Just finished watching this movie starring Will Smith for like, the nth time. I just love this movie. What makes this movie work for me is not the struggle of the guy to get that job in the brokerage firm he is interning for. Nor is it the huge odds that the guy has to overcome. Its not even the poignancy of his life. I mean all these things have been brought out extremely well in the movie, no doubt about that. But to be very honest , struggle –against –insurmountable –odds –to achieve –things in the end kind of stories have almost become a cliché , I mean we respect that but are no longer awed or inspired by that stuff.
What makes this movie work for me is the clearly articulated motivation of the protagonist to do all the things that he does in the movie. He wanted to be happy. But that’s what everyone wants , isn’t it? Yet , no place else have I seen the motivation being articulated so clearly and unambiguously ..” All of them looked so happy ..why cant I be like that” . And that’s where it all starts.
I mean we all keep talking about our goals …we neatly divide them into long term ,short term , middle term , short to medium term …too medium to be long term and so on. In various movies ,different protagonists are shown to be motivated in different ways. For instance , its revenge for some , patriotism for others and sheer manhood (real ,imagined and most importantly perceived)for most protagonists in a lot of Tamil and Telugu movies!!!!
But this motivation struck me as the simplest, truest and the most fundamental of all …..”I want to be happy like they are” . He is not envying their position in life ,nor was he envying the broker’s material wealth in that scene , he is envying them for their happiness , without being bitter about it.
Even better than that was his admiration of Thomas Jefferson for saying “Pursuit of Happiness” instead of happiness in the declaration of independence. I mean no one is entitled to happiness nor can the state guarantee it to its citizens like it can ensure liberty and justice. But yes, you are entitled to pursue it. And this is perhaps the most fundamental of human motivations and the declaration recognized it. No wonder that , to date the declaration retains relevance.
But that brings me to another question. What is being happy ?? I mean , yes I know all that stuff about each one searching for his own happiness and looking for happiness within himself and loads of crappy stuff like that . They are a given. I am not talking about the various means and tools that people use in the pursuit to happiness but the various feelings and emotions that characterize the state of happiness . Does that state exist?? If it does is it distinguishable from other states like joy , satisfaction and contentment?? Most importantly should we make that distinction???
How should we measure happiness?? We keep making statements like “I would have been happier if….” ,suggesting gradations and degrees of happiness. What does that mean??? How are we measuring happiness in this case.???
How should we measure happiness ?? Wikipedia suggests that it is a function of various emotions relating to the past ,to the present and to the future.
For instance .satisfaction about the past …hope for the future etc. Essentially this makes happiness your bottomline figure in the balance sheet of life. Add up all good feelings , subtract all bad ones ..make provisions for future good or bad ones and lo behold ..you know whether you are happy or not. Of course assuming that your feelings are a reliable and accurate indicator of what you have done in and with your life and that they faithfully represent all of that.
Ofcourse this means that this bottomline figure will be different in different situations , at different stages in life and different points in time . Of course this seems acceptable . We all are differently happy in different situations.
Is this happiness???
Some people define happiness as harmony , some as self actualization .
Some say happiness should be looked at in a rather long term perspective ,rather than foucssing on things like immediate gratification ..Is it true???
Imagine a person who is striving towards a goal. He is satisfied about his past. Hopeful about the future . Hence his happiness balance sheet is in the black .He is not focusing on immediate gratification . He knows he will be happy if he achieves what he has set out for. On the way he is encountering a lot of odds. He is not happy at all. He wants to achieve the goal as quickly as possible. And he is very confident that he would be happy if he achieves it. He does , And he is happy. For a while. Then ennui sets in. Now he is unhappy that it is over. He feels he would have been happier if it were not over.
So should happiness be a function of the journey or of the destination??? If the journey is through hell then can even heaven as a destination make us happy???
I wish I knew whether I am happy or not.
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