Think Happy Thoughts: Difference between revisions

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And then I don't feel so bad."''|''[[The Sound of Music]]'', "My Favorite Things."}}

Times are tough. Your [[Love Interest]] has just been [[Zork ~~(Video Game)~~|eaten by a Grue]], [[Sadistic Choice|you only had enough anti-venom to save]] ''[[Sadistic Choice|one]]'' [[Sadistic Choice|of your three adopted children]], your [[Doomed Hometown|hometown]] just got glassed by the [[Big Bad]]'s [[Kill Sat]], and to top it off you just [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|dropped your ice cream]]. Life absolutely sucks.

Times are tough. Your [[Love Interest]] has just been [[Zork|eaten by a Grue]], [[Sadistic Choice|you only had enough anti-venom to save]] ''[[Sadistic Choice|one]]'' [[Sadistic Choice|of your three adopted children]], your [[Doomed Hometown|hometown]] just got glassed by the [[Big Bad]]'s [[Kill Sat]], and to top it off you just [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|dropped your ice cream]]. Life absolutely sucks.

But just when you're feeling your lowest, you conjure up your happiest thoughts, and suddenly, you're smiling again. It can be [[Noodle Incident|that time Jeff got really trashed at the office party]], [[Theme Music Power-Up|your favorite song]], mental images of a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsg8JccRZCw litter of puppies], whatever - the point it's enough of a mental pick-me-up to keep you from being swallowed by despair.

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== [[Anime]] ==

* The [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann|Gurren-dan]] does this whenever they think of, remember, or quote Kamina. Same for the public: thinking of or playing [[Crowning Music of Awesome|Libera Me From Hell or even Rap is a Man's Soul]] always makes you feel like you could do ANYTHING.

* [http://www.onemanga.com/D.Gray-Man/110/09/ This] is [[D Gray ~~Man~~|Allen Walker's]] advice to Chaozii, who is on the brink of a (completely justified) mental breakdown. Allen has obviously had a lot of practice.

* [http://www.onemanga.com/D.Gray-Man/110/09/ This] is [[D.Gray-man|Allen Walker's]] advice to Chaozii, who is on the brink of a (completely justified) mental breakdown. Allen has obviously had a lot of practice.

== Comedy ==

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== [[Comic Books]] ==

* Reversed in one ''[[~~Hellblazer (Comic Book)|~~Hellblazer]]'' story: An apartment building contains a bunch of seriously depressing life stories that sucks the happiness out of the atmosphere, except for the last floor, occupied by a cheerful old lady. Add some grisly mutilations and murders to the ambiance. Learn that {{spoiler|the old lady, long since past [[Christmas Cake]] status, uses strips of flesh from prostitutes to get high on their memories.}}

* Reversed in one ''[[Hellblazer]]'' story: An apartment building contains a bunch of seriously depressing life stories that sucks the happiness out of the atmosphere, except for the last floor, occupied by a cheerful old lady. Add some grisly mutilations and murders to the ambiance. Learn that {{spoiler|the old lady, long since past [[Christmas Cake]] status, uses strips of flesh from prostitutes to get high on their memories.}}

== [[Film]] ==

* In the extras for the ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'' DVDs, Sir Ian McKellen mentioned that if he ever gets depressed about something, all he has to do is close his eyes and remember the incredible reception the ''LotR'' cast got for the New Zealand premier of ''Return of the King''.

* The ultimate parody of this must be the one at the end of [[Monty Python]]'s ''[[Life of Brian]]'', when the main character and others with him are cheered up by the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"... while they are {{spoiler|dying slowly and agonisingly of crucifixion.}}

* At the end of ''[[The Punisher (~~Film~~)|The Punisher]]'', Castle has killed all the criminals responsible for his family's deaths, and thinks he has nothing further to live for. He puts a gun to his own head, but a memory of his wife prevents him from pulling the trigger.

