HEA: Happily Ever After
I’m going to preface this by saying: not every story needs or will have a happy ending. Sometimes it’s not in the story. And that’s fine. I have a few of those up my sleeve and I’ve read some exquisite stories with sad/tragic endings. Buffy springs to mind. Love that show* and Joss Whedon is a genius.
However.
I’ve been watching a lot of TV and movies from the 80s** and 90s this holiday and I’ve noticed something. The stories they tell are fun***. At the end of the day your favourite characters survive. At the end of the day the good guys win and the bad guys lose. At the end of the day, the guy gets the girl/the girl gets the guy and they get to live happily ever after. And you get to just feel good when you switch off the telly****.
And I love that.
And yet it seems that since then, there’s been a shift in how we tell stories. Optimism has been given backseat to gritty realism with endings that are darker and maybe not completely happy. For example, the original Star Wars trilogy was wonderful – everybody lived and lived happily ever after. The James Bond films of the 90s***** are over-the-top fun while Brosnan still brings depth to the character. Contrast this with the newer Bond films which, while I do enjoy them, are much darker and it’s questionable as to whether or not anyone except Bond will actually survive.
And it came to me that I’m not interested in if my favourite characters will survive. I’m interested in how they survive. I’m interested in how they get through sh*t and how they live after the dust has settled (and yes, I’m still bitter about Remus and Tonks in Harry Potter).
Which brings me to a sub-point. I’m tired of stories that bring the couple together only to tear them apart for some reason later on down the road. I assume it’s meant to add tension, but to me it falls flat. Show me a love story where the characters have each other’s backs and work through sh*t together. Show me characters who argue and make up. It might take them awhile to get there, but once they’ve got there for the love of all things stop breaking them up. Show me how they stay together. Show me how they fight for each other. See REMINGTON STEELE and CASTLE.
I’m a believer in hope. And those are the stories I write. Bad stuff will inevitably happen (current novel is very dark and very twisted and my characters hate me so much right now…), but I believe in hope and happily ever after. And I’m reminded of the very last line from EVER AFTER******:
So on that note, have a wonderful new year. May it be one of hope.
Slàinte!
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*Team Spike, yo.
**REMINGTON STEELE FTW. And if you have never seen this show you need to rethink your life. Stephanie Zimbalist. Pierce Brosnan. She’s a P.I. He’s an ex-con. They solve cases. There’s romance with insane chemistry. Hijinks. Comedy. Heart. Drama. And lots of kissing.
***There are exceptions. I’m just talking generally. And yes, the academic in me is screaming. But I’m on holiday so I’ve gagged it. 😉
****I have been known to channel British expressions. Just fyi. Also, pun not intended.
*****Aaaaaand haters to the left. Brosnan is my Bond.
******Drew Barrymore. Dougray Scott. Anjelica Huston. 1998. A Cinderella Story. Funny. Romantic. Feel good. Timeless. You want to watch this.
The Muse's Lair 
Nice point. I’ve written one novel-length tragedy, although it was part one of a trilogy that had a happy ending overall.
I like the possibility of a happy ending. I think Rowling dropped the ball in places on book seven, too, but hey, it was her story. We all get to write our own.
Watching each others’ back is one of the things I love best about LOTR.
It’s nice (from a purely selfish POV) to hear that others are overdosing on ugliness, too. It has its place, but I prefer beauty. That’s what I try to write, be it happy or sad.
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“Watching each others’ back is one of the things I love best about LOTR.” THIS. SO. HARD. Also, one of my favourite moments in LOTR is a heavy inspiration for my love of stories of hope and beauty and HEA. I believe it’s when Frodo and Sam are in Mordor (or the steps of Cirith Ungol, I don’t remember which), and Sam looks up and sees the star shining. “For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.” One of my favourite moments.
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