Happy Endings

[Specter Von Baren]

A simple question. How do you feel about happy endings vs whatever kind of ending is on the sliding scale of happy to sad?

For my part, I prefer happy endings. The story getting to the ending can go through the meat grinder a thousand times and what comes out the other side may be marred and damaged but so long as there is a light in the darkness then I feel satisfied.

 

[Kyrian007]

I've been asked if I wanted a happy ending before. I politely declined, I didn't know it was that kind of place...

Oh, wait.

It really depends on the kind of mood I'm in. If a really good story has a bittersweet or even a downer ending I'm all for it. But If I've had a not so good day or just aren't feeling it, I'd rather things end on an upbeat note. Despite what Dante said in Clerks, Empire Strikes Back did it right. Yes, Han frozen and Luke down one hand is ending on a down note. But that wasn't the end of the movie. It was a down climax, with a denouement that showed it wasn't over and there was hope still. That's not a bad way to do a bittersweet ending.

Ultimately, art is supposed to make you feel something. And it is the same for really any entertainment medium. And, it doesn't always have to be a positive feeling to have impact. Probably why I liked Dr. Strangelove so much. It ends with the probable destruction of all of mankind... and managed to put a smile on my face doing it. Before I saw that movie I would have guessed that was impossible. Same with something like Bubba Ho-Tep. Despite the goofy premise, the mood of the entire piece is pretty somber with themes of inevitability and finality. And the ending is a real kick in the teeth. But somehow I'm smiling through those broken teeth and bloody gums.

 

[Dalisclock]

I feel the ending should fit the tone of the work/art/media/etc. I don't expect the Godfather to have a super happy ending because it's not a particularly happy story and I don't expect Earthbound to end with "And then Ness went home to find his family murdered" because they would be inconsistent with the tone and theme of the rest of the story. Yes, I realize that Earthbound has some pretty dark stuff near the end but it stands out because the rest of the story is fairly light in tone and once the boss is beaten, it goes back to being super chill.

If the point is to have the hero's triumph over adversity, even if that adversity is like wading through shit and blood, then that's fine. Have the victory be a well deserved rest from all that awfulness. At the same time, if the point is the hero keeps trying to do good things and making things worse, it makes sense to have the ending being they've unintentionally undone everything they tried to accomplish.

Hopefully that answers the question.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Do I want to finish a story on a happy note or a sad one? Duh, happy.
But a happy ending can be unsatisfying and a sad ending can be satisfying. It all depends on the story you're telling. The conclusion should be natural and in tone with the rest of the story, and not force one ending over the other.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Happy preferably, but it's harder to get those right. Nothing wrong with going for an easier sad or dramatic ending, and some variety is good.

 

[Hawki]

If we're talking about writing, weirdly enough, I find it much easier to write sad, or even bittersweet, endings than happy ones. I don't know if that's just me, or something more inherent.

If we're talking about reading/watching/whatever, I dunno. It really depends on the story that leads up to it.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

I was more open to darker media and sad endings when I was in high school, but close to a decade later of just terrible shit constantly going on in the world, I'm just kinda tired of the real world and fiction blending together. Happy endings all the way for me.

 

[Baffle]

Prefer happy endings, but most importantly that everything is wrapped up at the end. No loose threads or silly what-ifs. I don't watch films to be made to think, I watch them to have entertainment beamed into my eyeballs.

 

[Agema]

Endings should first and foremost be true to the work, and therefore for some a happy ending would be less appropriate and devalue the work. Tragedies, obviously, need to be tragic.

I'm pretty sure happy endings are preferred as a general rule: that's why most narrative works have one. That tragedies are relatively rare these days compared to olden days perhaps tells us something about that. I suspect in the early days of narrative art, there was more focus on the art having an underlying message as well as being entertainment. As it has become more about pure entertainment, this predisposes towards happy endings.

Although what's that famous pessimistic saying? "A comedy is a tragedy without the final act."

