History Main / HappinessIsMandatory

* In the ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comics strip "Mancopolis", Mayor Mulberry, ruler of the MegaCity future Manchester, has mandated this. The city's microclimate can detect people who don't look happy, and given them a PersonalRaincloud until they comply. Ruby quickly realises the effect this is ''actually'' having on people.

** Pandaren culture encourages a meditative, relaxed, and jolly mindset as much as possible. This is due to the fact that their homeland contains fragments, known as the Sha, of an Old God, that feed on negative emotions like hate and fear, so they're culture evolved to adapt: living a harmonious, hate-free lifestyle to starve the Sha of food. Then the Alliance and Horde brought their war to Pandaria...

* Some kids can get in trouble in schools or with parents for having a "bad attitude." Likewise, parents will scold or punish their children for being "ungrateful".

** This is the entire point of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E2TheHappinessPatrol the Happiness Patrol]] in the serial of that title.

** This is the entire point of the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E2TheHappinessPatrol Happiness Patrol]] in the serial of that title.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E2Smile "Smile"]]: On Gliese 581d, you had better be smiling or the emojibots will get you. [[spoiler:This is the result of an oversight in their programming: they had never seen sadness before, and interpreted it as a disease that needed to be culled.]]

** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E73ItsAGoodLife It's a Good Life]]", everyone in Peaksville represses negative thoughts and emotions for fear that if Anthony Fremont senses unhappiness, he will either lash out in anger at the thinker for being dissatisfied with the world he has made or make a misguided attempt to help.
** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E137Number12LooksJustLikeYou Number 12 Looks Just Like You]]", the Transformation alters people's minds so that the only emotion that they are capable of experiencing is happiness.

* A 1954 ''Time'' magazine [[http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,806931,00.html article]] on North Vietnam {{invoked}} this with its title: "INDO-CHINA: Land of Compulsory Joy". It was, unsurprisingly, about life under the regime of Ho Chi Minh, which the citizens were coerced to be happy with, starting off with the description of megaphone-wielding men patrolling the streets of Hanoi telling people their "joy is indescribable". Given the virulent anti-Communism of that era's ''Time'' and its willingness to slant its reporting accordingly, there's no telling if this is true.

* Any corporate meeting or convention outside of the working hours is this by design. Especially when they are "non-obligatory", but the HR then keeps asking you during evaluations why you weren't attending "team-building activities" or similar. You have to go there, in your free time, to have a good time. Even if you don't want to. Even when you are in the middle of something crucial at the job you are doing for that company. After all, you can always do overtime, as you just "recharged the batteries". Nowadays they are being slooowly phased out due to a combination of costs and counterproductive results, but they were the bane of the 00s cubicle and middle-management jobs.

* On a smaller scale example, go to pretty much [[SoulSuckingRetailJob any major retail store chain]] and nine times out of ten anybody working at the counters will have a forced smile on their face and might even have a forcibly happy "greeting" they are forced to memorize and give to every customer. A lot of these places also use InsistentTerminology to describe their staff: they're not downtrodden "employees" but "associates" or "members of the family".

** In "Treehouse of Horror II", when Homer, Bart, and Lisa all have nightmares, "Bart's Nightmare" is all about having psychic powers and everybody in Springfield walks around thinking "happy thoughts" so as not to displease him and be turned into something weird in a spoof of ''It's A Good Life''.
** In the "Treehouse of Horror V" story "Time and Punishment", Homer's time-traveling creates a dystopian present in which Ned Flanders rules the world and requires everyone to be happy all the time. Those who don't comply are given a "re-Neducation" culminating in a {{lobotomy}}.
** In "Pokey Mom", Homer injures his back at a prison rodeo and is sent to its infirmary. When asked how he's feeling, he sheepishly replies "I can't complain" while pointing at a large "NO COMPLAINING" sign. Right afterwards, an orderly says it only applies to inmates, so he is free to complain.

* ''ComicBook/IHateFairyland'': Gert, in a rare profound moment, points out that being ''forced'' to do something, even something that would normally be fun or enjoyable, builds up resentment and poisons the activity. Being dragged into [[SugarBowl Fairyland]] with no consent or consideration whatsoever turns what might have been a fun adventure into a hateful experience that brings out the absolute worst in Gert.

