One thing that I’ve been mulling over for the past week has been film endings. Why are certain movie endings more popular than others? Sure, everybody likes a happy ending. But what about ambiguous endings? Twist endings? Endings so intricate, they take the viewer right back to the beginning?
Yet, the media emphasizes happy endings. People swoon over perfect love films and cheer when the hero defeats the villain. In other words, the audience loves when everyone gets exactly what they want. Except for me.
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| Why don't you like happy endings? I'm a just jackass like that. |
I guess I’m the minority. I like unpredictable endings. I like to be shocked. I want the director to dangle me from a rope throughout the movie, only to let go once it’s over. These endings tend to be morbid, I know. But they are better than happy endings, and I want to tell you why.
1. Characters tend to have more complexity. Take for example Twilight. Bella meets Edward and falls in love. The end. Nothing else happens in the movie that changes the main idea, so the two skip off sparkling into the sunset. But what if Bella had dumped Edward because of some self-inner turmoil? You’d be interested, right? “Why the hell did she do that?” you might ask, “does she still have feelings for him?” A flat character just became complex.
2. It’s not a re-run. Whenever my mom asks me to watch some romantic comedy with her, I cringe. Not at the thought of my mom – I love her dearly, but because I can only sit through so many recycled plots before I stick out my eyes with thumbtacks. It’s always boy meets girl. Boy and girl cannot be together (petty argument, money, one isn’t human). Issue is forgotten. Boy and girl cascade into a perfect life with no other problems. Try watching Cinderella on repeat for several hours, and you’ll see the similarities.
3. It’s hilarious. Non-happy endings are like fake haunted houses. You know what’s coming next, but you’re still startled. Surprise is fun. It’s entertaining to guess how the ending will play out. What isn’t exciting is watching a character’s life come together, seeing their perfect happiness, and then going back into an imperfect reality.
Overall, I’ve had it will Hollywood’s movie formula. Seeing the peasant girl become a princess after winning over the prince was cute the first time. Now, I want her to take out an axe, chop him to smithereens, and ride into the sunset alone. Why? Because she’s complex that way.
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