Article written by Dylan Bell.
One of the joys of my life is watching a good film. It brings me no end of joy and satisfaction to see interesting characters embark on a journey, whether that be physical or emotional. As is expected the ending of a film is always one of, if not the, most important part of the film, which is why some of my friends are baffled by my love of so called “sad” endings.
Now, when I say sad endings what do I mean? Simply put, I like when the protagonist fails, when our main character dies or the happy couple of the film do not get together. I love these types of endings. The typical response I get when I reveal this to people is often shock and awe, how could I like sad endings? How could I possibly find enjoyment out of failure? Well, if you would kindly lay down the pitch forks I shall elaborate.
The reason as to why I enjoy sad, bad or simply depressing endings is simple, they are often more realistic. In real life you don’t always win, sometimes you fail, and that failure cannot be undone as simply as they are in films. Life is hard and difficult and I enjoy seeing that on screen, seeing fictional characters go through real problems with realistic outcomes.
One of my pet peeves in many, many films is the forced love story. Now I am not against there being love stories in non-romance films, of course not, but there doesn’t ALWAYS need to be one. Am I the only one who gets taken out of the moment when the final goal, the whole point of the film has just been achieved and out of nowhere, with little development and effort, the hero and heroine get together for little to no reason other than the script said so?
Once again, I enjoy romance as much as the next person, but only when there’s a natural build up and it’s relevant, not just thrown into a plot because the filmmakers believed audiences would riot if the “breeding pair” didn’t go forward.
Also one important point I would like to mention, just because there is no happy couple in the end doesn’t mean it’s a bad ending. One film I adore for this is How To Be Single, a film about a young woman, Alice, fresh out of college, leaves her boyfriend temporarily so she can see what it’s like to be on her own. Of course this doesn’t pan out well when her boyfriend ends up dating another woman, and the rest of the film is about her learning to be single and going through other relationships and life in general, along with us following a few other characters and their lives.
It’s a reasonably simple plot and I thoroughly enjoyed the film. However, whilst watching, I was afraid everyone we follow would end up with someone and it would basically end with the message of you can’t be happy alone or some bullsh*t like that, I was pleasantly surprised. Of the six characters we follow only two end up with a partner, and the message for the ones who are still single is too take it at your own pace and date when you’re ready, not because you think you need too, and that is a message I adore.
This film, and others like it, demonstrate a rare message that should be shown more often. Romance isn’t the end goal, you don’t need to be in a relationship to be happy and that’s a message a lot of people need to hear instead of being obsessed with finding a partner.
Take Disney for example, for the most part I love Disney, but the majority of their films end with a couple finding their happily ever after. That’s cute and all but it sets an unhealthy desire in us, making us believe our happily ever after can only come if we find someone to be with and yes that may be apart of it, but it certainly isn’t my happily ever after.
I do understand the appeal of happy endings; some people don’t like reality and they watch films to escape the hard truths of life. They want to see the characters succeed and find a happy ending and that happens to involve a romantic partner most of the time. I completely understand, hell I do it too sometimes, but surely, not all mainstream blockbusters have to end with an unnecessary romantic sub-plot. I, for one, I appreciate it when I see characters reflect the real world.
Fortunately, with the rise of Netflix and more unique films appearing with unnecessary romantic sub-plots are not as common as they use to be, thank god. So perhaps I need to rephrase my opening statement, I do like happy endings, but not all happy endings need a romance. Maybe it’s the cynic in me but I enjoy watching a film that doesn’t end with a kiss.
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