Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Happy Endings


I was watching a movie on the weekend, which shall remain nameless because when it comes right down to it, the name of the movie is really irrelevant. It's about the ending though and it is a tale repeated over and over again on movie screens and in dvd's every single day.

I am wondering about Hollywood’s fascination with happy endings, specifically where relationships are concerned. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a happy ending as much as the next gal but sometimes they just seem to go overboard with the perfection thing. So I was wondering is the problem with Hollywood or with me?

After experiencing what I have over the course of my lifetime my faith in happy endings was at best greatly diminished and at worst, a distant memory… Depended on the day really. And yet the movies that I go to see, television shows that I watch continue to revert back to the age-old boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl-back story line whether it is over the course of a couple of hours in a theatre or over a season in my living room.

I think of myself as an optimistic realist… I believe in something better but am always prepared for something worse. I lead a happy, full life… I have wonderful friends, my family is healthy and loves me as much as I love them. I want for nothing, I am blessed in so many ways and I pay attention to my blessings because I have lived without them and I want to drink them in every moment. But I also want the pleasure of sharing my happiness with someone who wants to share theirs with me just as much. And I don't think I'm unique in that regard either.

I have on my refrigerator a great compilation of magnets and messages, photos and notes that is an ever-changing collage of how I view my life at the moment, but the one piece that you will always find there is this:

My Favourite Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, a girl asked a guy "Will you marry me?"

The guy said "no."

And the girl lived happily ever after and went shopping, to the theatre, dancing, traveling, drank martinis, always had a clean house and never had to cook...

And farted whenever she wanted.

The End

Having had some experience with being passed over as the girl of choice, I find solace in this happy little tale. And I have decided that I will embark on writing my own happy ending. I posted that as my status today on Facebook... "Sally is writing her own happy ending" and within in minutes I had messages from friends either asking me to write theirs as well or let me know how it turns out so they can do the same.

This is my story… No Hollywood ending but a happy one. My life. And my heart.

4 comments:

johnryan said...

Hollywood's fascination with happy endings is for box office earnings. They know too many people go to movies to escape. Some good movies sell out in the end and give you the happy ending even if it isn't necessary.

Anonymous said...

Too true. Maybe that's why I'm slightly more eclectic in my choice of boy-meets-girl stories. Films like BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, BATMAN RETURNS, CAN'T HARDLY WAIT, CASABLANCA, THE CROW, DESERT HEARTS, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, IMAGINE ME & YOU, MY LIFE WITHOUT ME, and THE PRINCESS BRIDE, for starters. Yes, some of them is your atypical "happy ever afters" stuff and others are more... I'm actually lost for words, really... "art mirroring real life"... except, no one's running around in tights and beating the crap out of each other and...

...dagnabbit, lost my train of thought...

Still, happiness is the journey, not the destination... if you can believe Souza... :)

Sally O'Grady said...

Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of my favourite movies ever. Love it!!

It is all about the journey... you are right about that. But I think my attentions will turn to action movies for a little while... maybe comedies.

Bond... James Bond anyone?

Anonymous said...

Actually, I'm looking forward to QUANTUM OF SOLACE...