Happy

The following video is a tribute to Pharrel Williams’s song Happy. It was made by Iranian fans in Tehran using an iPhone 5s. Of course, being happy and dressing like normal people promptly got the three women and three men arrested by Iran’s religious police, who claimed the video was “vulgar” and hurt “public chastity.” But now the six have been released, perhaps in part because of publicity on social media. Take a look at what can get you in trouble in Tehran. (Sure, when I was a kid, some older adults may have complained that rock music was vulgar and would lead to the downfall of America, Western civilization, and so on, but no one went to jail for dancing to it.)