 

[Satinavian]

Happy endings for me. But they shouldn't seem contrived, they should fit to what came before.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Depends if they're included in the cost or extra.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I prefer them, so long as they were worked for and make sense within the story. If I want protracted misery and bleak hopelessness, I'll watch the news.

 

[BrawlMan]

I prefer them, so long as they were worked for and make sense within the story. If I want protracted misery and bleak hopelessness, I'll watch the news.

Same. Though I mostly prefer happy or bittersweet at the very least.

 

[Asita]

Happy endings for me. But they shouldn't seem contrived, they should fit to what came before.

That is, of course, true. However, I find that there's an often overlooked corollary: Just as a happy ending shouldn't seem contrived and needs to fit what came before, so too is it the case with a sad or bittersweet ending. It's shockingly easy to fall into the trap of treating a happy ending as an easy out that needs to first prove that its worth, and that a more depressing finale somehow doesn't need to put in the same work, often with the unspoken premise that such endings are somehow more 'natural' or 'mature'; a default that doesn't need to justify its own existence. And that's poppycock.

It doesn't matter what the tone of the story is, each and every part of it has to play nice and feel coherent with the rest of the story. If it doesn't, then that aspect of the story has failed in its purpose. Deciding not to make the ending a 'happy' one does not mean that it doesn't still have to be earned by the rest of the story.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

That is, of course, true. However, I find that there's an often overlooked corollary: Just as a happy ending shouldn't seem contrived and needs to fit what came before, so too is it the case with a sad or bittersweet ending. It's shockingly easy to fall into the trap of treating a happy ending as an easy out that needs to first prove that its worth, and that a more depressing finale somehow doesn't need to put in the same work, often with the unspoken premise that such endings are somehow more 'natural' or 'mature'; a default that doesn't need to justify its own existence. And that's poppycock.

It doesn't matter what the tone of the story is, each and every part of it has to play nice and feel coherent with the rest of the story. If it doesn't, then that aspect of the story has failed in its purpose. Deciding not to make the ending a 'happy' one does not mean that it doesn't still have to be earned by the rest of the story.

Animorphs ended like that. Yes, the series was far from averse to dark topics or outcomes for characters, but throughout the entire run of it, none of our main characters had died, even if the seriousness of everything was at its highest by the end, it still felt like at the end of the day all our heroes should be able to return home and continue on. Ending it with the death of one major character, the implied death of another, and three of them about to initiate a suicide attack (Which is where it ends by the way, a cliffhanger) was just a gut punch for the fans of the series.

 

[Asita]

Animorphs ended like that. Yes, the series was far from averse to dark topics or outcomes for characters, but throughout the entire run of it, none of our main characters had died, even if the seriousness of everything was at its highest by the end, it still felt like at the end of the day all our heroes should be able to return home and continue on. Ending it with the death of one major character, the implied death of another, and three of them about to initiate a suicide attack (Which is where it ends by the way, a cliffhanger) was just a gut punch for the fans of the series.

The example that sticks out in my mind is La La Land, specifically because so much of the praise I saw for it was pretentious twaddle about how brave it was for the film to dare not to have a happy ending. Which 1) Is not nearly as rare as implied. Hell, we'd even had another musical end on a sombre note 2 years prior with the Into the Woods. And 2) by all indications is praise as a matter of perceived principle (the kind that reeks of 'look how adult I am' insecurity) without regards for execution. It's an ending that is wholly predicated on a one-off and transparently hollow argument that was only introduced in the final stretch and a complete inversion of the status quo literally five minutes before the epilogue to try and hastily justify a 'love or career' false dichotomy that practically comes out of nowhere. That's terrible execution that should not get a pass simply because of the implication that both leads have regrets about how things turned out.

Or to use an example that's closer to home for a gaming board: Fallout 3. That did not earn the 'but tis thy destiny that thou must sacrifice thyself' ending the devs wanted to force. Hell, considering the myriad ways you should have been able to avoid dying (radiation suits, rad-x, radaway, your radiation immune companions who could perform the task with no issue...), the hand of the author is...insultingly evident.

