Choice of Happiness?

Ordinary Happiness, Occasional Happiness and Being Happy by State Orders?

Sinan Çetin, famous film director and producer from Turkey made a short movie “Be happy! It’s an Order!” The movie could be reached at youtube, and lately it has been in circulation through facebook.

Movie starts with this information:
‘On November 2, 1934 in an Anatolian village’, at the evening villagers gathered at a place playing a common folk music instrument, saz and singing folk songs joyfully.
Writing passes by stating:
“In those years the Turkish Republic government forbidden Turkish music to be played in the Turkish radios, the goal was to establish and expand an interest for Western music. The young Republic wanted to have Western culture (a la franga) instead of a la turka culture.”
Suddenly the door of the room violently opens and many soldiers fill the room with their guns pointing to people who are sitting on the floor.
A soldier cries out:
-“Shut up! What are you playing?” Villager says:
-“Türkü” (folk song). -Soldier asks:
-“What türkü?” Villager says -“halk türküsü-folk song.”
Villagers staring at their faces with questioning looks, soldier says:
-“It is forbidden! Sitting on the floor as Easterners, playing Turkish folk songs are forbidden! From now on you are to play Western composers! Here is whom we’re to play!” He and another soldier take turn to read from a paper with the pain of complexity of spelling: “Guiseppe Verdi, Franz Schubert, Frederic Chopin, Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Antonin Dvorak, Gustav Mahler, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Mattheson!”
People look with more confused faces for this new exclamation. Soldier:
-“Why are you singing like villagers? Are you villagers? We are going to be Westernized! We are going to be contemporaneous! We are going to be modernized! We are going to be happy! I am telling you to be happy, why are you not happy? Be happy, be happy! Be happy!!! I am waiting, be happy, be! Are you rascal rebelling against the state? Look son! Be happy, happy! Let us see your smile!” That particular guy smiles at him forcing himself. Then the soldier turns around saying: “Why are you looking unhappy? We are telling you to be happy! Be happy! Be happy sing a Western song! Mozart!”
Saz player starts to play a song after hearing Mozart’s names: “Ok, we’ll play him” then he starts playing. And now it is time for the soldier becoming confused, he stops that song to be played. Soldier says ‘I think this is not Western.’
Villager: Mozart! It’s the 40th symphony of Mozart!
Soldier: Rascal, would it be possible to play Western music with saz? Play Beethoven!
Villager: -Alright! And he starts playing Beethoven. And so the villager starts playing a piece by Beethoven and people start to sing a song. Soldiers join the villagers starting to dance in puzzlement. Soldier: If this is Western, how come I like it? Is this really Western?
Villager: -Yes, it is the 9th symphony of Beethoven.
Soldier: Is Beethoven nice like this? Finally he stops his questions and keeps dancing while we read on the screen another note:
When a political authority forbids people’s music, culture, and life style they always put themselves in a weird position.

I really liked watching this short movie. Thanks, Mr. Sinan Çetin, congratulations!
I have been thinking to write an article on Turkish Cultural revolution and this movie gave a lot of inspiration to me. Turkey experienced an extraordinary change by the establishment of Turkish Republic in 1923. From alphabet to measurement, from calendar to music, social, political, educational, economical many many things changed in Turkey. A new nation state sitting on a heritage that the past 600 years governed around with a very pluralistic notion, started as if this past had never happened.

Claims about being backward and loosing territory and battles have existed since the 2nd Vienna siege in 1683. However, as this short movie emphasizes the whole change on life style and culture had never forced this much deep into the skins of people earlier. Some were completely in shock asking if we were to become completely western than why we died in the battlefield for our freedom? Some were claiming that if we were to be westernized and get rid of the old ways of our ancestors we would have developed. So there has been a challenge in both ways and directions. Some governors were more effective by using power to apply the rules and regulations. Particularly army was confused. Creating a new nation state must have been difficult.

I watched this movie a couple of times. While growing I listened to my grandmother’s stories of her experiences. I am still not able to fully comprehend everything that occurred in the past 85 years. I am a child of the Republic. I studied the official history, written by state approved authors. We were taught to hate the old system completely. We were taught to curse against the Ottoman sultans. There were times to like that ended by the end of 16th century right after Kanuni Sultan Süleyman, Suleiman the Magnificent in 1566. That is it. Between 16th and 20th century about four centuries, I mean 400 years of history was cursed, and to be hated without even knowing what happened at that time. It was interesting. Well, in 1839, Tanzimat (The New Order) happened. Tanzimat was something nice. A new order came, but was never sufficient enough for change. Later in 1876 and in 1908 two tries of Meşrutiyet-Constitutional times happened but ended, not able to survive. It is told at home that World War I started in 1914 and the Ottomans participated at the war on the wrong side due to an obsessive commander’s ambition. Enver Paşa made some serious mistakes. We had an official-formal education and training at school and informal education and training at home. We are to keep whatever we are taught at home to ourselves, not to share with anyone.

Those years when I was in middle school, in high school life was so hard, terribly difficult. Word choice mattered. Word selection was related with identity. If I were to use ‘imkân’ I should be a political rightist, and if I were to use the new word ‘olanak’ to replace imkân, I would be considered a political leftist. During exams if by mistake we were to write “cevaplar” instead of “yanıtlar” for answers and if our teacher wishes us to get rid of all the old words and terminology, we might have ended up getting bad grades. It was horrific. People were discriminated by their names even. People discriminated by their choice of daily newspapers. I was so horrified of these camps in my society. Now being able to watch this short movie I started to realize that after the establishment of Turkish Republic a big revolution took place that which still continues to form. It is not easy to erase the past. Creating a new nation state is not easy. Cutting the ties with the roots is not easy, no matter how forceful the state have been.

Movie speaks for itself beautifully; humanizing the subject matter is all matters.