Why does the regime do this? Well, maybe it is simply insane or enjoys toying with its underlings ForTheEvulz, or they may be trying to paper over the fact that DystopiaIsHard. The regime is perhaps trying to combat TheEvilsOfFreeWill through StockholmSyndrome. Or through InsaneTrollLogic, because beating is so effective to control the population, it can be applied as well to emotional states. Either way, the demands for happiness tend to underscore the regime's ZeroPercentApprovalRating.

** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyANewGeneration'':
*** The Unity Crystals: [[MineralMacGuffin a set of three Crystals]] that are responsible for holding all of Ponykinds' Magic in them are ultimately this: forcing the Three Pony Races into cooperating with one-another in order to maintain their Magic, and that any slight disagreements or measure of [[VitriolicBestBuds vitriol]] will cause the Magic to go out of control and [[ApocalypseHow cause purple voids to form in the ground that will eventually consume the world.]] [[spoiler:Not to mention the fact that these crystals were created by [[WhatTheHellHero Twilight Sparkle]] in the first place]]

*** The Unity Crystals: a set of Magical MacGuffins that are responsible for holding all of Ponykinds' Magic in them are ultimately this: forcing the Three Pony Races into cooperating with one-another in order to maintain their Magic, and that any slight disagreements or measure of [[VitrolicBestBuds vitriol]] will cause the Magic to go out of control and [[ApocalypseHow cause purple voids to form in the ground that will eventually consume the world.]] [[spoiler:Not to mention the fact that these crystals were created by [[WhatTheHellHero Twilight Sparkle]] in the first place]]

* ''Series/ThirtyRock'': Liz Lemon proudly states "There is no party like a Liz Lemon party, because a Liz Lemon party is ''mandatory''.

* This is often the attitude some people have towards those who are being pessimistic about life in general, or even those expressing momentary dissatisfaction with something currently happening. It's called "[[https://rightasrain.uwmedicine.org/mind/well-being/toxic-positivity#:~:text=Quick%20Read%20What%20is%20toxic,and%20a%20feeling%20of%20disconnection toxic positivity]]."

--> "You can't not have fun at Disney World. It's not ''Allowed''."

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':

* In one ''[[ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse Mickey Mouse]]'' story, Mickey and Goofy meet a deranged monarch who explains that he has no unhappy subjects, because if they are unhappy they are imprisoned. ''Then'', to demonstrate, he asks a random peasant whether he is happy. The peasant grins maniacally and seemingly sincerely and says that he is happy... and the king promptly orders him thrown into jail.

* The independent comic ''Happy Hour'' takes this to the extreme, as it's set in a dystopian, fascist United States where happiness isn't just mandatory, but it's the only emotion people are allowed to feel and drugs and mind conditioning are used to lock people into a state of perpetual vapid glee. The main character is even expected to laugh at trite jokes right after barely surviving a car crash that killed his mother and sister, and is sent to an asylum where he gets tortured for trying to leave. It's also Inverted when he and his love interest find refuge in a commune where everyone commits to being miserable in defiance of the law.

** In "Pokey Mom", Homer injures his back at a prison rodeo and is sent to its infirmary. When asked how he's feelingly, he sheepishly replies "I can't complain" while pointing at a large "NO COMPLAINING" sign. Right afterwards, an orderly says it only applies to inmates, so he is free to complain.

** A specifically naval variation is "There will be no liberty until morale improves."

* After the collapse of the January Uprising against Tsarist Russian rule, Poles and Lithuanians were demonstrating their feelings by wearing mourning clothes. The Tsarist officials' reaction? All people who wanted to mourn were required to apply for a special half year permit, pay a fee and in their application point out which relative they were mourning.

** On another note, it's not a bad habit to be wary of people who don't tolerate unhappiness regarding their country, company, family or any other institution. Look for terms like "whining" or any other way to dismiss concerns.

* The TropeNamer is the DystopianEdict of Alpha Complex's [[AIIsACrapshoot Friend Computer]] from ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'': "[[AC:Happiness is mandatory. Failure to be happy is treason. Treason is punishable by summary execution. Are you happy, citizen?]]"

* The TropeNamer is the DystopianEdict of Alpha Complex from ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'': "Happiness is mandatory. Unhappiness is treason. Treason is punishable by summary execution. Are you happy, citizen?" Inverted in [[CommieLand Alpha State]], where ''morbid depression'' is mandatory.

--> '''Lucy:''' How can the world be getting worse with me in it? Ever since I was born the world has shown a distinct improvement! I make the world better! I am a positive force! ''[threateningly, to Linus]'' SMILE! ''[Linus complies – [[TheUnSmile sort of]]]'' See? With me around, everyone is a lot happier!