I'm not opposed to sad or bittersweet endings (though I confess to having a preference for happier ones), but it's the writer's job to convince me that the ending is a fitting conclusion to the story they had been telling, not a last minute swerve they made because they just wanted to invoke a specific emotion in the reader.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

The example that sticks out in my mind is La La Land, specifically because so much of the praise I saw for it was pretentious twaddle about how brave it was for the film to dare not to have a happy ending. Which 1) Is not nearly as rare as implied. Hell, we'd even had another musical end on a sombre note 2 years prior with the Into the Woods. And 2) by all indications is praise as a matter of perceived principle (the kind that reeks of 'look how adult I am' insecurity) without regards for execution. It's an ending that is wholly predicated on a one-off and transparently hollow argument that was only introduced in the final stretch and a complete inversion of the status quo literally five minutes before the epilogue to try and hastily justify a 'love or career' false dichotomy that practically comes out of nowhere. That's terrible execution that should not get a pass simply because of the implication that both leads have regrets about how things turned out.

Or to use an example that's closer to home for a gaming board: Fallout 3. That did not earn the 'but tis thy destiny that thou must sacrifice thyself' ending the devs wanted to force. Hell, considering the myriad ways you should have been able to avoid dying (radiation suits, rad-x, radaway, your radiation immune companions who could perform the task with no issue...), the hand of the author is...insultingly evident.

I'm not opposed to sad or bittersweet endings (though I confess to having a preference for happier ones), but it's the writer's job to convince me that the ending is a fitting conclusion to the story they had been telling, not a last minute swerve they made because they just wanted to invoke a specific emotion in the reader.

Horror movies in particular seem to be weak to this trap. I certainly understand that if too many horror movies have everyone make it out alive and well that it will undercut the tension for future movies but I still feel there's a limit to how much this should be done. Further, just because people survive a horrible experience doesn't mean they have to get off scott free, they can keep physical and psychological trauma like at the end of Misery.

 

[Agema]

That is, of course, true. However, I find that there's an often overlooked corollary: Just as a happy ending shouldn't seem contrived and needs to fit what came before, so too is it the case with a sad or bittersweet ending.

A notable cliche would be the films that end with a shocking, unexpected or unnecessary death that seems to serve little point except some misguided idea of what's needed for a dramatic finale.

Horror movies in particular seem to be weak to this trap. I certainly understand that if too many horror movies have everyone make it out alive and well that it will undercut the tension for future movies but I still feel there's a limit to how much this should be done. Further, just because people survive a horrible experience doesn't mean they have to get off scott free, they can keep physical and psychological trauma like at the end of Misery.

To be fair, people dying is almost a requirement of horror movies.

That's there's a woman or couple who get out (whom you can usually predict within 10 minutes of the movie starting) is kind of a problem. There's still entertainment available in viewing the execution of a work of art even if you know the ending, but predictability inevitably costs a work a certain something.

My greatest teeth-grinding frustration is the horror movie cliche of "Aha! The evil isn't really dead after all!" final shot. Horror movies should end like anything ends. The slasher killer is dead, the virginal woman escapes (with, if she's lucky, her boyfriend), and that's the end. Finito. Done. Over. If the producers want a sequel, they should think up something less crap to build it around than indestructible villains.

 

[Drathnoxis]

A notable cliche would be the films that end with a shocking, unexpected or unnecessary death that seems to serve little point except some misguided idea of what's needed for a dramatic finale.

What about stories that end with shocking, unexpected, and unnecessary death and try to portray that as the happy ending?

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

As long as the ending feels "authentic" it's all fine by me. The issue is just so many happy endings don't feel authentic, but more an obligation. Same as romances. Am a little biased towards downer endings mainly cause of disfunctional brain making it easier to assume authenticity because life has taught that there are no happy endings, only brief fleeting moments of content where the camera decides to cut off before the shit gets inevitably worse again, so it's less annoying when the downer ending doesn't quite hit: for at least they tried to replicate the toxic miseries of existence I suppose?

Anyway, completely unrelated film recommendation now for Amour for no reason at all. It's a beautiful french romance.

Amour (2012 film) - Wikipedia

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