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HAPPY ENDINGS?


Hey all you writers, readers, movie goers out there. I have a question for you. Do you think our books/movies should always have a happy ending?

One book I read recently, well, it didn’t have a happy ending. As a matter of fact, I was completely crushed when I read that his one true love died. I was brought to tears. Yes, that means the book was good, it provoked emotions, yes, but I was seriously bummed out for, like, two days. There have been a few movies I have seen that produced the same results.

I’m torn on the whole, happy ending thing. My writing tends to lean that way as it does for most writers; however, does it need to? Are people looking only for happy endings, no matter what?

I’m thinking YES, they should have happy endings, all of them. Because, I tell ya, I see more sad/depressing endings to things throughout like (news stories, etc)–so when I read a book, write a book, see a movie…well, I’m looking for an escape from reality.

What do you think??

4 Comments

  • Sheri Boeyink

    Thanks Desert Lady.
    Yes, if a movie or book touches me that deeply for a couple days, it was excellently done. I just don’t like being sad (I know, denial–it CAN be lovely some times.)
    Thanks for the comments. I love to hear everyones opinions.
    And yes, With God ALL things are possible. Heck, my husband’s parents have been married 41 years. Crazy, I know. It wasn’t all fun and roses either. **but more on that next week when I do a week long post theme of “Marriage” as I’m coming up to my 12th year with my fantastic hubby!

  • Desert Lady

    Sheri, I have been pondering this question. I think of something that the Phoenix Christian Writers director has said: “Life is messy.” His instruction continued, and I loosely quote here, “God is not in a box, and neither can story endings be always tied up neatly with a bow.” I sometimes sense that an author has hurried to finish his story, and this often causes that “neatly tied ending” that just doesn’t seem to fit. It seems to me that with writing, the CRAFTING of an ending is more crucial than whether the ending is happy or sad. The fact that you were bummed out for two days after reading a sad ending indicates how “real” the story had become to you. Isn’t that good/great writing? As to Kat’s comment that there are never any happy endings in marriage, that sounds sad! With God, all things are possible! [see Lk. 18:27] Sharon

  • Kat

    My mother-in-law recently told me every story and song should have a happy ending, but I disagree with her. I think it raises unrealistic expectations about how our lives should be.

    Some of the best things in life don’t have happy endings. There are no happy endings, for example, in marriage…ever.

    Yeah, I hated when Jack died in “Titanic,” and I hated that we never knew what happened to Lucius at the end of “The Village.” And “The Green Mile” … don’t even get me started. But I always felt like I learned just as much from these stories and felt just as much from these characters as I did in stories with happy endings.

    I do prefer happy endings, though. 😉