* At the end of ''[[The Punisher (film)|The Punisher]]'', Castle has killed all the criminals responsible for his family's deaths, and thinks he has nothing further to live for. He puts a gun to his own head, but a memory of his wife prevents him from pulling the trigger.

== [[Literature]] ==

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* Or perhaps even more famously, happy thoughts are used in ''[[Harry Potter]]'' to create a Patronus. Made more difficult by the fact that you usually summon a Patronus to deal with creatures that literally suck the happiness out of you.

* In ''[[The Witch of Blackbird Pond]]'', Kit gets through the winter by clinging to the memory of a dream she had of standing on the prow of a boat bound for her home Barbados.

* ''[[~~Anne of Green Gables (Literature)|~~Anne of Green Gables]].'' It's a necessity to surviving an [[Orphanage of Fear]].

* ''[[Anne of Green Gables]].'' It's a necessity to surviving an [[Orphanage of Fear]].

* ''[[Pollyanna]]'' would also do this. The Hayley Mills version calls this the Glad Game. The high point is when she is challenged to find something to be glad about after the minister has delivered a depressing fire-and-brimstone sermon. Her reply is that once it's over you can be glad you don't have to worry about it again for an entire week.

* [[Blood Knight|Jaime Lannister]] mentions [[Brother-Sister Incest|thinking of Cersei]] while the mad king he was pledged to tortured and burned his subjects to death in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]''. {{spoiler|Once Aerys declared his intention to burn the city to the ground, however, happy thoughts weren't enough and Jaime butchered him.}}

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* In [[Glee]], Rachel is about to have an emotional breakdown, but sings a happy song in her head so that she is collected enough to pose for the school photos.

* Played with in the BBC Scotland sitcom ''Legit''. One character, "Happy Boab", is so named because he is constantly happy, but this is implied to be a psychological defence mechanism due to having been repeatedly abused as a child.

* ''[[~~Doctor Who (TV)|~~Doctor Who]]''; the episode "The Stolen Earth" has this exchange between the Doctor and Donna:

* ''[[Doctor Who]]''; the episode "The Stolen Earth" has this exchange between the Doctor and Donna:

{{quote| '''Donna''': Thing is, Doctor, no matter what's happening—and I'm sure it's bad, I get that. But, Rose is coming back. Isn't that good?<br />

'''The Doctor'''(after a [[Beat]]): Yeah. It is. }}

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* "I Whistle a Happy Tune" from ''[[The King and I]]''.

* "We Need a Little Christmas" from ''Mame''.

* "Look For The Silver Lining" from ''Sally''. (Actually originally written for a musical version of ''[[~~Brewsters~~ Millions]]''.)

* "Look For The Silver Lining" from ''Sally''. (Actually originally written for a musical version of ''[[Brewster's Millions]]''.)

* [[Book of Mormon]] provides a rather dark take on this with the song "Turn it Off"

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* Possibly the "Laughing Place" scene from ''[[Song of the South]]'', although it leans away from this and toward [[Happy Place]] as the scene progresses.

* In the [[Family Guy]] movie: Future!Stewie has accidentally burnt down his apartment by putting up relaxation candles on the suggestion of Present!Stewie. He sulks, but Past!Stewie recommends "The Glad Game" as a pick-me-up. Pinwheels, cake from the fair, cutting into construction paper...these are a few of Stewie's fay-vo-rite things, indeed.

* Played with in the ''[[Teen Titans (~~Animation~~)|Teen Titans]]'' episode "Switched". Starfire's powers are based on emotion, and like Peter Pan, flying needs a "joyful thought". [[Emotionless Girl]] Raven, stuck in Starfire's body, has a little trouble with this.

* Played with in the ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' episode "Switched". Starfire's powers are based on emotion, and like Peter Pan, flying needs a "joyful thought". [[Emotionless Girl]] Raven, stuck in Starfire's body, has a little trouble with this.

{{quote| '''Starfire:''' ''[as Raven]'' What was your joyful thought?<br />

'''Raven:''' ''[as Starfire]'' You don't want to know.<br />