Is it wrong to be “Happy”?
Iranian police arrested seven men and one woman on Tuesday after they were featured in a widely popular YouTube music video, dancing to Pharrell’s “Happy” song.
The arrested youth were also forced to appear on state TV for an interrogation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5jyIR3NdjE
In the footage, they said they were “tricked”, and had created the video for private viewing, not intending for it to be publicly shared. A police officer criticizes them for dancing in mixed company, which is against the law, and warned others against attempting to do the same to garner fame. The woman in the footage isn’t wearing a veil, and this is mandatory in Iran.
A shortened version of the TV broadcast was uploaded onto YouTube with English subtitles shortly after.
Their version of “Happy” was posted last month and had more than 30,000 hits in four days before being removed. If you haven’t watched it, here it is:
“We want to tell the world that Iran is a better place than what they think it is,” one of the video creators, cited only as Neda mentioned in an April interview. “Despite all the pressures and limitations, young people are joyful and want to make the situation better.” Neda also said that they were “really afraid” while filming. “Whenever somebody looked out of a window or someone passed by, we ducked behind a door to make sure we were not seen.”
Speaking of which, have you seen the Kuala Lumpur version of “Happy”?
[Source]
