Amy from My Friend Amy tweeted about this very question a while ago and it got me thinking. Is a happy ending solely one where the guy gets the girl, or vice versa? Or is it something else? Does Gone With the Wind have a happy ending? How about Anna Karenina? Or The Road?To go along with this question, Amy asked why Hollywood feels the need to change book endings to make them happy? Is it because the powers that be feel that the audience cannot handle anything but these stereotypical happy endings? Or is there another reason for the changes?
I am going to take it one step further. If a book is popular and has become a best seller, but the ending of said book does not fit the Hollywood definition of a happy ending, Hollywood has proof that the audience can handle a not-so-happy ending, otherwise the book would not be so popular. So why change the ending when the book is made into a movie? What is this incessant need for happy endings in the traditional sense?
I know for my own part, some of the best endings are those that are still ambiguous because they are the most realistic. Not every girl is going to get her guy or the dream job or live happily ever after. I believe that too many fairy tale endings skew our perception of reality so that we expect our own fairy tale endings. I like my books (and movies) to have a more realistic attitude towards happiness and feel that authors and movie directors alike could use their influence to help change our collective perception of just what it means to be happy.
However, I am curious what others feel about this topic. Am I alone in this attitude? Or is there something I am missing about the need for a happy ending?
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Lisa – I do wonder if that is the reason why Victorian literature is still so popular because the endings are not your typical happy endings.
I totally agree. And I get so frustrated when they change the ending to a book I loved.
I do like Victorian literature because even though it almost always has a happy ending, several people have died and financial disaster has struck someone!
Ceri – I agree that people generally like happy endings. However, when books do not have the stereotypically happy ending and are still profoundly popular, why does Hollywood feel the need to change the ending? In these instances, there is proof that the not-so-happy ending is acceptable and accepted by the masses. So, there should be no need to change the ending, right?
People generally like happy endings and that's where the money comes from.
I can handle non-happy endings. In fact, I prefer them because, to me, it depicts reality better.
However, then you get the filmgoers like my father who go the cinema and watch a film to 'escape reality'. The summer box office is bursting with action films and superhero flicks and epic romantic comedies that make the most money of the year *because* they're fast-paced and full of excitement that just doesn't happen in real life. And that's the reason more people want to go see it. These films take them out of this world for a couple of hours, and they want to see a happy ending at the end of it, so they can walk out of the cinema feeling happy and good about themselves.
Happy endings is where the money lies in Hollywood. And that's all that matters to these producers. 😛
Jodie – I know what you mean. It is rather disheartening, isn't it?
Too cranky to discuss Hollywood's obsession with changing books and empahsising the romance and making all stories follow the same trajectory and happy endings, but grr yes I agree what is the need for this kind of thing? Must buy Barbara Erdich's new book about the crazy, culture of 'positive thinking' perhaps she has some answers.