorts which we can step into

and slip on, spinning with it and through it, as it supports

us in our time of need.

Within the Happiness documentary we will sit down with Elie

Wiesel and find out first hand how he is still able to

remain hopeful after experiencing life within various 4 ABC Interview, The Oprah Show, 2001.

concentration camps during World World II. At 15 years old,

Wiesel was deported by the Nazi’s to Auschwitz. Before his

release in 1945, his mother and younger sister had perished,

along with his father, who died at Buchenwald, where Weisel

was held prisoner, as well.5

It is this use of memory which Frankl and

Wiesel speak of, which the documentary

Happiness will explore throughout. How does

the use of our good and bad memories aid or

hurt our state of happiness? The film will also look at

Johnny Springer, a thirty-four year old man who recently

broke up with his girlfriend, Kim. Transfixed with

remembering the time he and his girlfriend spent together –

spinning his memories of her over and over in his head –

stops him, he says, from enjoying his present moment, and

ultimately, finding happiness today.

The film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

directed by Michel Landry beautifully

demonstrates this idea. The film

focuses on the relationship between

Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet). After

5 The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, www.eliewieselfoundation.org

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falling in love and then experiencing relationship problems,

Clementine opts to have all her memories with Joel erased

from her mind. Joel eventually learns of Clementine’s

procedure and decides to erase his own memories of

Clementine clean from his mind, as well. This memory

procedure referred to as The Lacuna procedure, guarantees

the following:

“MEMORIES ARE PRESERVED THROUGH THE PICTURES IN OUR MINDS. MOST OF THE TIME THESE MEMORIES ARE PLEASANT, BUT IN THE CASE OF MANY LACUNA PATIENTS, THESE MENTAL PICTURES CAUSE HEARTBREAK AND SORROW. THE LACUNA PROCEDURE GUARANTEES THE PERMANENT ERASE OF TARGETED MEMORIES…6”

In one particular scene, Joel, horrified, learns Clementine

has erased him from her memory and visits the Lacuna

laboratories to find out what exactly Clementine did with

her memories of him. He sits down with Dr. Howard Mierzwiak

(Tom Wilkenson) in his office and listens with disbelief to

the doctor’s explanation:

Dr. Howard Mierzwiak:Look, our files are confidential Mr. Barish so I can’t show you evidence. Suffice it to say, that Ms. Kruczynski was not happy and she wanted to move on and we provide that possibility.

After going home and pondering what Clementine had done with

the memories of their relationship, Joel decides to have the

procedure done, as well. He rushes back to Lacuna and

requests the memory procedure for himself. While sitting in 6 Focus Features, http://www.eternalsunshine.com/

the waiting room, to Joel’s left, sits a woman with an

armful of used dog toys and a dog bowl which reads, “Buster”

– the shot suggests she is at Lacuna to rid herself of the

memory of her deceased dog. To live in this present day

without her dog may be just too painful for her. To Joel’s

right, a man sits with a bag of old trophies, a shot

possibly suggesting dreams forgotten; a life once lived,

happier times.

Joel Barish:I want it done now…

Dr. Howard Mierzwiak:Now the first thing we need you to do Mr. Barish is to go home and collect everything you own that has some association with Clementine -- anything. We’ll use these items to create a map of Clementine in your brain, so we’ll need photos, clothings, gifts, books she may have bought you, CDs you may have bought together, journal entries, you’ll want to empty your home, you’ll want to empty your life of Clementine. And after the mapping is done the technicians will do the erasing in your home tonight. That way when you awake in the morning you’ll find yourself in your own bed as if nothing has happened -- a new life awaiting you.

In the above scene we see Joel gathering all items related

to Clementine – pictures, drawings, a mug with Clementine’s

picture on it, photos they had taken together, scrapbooks,

journals – all memories associated with the relationship

between Joel and Clementine. Joel feels, and the Lacuna

procedure guarantees, that to rid himself of these memories

will make him a happier person. Remembering a life that once

was, and in Joel’s case, a life with Clementine in it, is

too painful for him to realize in his present day. To erase

Clementine completely from his memory Joel feels, would

allow him to move on and finally step into today.

However, one of the most beautiful elements of this film is

the closing scene after Joel and Clementine learn of the

procedures which they both individually opted to have. Here,

they decide together to love one another now regardless of

their known relationship problems in the past. They choose

to live in the moment, to love in the moment:

Clementine: I’m not a concept Joel, I’m just a fucked up girl who’s looking for my own piece of mind. I’m not perfect.

Joel: I can’t see anything that I don’t like about you.

Clementine: But you will. And I’ll get bored with you and feel trapped because that’s what happens with me.

Joel: Okay.

Clementine: Okay. Okay.

It is this decision that Joel and Clementine make together

which says: I want to love you now, and I do not care what

has happened in the past between us or what is bound to

happen in our future. It states: I am happy in this moment

with you and this is all I know for sure, and that’s okay.

It is this notion of being present in the moment which I

believe acts as our happiness switch – our internal guidance

system -- which allows us to focus on each and every moment

of our life. It is only in the moment that we have the will

to choose to be fully present. Checking-out into our past or

checking-in to our future is also there as an option, as

well, but it is our free will to decide with path we take.

