Renowned British Independent film-maker Mike Leigh recently made an Independent British Film called Happy-Go-Lucky, about a primary school teacher called Poppy who takes a resoundingly happy view of life. Being interviewed for The Guardian, Mike Leigh agreed that “The prevailing ideology at the moment is cynicism. It’s much more fashionable to be cynical and negative, whether it’s about politicians and public institutions, even about teachers. So to make something that’s not cynical and about somebody who approaches the world with an open heart - that’s really not in the grain of the culture of the moment”. His film does exactly that, flies in the face of popular culture and is just happy about everything all the time1.

So are we a  nation of cynics, whingers and moaners? Is Britain flowing with negative energy? Tom Harris MP writes that: 

There are more two-car homes in Britain today than there are homes without a car at all. We live longer, eat healthier (if we choose), have better access to forms of entertainment never imagined a generation ago (satellite TV, DVD, computer games), the majority of us have fast access to the worldwide web, which we use to enable even more spending and for entertainment. Crime is down.

So why is everyone so bloody miserable?

(Tip of the hat to Letters From A Tory)

The comments thread which, when I looked this morning, had 6 entries has now swelled to nearly a hundred on the back of a Telegraph article in which Phillip Hammond is quoted describing the post as ”[raising] Labour’s arrogance and complacency to a whole new level.” Tom Harris has four separate blog posts dealing with the fallout from his words, which appeared on the front page of the Daily Mail. He’s now issued an apology for the post, in which he says “timing isn’t my strong point”.

To be perfectly honest, and fair to Tom Harris MP, I think he makes a good point. We in the Western world have enough money and power to make Solomon blush. Perhaps if materialism really brought happiness, we ought to start cheering up a bit about life, the universe and everything. Harris’s point ended up being made quite beautifully by the outcry his post caused. Numerous indignant cries of how we’re miserable because of the credit crunch, the economy, the government, the EU, the war in Iraq, the lies of politicians, the petrol prices, the lack of unicorns about the place… Well, I made the last one up, but you get the point. Comparisions are being drawn to Jim Callaghan’s “Crisis? What Crisis?” moment2. The whole thing is blown totally out of proportion, because we are miserable and cynical by default.

What interests me is why Tom Harris MP believes that this is any different to previous times. Really, people are and have always been like the Grandmother in the old joke about a young boy playing on a beach who is swept away suddenly by an enormous wave. His Grandmother falls to her knees and prays, crying to God to “please return my Grandson as he is young and innocent!” When another freakishly huge wave restores the boy, in perfect condition, back to his Grandma she raises an angry fist to the sky and screams “he had a hat!”

Perhaps if we could all try and be a little more like Mike Leigh’s Poppy, the world would indeed gradually start to become a better place. Perhaps not, of course, but perhaps.

  1. I haven’t actually seen the film myself yet, but heard it reviewed. Apparently, Poppy does come across as being very annoying, although I’m not certain how to take that! [↩]
  2. Incidentally, much like “Hug A Hoodie”, Jim Callaghan never said “Crisis? What Crisis?”, it was merely the front page headline of The Sun the following morning. It’s also the title of one of my favourite albums of all time, by Supertramp. [↩]