Not Happy in Bahrain

For the unfamiliar, the song ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams has gone viral, spawning many memes and derivatives on YouTube. People from Nablus to Japan have made their own versions. It is not surprising then, that Bahrain saw its own version of the Meme. Directed by JEO Productions, the clip shows many Bahraini residents looking happy and dancing to Williams’s song. It’s a fun, upbeat video, yet it tends to paint Bahrain in rather a rosy, and not entirely accurate light. In order that the video not be used to gloss over, or indeed whitewash ongoing state violence in Bahrain, I created the ‘Not Happy in Bahrain’ video. Take a look for yourself.