The Happiness Machine story
An inventor manages to create a machine that can make people happy. Directed by: John Laing. Story by: Ray Bradbury.
11 total · 2 choice · 3 major · 6 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| carpe diem | choice | A point of the story was that we should enjoy what we have, take the good with the bad, and never fantasize about things that never were, like Leo tried to do by encouraging people to emerse themselves in his television-like "happiness" machine. |
| escape from reality | choice | Leo's "happiness" machine turned out to be an escape from reality device, much like television. The point of the story was that such things are bad, and that we must instead enjoy life as it is. |
| husband and wife | major | The story concerns a husband whose family, and especially the wife, were bothered by his sudden obsession with inventing a happiness machine. |
| speculative device | major | Leo dedicated himself to building a "happiness" machine. The machine was blue, about the size of a dumpster, and designed for a single occupant. The occupant, when shut up inside the contraption, was presented with a cavalcade of pleasant sensory inputs, such as flashing lights and a slideshow of world travel destinations. This, Leo reasoned, would be enough to make anybody happy. In the end, however, Leo came to believe that true happiness was to be found in home, family, and taking life as it is. [smell-o-vision] |
| too much television is bad for society | major | A point of the story is that Leo's becoming emersed in his television-like "happiness" machine was detrimental to his family life. |
| creative writing | minor | In the introduction, Ray Bradbury shared with the viewer the wellsprings of creativity that inspire his writing. |
| father and daughter | minor | The story concerns a husband whose family are bothered by his sudden obsession with inventing a happiness machine. The wife mentioned that he had barely spoken to his children in two weeks. |
| father and son | minor | The story concerns a husband whose family are bothered by his sudden obsession with inventing a happiness machine. The wife mentioned that he had barely spoken to his children in two weeks. |
| mother and daughter | minor | Lena interacted with her young daughters. |
| mother and son | minor | Lena interacted with her young son, Saul. |