Happiness will also explore those who have already lived a

full life, for example a 102-year-old man,

Nathan Mass from San Francisco. What can

such an individual -- who has come before

all of us -- teach us about living today?

How does memory serve Mr. Mass and what makes him happy

today?

THE WORLD TODAY

It is an interesting time in the world to take up the study

of happiness. With the United States economy at one of its

all time lows since the Depression, daily layoffs (this week

alone 40,000 job cuts were announced).7). And just days ago,

President Bush agreed to a $13.4 billion dollar federal loan

to the big three automakers (GM, Ford Motor, and Chrysler).

The auto industry – one of the major engines of the US

economy -- has not felt this kind of pain in 26 years.8 In

Tom Morris’ book, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Morris, a

well-known modern-day philosopher, writes about how he

believes Aristotle would run one of the biggest auto making

companies in the world. Morris says:

“When he looked around the world, Aristotle saw, as all of us do, that human beings pursue different things. Some seek wealth. Others dream of fame. Song long for love. Others lust for power. The cautious aim for security, the bold look for adventure. But Aristotle had the insight that beneath all the surface differences in what we seem to chase, everyone in this life is really after the same thing: happiness. And what Aristotle discerned, many subsequent thinkers have confirmed.”9

Yes, it takes more than happiness to run a company like

General Motors -- you need intellect, effective leaders,

dedicated employees, and many other pieces to create a

thriving business. However, Morris points out throughout his

book that with happiness as the bedrock of a company, a

7 Jessica Dickler, “Employers: No layoffs here,” CNNMoney.com, December 11, 20088 Chris Isidore, “Will the auto bailout work?” CNNMoney.com, December 19, 20089 Tom Morris, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, 10.

company is bound to not only succeed as a whole, but the

individuals within the company will in effect soar, as well.

Morris says there are four dimensions of the human

experience:

Whether you are single or married, employed or unemployed, a doctor, lawyer, factory line supervisor, or company president, a mother or an elected official, whether you’re in sales and service or research and development, whatever your place in this world, you will not be fulfilled in whatever it is that you’re doing unless these four basic dimensions of your experience are addressed. And the people around you won’t experience a measure of fulfillment or happiness in that relationship or activity with you either unless these same dimension of their experience are being nurtured as well. The ancient philosophers wrote a lot about these dimensions, along with the foundations they provide for human fulfillment, and they were appreciated by medieval thinkers as well…They are: 1. The Intellectual Dimension, which aims at Truth, 2. The Aesthetic Dimension, which aims at Beauty, 3. The Moral Dimension, which aims at Goodness, 4. The Spiritual Dimension, which aims at Unity.10

Throughout the documentary we will explore these individual

dimensions (Truth, Beauty, Goodness and Unity) and how they

relate to one’s individual happiness and our collective

happiness as a whole.

MAINSTREAM HAPPINESS

One of the most popular courses at

Harvard University is a course on 10 Tom Morris, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, 18-19.

Happiness, referred to as the study of Positive Psychology.

Positive psychology focuses on the science of what makes

people feel good rather than on their pathologies. It is one

of the most popular courses offered at Harvard, which is why

200 other campuses across the country are offering it now,

too. More than 800 students enroll in Professor Tal Ben-

Shahar’s Harvard class each year, with students even

bringing their families to some of the lectures. He’s also

the author of the ultra-popular book, Happier: Learn the

Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment.

In his book, Ben Shahar offers insight and techniques on

becoming and staying happy. He suggests meditation, goal

setting, building relationships and various other exercises

which he says may raise your level of happiness or determine

why you are not at the level you wish to be. He also speaks

of the notion of ‘being human’ and stresses that regardless

of our individual financial situations, money plays little

part in determining if we are happy or not:

Unhappiness is also common among the rich because they are under increased pressure to feel happy. I’ve encountered this phenomenon among a number of my students who come from a privileged background. “What possible right or reason,” a student would often ask, “do I have to be unhappy?” He feels guilty for being ungrateful, for not fully appreciating his lot in life. Moreover, because he cannot find a

good reason for being unhappy, he blames himself for his predicament and feels inadequate…The unhappiness of the rich is no less real, no less natural, no less prevalent than the unhappiness of the poor, and it is therefore no less justified…We, regardless of our income and social status, need to give ourselves the permission to be human.11

Throughout the Happiness documentary, we will talk to

Professor Ben-Shahar about happiness in the world today. If

money, as Morris and Ben-Shahar state in their books, does

not play into our state of happiness, why the continued

focus on money and the economy in the world today? Yes, we

need money for survival, definitely for our basic needs, but

is it not a fallacy that if we have large amounts of money

our life will magically transform itself into one of bliss

and fairytales?

