After watching the Gammy Awards a few weeks ago, this comparison suddenly popped into my head this afternoon:
Why are we scared of happy endings as film goers (or even readers of "modern" literature)? Why are we scared of sad endings too? I guess a more legitimate question is why are we afraid of an ending that is appropriate? I mean, obviously, sometimes in the course of a story it is evident whether it will end happily, or not, but I find that quite often, endings are tacked on to coerce the audience into feeling a certain way. Sometimes the "hero" doesn't deserve to win because in reality, he's a good for nothing jerk. But he wins anyways because it makes us feel good. And sometimes, the hero is one who deserves to win, but loses anyways (an sometimes, this is done simply to evoke our unmerited tears). I think Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame and its subsequent film adaptations are a viable example of what I'm trying to say. The book is a tragic examination of bourgeois life in 15th century France, and in particular, the tragedy of true love, ending in the deaths of many of the story's protagonists. Then why is it that most film adaptations have the heroic Quasimodo victorious at the end? Why are we afraid to reveal what the story is really about? Any other ending seems unnatural. It seems simulated to invoke warm fuzzy feelings that should not exist within the context of that particular story.
I guess when it gets down to it, I'm sick of inappropriate endings. Every story has an ending that is naturally resolved through the telling of the story itself. I'm not much of a writer (obviously. hence this convoluted post), but I've written enough to grasp the idea that a story sorta takes a life of its own, and to alter its course in order to suit your own needs just seems wrong. When you change a story like Hunchback of Notre Dame to create a joyous triumph, is it really Hunchback of Notre Dame anymore? Or have you created something entirely new? Neither? Both? ug. Why is it we crave happy endings and then are left unsatisfied by them in the end? Why is is that we reject happy endings in order for a film to fuel our own self-indulgent needs? Why are we scared of a good ending? Not a happy one, not a sad one necessarily, but a good one. Even if that good might just be terrible.
