Sim1I do hate Hollywood endings
March 12th 2007 02:36
Happy ending
I realise why we have to have Hollywood endings. They make money. And if a movie makes money it’s doing what it’s supposed to do – entertain. But I hate them. I love it when fat greedy men win, nerds stay nerds, home-coming queens end up on the bottle, guys never get girls and the people most voted to succeed – don’t. Am I just a grumpy old man or can I see the next big thing in movies?
After Bloodspit played at Cannes and won director’s choice at the Horrordance Film Festival, Houston Texas, I felt it had fallen upon me to speak out against happy endings.
Sleepless in Seattle left me thinking; why do I feel suicidal? I didn’t want Meg for myself – I just felt sick. Imagine, as Tom reaches for Meg his little boy says;
Actually Dad, I think I would prefer it if you never went out with another woman and preserved the memory of my dead mother. Daddy, life is about compromise and sacrifice. I’m willing to compromise on the dropping out of school at 15 with a pregnant girlfriend, but you’ll have to live in hellish solitude. And celibacy.
That’s a real ending. People no longer want to see mushie dribble when they sit down in their local cinema. They want to watch a spectacle. They want to slow down for an accident. They want to see Gladiator Crowe mauled to death by a tiger. So, when they turn up for work on Monday morning they can say; gee I’m lucky I have this incredibly boring job – I’d hate to be a gladiator. Or Tom Hanks.
Apollo 13, I know in real life they made it back – but if I had the money they’d still be up there. Circling. And Pretty Woman, well…
I do hate Hollywood endings. I know Gladiator made millions, Tom’s a legend and you can bank on a Doris Day smile, but as Bob Fosse said;
"I like - not exactly sad, but melancholy endings. They seem more true to life".
Until next time and happy film-making.
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Have you seen any of Hal Ashby (Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, being There) or Robert Altman's (The Long Goodbye, Nashville, McCabe and Mrs Miller) films?
If not they are what you seek.