Young Iranians Arrested For Dancing To Pharrell’s “Happy”

In certain circumstances, even profoundly goofy pop music can have serious human stakes. Around the world, people are uploading videos of themselves dancing to Pharrell’s “Happy,” about as inoffensive a pop song as you can possibly imagine. But when a group of young Iranians uploaded a video of themselves dancing — not particularly salaciously — and called it “Happy We Are From Tehran,” Tehran police arrested and interrogated all of them. As the Huffington Post points out, Tehran police chief Hossein Sajedinia, who arrested seven or eight of the dancers in the video, calls the video “a vulgar clip which hurt public chastity” and adds that “Our dear youths should try to avoid these kinds of people. Like actors, singers, and these kinds of problems. Try to avoid it.” Below, watch the offending video and the news report about the young people being interrogated.