Like Tal Ben-Shahar, Robert Holden is also involved in the

study of happiness and echoes Tal Ben-Shahar thoughts on

what happiness is and how one can access it. Holden actually

holds a Ph.D. in the Psychology of Happiness. He is the

Director and Founder of The Happiness Project and Success

Intelligence. And, he’s the author of ten best-selling

books, including Happiness Now. In a radio show entitled

Happiness Now!, Holden drills his happiness point home:11 Tal Ben-Shahar, Ph.D., Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment (New York: McGraw Hill, 2007), 90-91.

When I listen to people talk about what is happiness, and actually really think about what true happiness is, it is very interesting because we move from a list of must-haves, from fleeting pleasures, to full joy. And we move from more money, ideal home, nice car, more shoes, dark chocolate to people’s values, to their real life goals, to the real work of their life if you like and that is so important. One of the things I would really like you to reflect on is this idea that happiness is not a thing, it is not an it, it doesn’t exist outside of you, it actually exists within you and better than that I would say that happiness really is you. The way I like to define happiness is that happiness is you minus your neurosis. Happiness is your DNA; it’s your natural, unconditioned self. This is why happiness is so important to you because when you’re happy you are experiencing yourself, your natural, authentic self. And I’m really saying that the pursuit of happiness is in many ways one of the biggest blocks to happiness. And I think the pursuit of happiness must always fail actually because it is based on a lie and the lie is that happiness is outside of you. Until you change the belief that happiness is somewhere else, you’ll never quite make it. The source of all your fears stem from a single erroneous belief, that happiness is somewhere else. So try not to think of happiness as something external which travels to you or away from you, but actually think of happiness as a potential you carry within you, always. A potential that at any given moment you are opening to or withdrawing from. Happiness doesn’t come and go. What comes and goes is our attunement to happiness, and that’s the key.12

Like the internal referencing which Frankl speaks about on

the grounds of Auschwitz, Holden also refers to as the

guiding light of happiness. It is this space within each and

12

? Robert Holden, Happiness Now!, Hay House Radio, December 7, 2007.

every one of us, which I believe, contains the magic of

miracles. To merely survive the horrors of Auschwitz is

amazing in itself, but to survive with a sense of hope is

miraculous. It is my belief that the ability to access this

space is grounded in being fully present in the moment right

now. At times this is a simple act, but when clouded with

difficult memories of the past or fears of the future, the

present moment somehow gets lost in the midst of it all.

Finding, accessing, and ultimately capturing this sacred

space within us, individually, will unlock the happiness one

seeks, I believe. For this is a place untouched by the

outside world, a place which can never be touched by even

the most powerful of people; a place completely authentic,

and ultra safe; a place overflowing with pure creativity and

complete and perfect love.

DOCUMENTARY STYLE

The Happiness documentary will consist primarily of

documentary shot footage of the interview subjects discussed

– as well as stylized and staged sequences which will act as

transitions throughout the film. These imaginative and

magical transitions will work like brackets holding the

film, and specifically the individual stories together. The

transitions will consist of stylized staged scenes, each

demonstrating the situational feeling the upcoming character

describes. For example if a character describes a sinking

and drowning feeling, a scene will be created which

illustrates a person at the bottom of swimming pool. Each of

these transitional scenes will operate as filmmaker Jessica

Yu’s transitional puppets scenes do in her documentary film,

Protagonist. They will be metaphorically fanciful, and

resemble the look and feel of the film, Eternal Sunshine of

the Spotless Mind.

Puppets from Protagonist: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind:

THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF HAPPINESS

The pursuit, the goal, the quest, the fight, the walk, the

reaching outside and inside of ourselves to locate and

finally obtain what we each individually deem as our

definition of pure and perfect happiness. How do we get

there, and furthermore where is there, and how will we know

we’ve arrived? Happiness, the documentary, will turn the

notion of happiness upside down and inside out, uncovering

for once and for all, what happiness is -- if it is anything

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at all – ultimately, capturing happiness in a cinematic net

for all of us to feast upon.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ABC Elie Wiesel Interview, The Oprah Show, 2001.

Beck, Charlotte Joko. Everyday Zen. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1989.

Ben-Shahar, Ben. Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment. New York: McGraw Hill, 2007.

Chopra, Deepak. The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire. New York: Harmony Books, 2003.

Dickler, Jessica. “Employers: No layoffs here,” CNNMoney.com, December 11, 2008.

Features, Focus. http://www.eternalsunshine.com/

Frankl, Viktor E. Man’s Search For Meaning. New York: Washington Square Press, 1959, 1962, 1984.

Hanh, Thich Nhat. The Miracle of Mindfulness. Boston: Beacon Press, 1975, 1976.

Holden, Robert. Happiness Now!, Hay House Radio, December 7, 2007.

Isidore, Chris. “Will the auto bailout work?” CNNMoney.com, December 19, 2008.

Lear, Jonathan. Happiness, Death, and the Remainder of Life. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2000.

Morris, Tom. If Aristotle Ran General Motors. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1997.

Seymour, Liz. “A Formula For Happiness.” US Airways Magazine, September 2007, 67-70.

Tolle, Eckhart. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. New York: Penguin Group, 2005.

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Bantam Books, 1960.

Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, Elie. www.eliewieselfoundation.org