In some ways I agree - in others, well, imagine how it would have felt if they had been clever enough to rescue the end of La Pianiste and given you a happy ending - which was creative enough and clever that it evolved miraculously out of the situation so that you really believed in it and thought it was justified? Wouldn’t your pleasure have been even greater?

What’s not so debatable is how much more producers prefer to buy scripts that end on a crowd pleasing high..!

Casablanca

Damn you’re right. Bingo. Happy endings are not merely happy, they are emotionally true & leave their characters in a better place, or at the very least, the place they have earned.

Oh my God - you are so NOT right about Casablanca! If you went with your own opinion re: the ending of The Pianist, you’d manufacture some way of the lovers getting back together - whether Victor had an accidental death, or perhaps Ilsa returned alone or something or other. But obviously it’s better as it is, because Rick needs to make a sacrifice in order for the film to be moral and to make sense. But that’s the point with sad endings - the film-makers aren’t trying to depress you: the film HAS to be that way.

Other fantastic sad endings: Donnie Darko, Lord of the Rings (they save Middle Earth, but it’s all going to crap anyway and they have to leave), Requiem for a Dream, Kill Bill (2), Get Carter, Apocalypse Now, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The House of Mirth.

A sad ending isn’t necessarily depressing: it can be extremely uplifting. The Victorians loved a bit of unhappiness, so it’s funny how tastes change over history. In their version of Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts’ character would have to die in the end because she’d been a prostitute: QED!

Fair enough, but I maintain that it isn’t a “happy ending” in the views of most audience members.

Oh, and I forgot about “Kids”. And most of David Lynch’s output.

But I think I’m talking about different kinds of movies from everyone else. But then, those are the films that inspire me, so hey.

(Year 9s not getting any better.)

Gotta say, I’m not always keen on a happy ending. One show I liked whe it was on was Star Trek: Voyager, but I really didn’t like the way the final episode ended, getting the ship and crew all the way home, even though that was their main goal in the series. I would have had them stuck where they was, a bit short of where they needed to go and giving it more scope for future stories in that series.

If we had happy endings all the time, god, film and TV would be so boring and constantly repeating itself. As much as I love the new Doctor Who, and the fact that the character has lost now and again, I really want to see him lose big time and shock the audience with that loss. He always seem to win in same way, I just think the risk should be taken and the character should really, really lose.

Besides, from bad things good things can happen, so lets not forget un-happy endings can lead to happy endings But in near enough all the stuff I’ve had published, that happy ending just doesn’t come. I find it more satisfying that way.

Lost, Desperate Housewives, Eastenders (so, so miserable), Neighbours (I cried when they killed off Stingray, seriously), Ugly Betty (the end of the last series was also heart-breaking), every other episode of Without a Trace - there’s a ton.

People like the darker side - just look at the audience figures for the horror movies you don’t like. Or for all the gory crime dramas that the schedules are currently riddled with. Within safe parameters, people like to be terrified and upset as much as they like to smile and laugh.

It’s easy to see in kids, too. Younger children find tragic figures extremely fascinating, and at GCSE, kids love the set texts, most of which either end unhappily or have moments of deep unhappiness in them: Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Kestrel for a Knave. I’d probably even say that unhappy endings are good for emotional development.

I think it’s down to personal taste, personal experience and genre. It says more about your personality that you hate horror films and dislike the idea of spending three months with a predominantly negative idea. For others, it’s the fascination with the inner kernel of evil that drives them.

In the midst of it all…I work.

I’m currently working on a rom/com more rom than com…but a good story I think.

A book that I’m reading right now, to quote the author:

***

“Most of Hollywood hates unhappy endings. I recommend the happy, even estatic ending to make your script saleable. Later in the process, you can suggest considering the unhappy ending. The purchasing party will probably turn you down but you’ll be pleased you tried.

Of course, you could be like the apocryphal guy who goes up to women and directly asks if they’ll go to bed with him. Nine times out of ten he gets his head bashed, but that tenth time is a success. Your potential reward may be worth the effort.” HUNTER

***

I don’t know…I think I’ll stick with the syrupy sweet and happy ending, or

I might try this idea that’s been hanging around me lately.

I’ll say more when I get more of a handle on it.

Rose

Not sure I agree with you 100% there Frankk,

I kinda like movies that don’t end happily. Some of my favorite movies end miserably. Example: Reservoir Dogs, favorite movie I’ve seen. That isn’t a happy ending but I love it. The Departed, that wasn’t a happy ending at all but it’s great. Fargo, no one prospers but it can’t be beat. The list could go one for a long time but you get my point. Also my brother and I have an idea for a screenplay but we argue on whether it should end happily or not. He wants happy, I want sad.
Basically what I’m saying is that happy ending just seem too much like you’re looking to please the audience at the cost of greatness. A happy ending doesn’t necessarily mean greatness but neither does a sad one. Just write your story and try to stick with it. Don’t just go happy because it you think you should and don’t go sad for the same reason, just write the best story imaginable.