The Sunset
Today I went to lunch with two of my best girlfriends, Bona and Kirah. It was B’s birthday so we decided to be European and celebrated by having a three-hour meal. It was like a three-hour tour with tuna tartar. Anyway, we ordered a bottle of wine and started talking about shit. You know, the usual. Boys, sex and happily ever after. B and K are big Sopranos fans, and they started debating the final episode and how it kinda left us with a cliffhanger. B was quite unhappy because she wanted to see some sort of conclusion, a happy ending. K was satisfied with the end. In her words: “they closed a window on their lives and we are no longer able to be voyeurs.” She was content with that.
Personally, I’m with B. I need a satisfactory ending. I want a happily ever after. That’s what attracted me to romance novels. I have no idea how my own life will end, so I like to pick up a book and feel confident in the fact that everything will be okay at the end of that particular story.
If I reach the ending of a book or film and the characters I have come to care about are not skipping cheerfully into the sunset, I’m left with a dissatisfied feeling. I know that, for them, life continues, even after The End. And although we’re not able to observe their lives any longer, I need to be confident that those people are going to be okay-better than okay, even.
I need the happily ever after. Do you?
June 21st, 2007 at 2:27 am
June 21st, 2007 at 2:29 am
I liked to be at least satisfied by the end of things.
June 21st, 2007 at 2:41 am
Okay will someone tell me
happened on the Sopranos? I don’t watch the show, but everyone’s talking about it. And Hilary Clinton did a spoof on it! So puhlease! Tell me what the deal is.
I like my happily ever after. I was kind of pissed with Before Sunrise, cause we never really saw what happened. Until the actors got broke and decided to let us know ten years later and make a second film.
Look, it’s a humpily ever after!
June 21st, 2007 at 3:22 am
Although I like happily ever afters just as much as the next girl, I don’t mind a happily for now ending. The thought that they’ve taken things as far as they humanly could and have now faced life head on, with thus far positive results. I can live with that. Because in my mind, things are hopeful. It means that the future looks bright. Regardless of where they go or what they do, they’ve had this moment.
I don’t know why I feel that way. I just… do.
June 21st, 2007 at 4:01 am
The thing for me is, if I care about someone, I want to know they’re going to be okay. I don’t need to know EVERYTHING and I really hate those sappy as shit epilogues when we get to see people cooing around a baby’s crib–although that can work if part of their issue was kids (see, even though I don’t like them I’m undecided!) I don’t need everything tied up or everyone happy, but I like to know things are headed in the right direction.
I think the Sopranos ending was really smart, and frustrating in a fun kinda way, but I can understand why some people would have gone batshit. They wanted to know Tony was going to be okay, and now they’ll never know.
June 21st, 2007 at 11:21 am
I love my HEA but I’ll also take Happy For Now too. I’m not a fan of cliched endings though - I have to agree with Gabrielle that I don’t like those around the baby crib epilogues either unless they make total sense. Of course, I might be guilty of one of those…eeek.
I like humpily ever after myself.
Thanks Shelli.
June 21st, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Happily Ever After all the way. And yes one of the things that I think originally attracted me to romance when I was younger was that reliable, heartwarming HEA ending that was always there for me.
lol
I dont need a wedding and 2.5 kids or anything. Just Wuv…Twue Wuv
June 21st, 2007 at 1:36 pm
I think most of us want a happily ever after. There is so much in our lives that does have a nicely wrapped ending. Life is complicated and messy. I don’t want my entertainment that way. I still remember how unhappy I was with the ending of City of Angels. I watched the Lakehouse thinking that I was again going to be dissatisfied. I was glad I wasn’t.
But I need my HEA to make sense. Those cribside epilogue piss me off unless they make sense.
The ending of the Sopranos does make sense in a way. It is just one more day for Tony, one more brush with the law, one more brush with death, and still they have a normal family moment.
June 21st, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Hey, first time here and I gotta say I’m loving the emoticons. Never seen them before! But then, I’m just an erotic romance author…whadda I know about
ok, so I hit this emoticon and got nener…while I’m thinking something else entirely! LOL
HEA…gotta have ‘em. And Amie! I had no idea I’d find my next release exposed here for all to see.
I’m in BUILT with Amie and Jami Alden…so nice to find y’all hanging out.
HEAs for me are a must. And the Sopranos? I didn’t see the last epi b/c they’re running a couple season behind here, but I did see the very ending on the news the next day.
I thought it fit…Tony fading to black. Their lives are so iffy with the business he’s in…any moment could be their last as a family. So I guess the ending meant they were going to enjoy life while they could. (g)
My thought for the day.
Bonnie Edwards
June 21st, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Nope. Don’t need a HEA. I like the story to entertain me and for the characters to change during it.
I’ve done HEAs in my work. But my favourite story had the hero leave the heroine at the end. If there’d been an HEA it wouldn’t have made sense.
I did give them an HEA in the next story I wrote with them. If you regard going through eternity as blood sucking creatures of the night as happy that is.
June 21st, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Hi Bonnie!!!!! So good to see you here and i understand you’re going to come guest blog with us soon!
As for HEA/HFN I’ll take either…in something like the Lakehouse where they build it up that you’re giong to get the HEA if you don’t you feel cheated and that’s bad! BAD BAD BAD! In something like the Soppranos, it’s anyone’s game but I totally see why folks were pissed. If you check Jason Pinter’s blog he’s got a really great take on the season finale (that settled me down LOL)
June 21st, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Hi Bonnie, thanks for coming by! (Bonnie’s gonna guest blog here soon!)
The Sopranos show is a puzzle to me. I’m intrigued, but almost too afraid to ever watch.
Rob it’s always interesting to hear it from the guy’s perspective :D
June 21st, 2007 at 5:21 pm
I did believe that for a long time. Then I realized do we really KNOW it’s a happily ever after? No matter what it’s still a happy for now? If it’s a really awesome book I don’t feel jilted by even a cliffhanger type ending. The story was good enough that I can create my own.
If it’s a so so to crappy book hea is very important just so I can end it in my head. But, after a divorce and some crappy relationships I whole heartedly no longer believe in hea, so maybe I’m a bit fickle about relationships?
June 21st, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Hi Shelli, Hi,Amie! Yes, yes yes, I’ll do a guest blog. Have no idea what I’ll blab about, but it seems to me that there’s got to be something interesting in my l’il head.
Maybe I’ll think harder about HEAs b/c some of the comments here echo what I’ve been thinking about in regards to my newest releases.
The first book had ghost stories that ended with decisions rather than HEAs…but the next release gave the ghosts their HEAs.
I know, I know…confusing as heck…but hopefully by the time I’m blogging over here I’ll have my thoughts sorted out….in the meantime I’m going to try to get this evil laugh to play.
See you all on July 6th! I’m looking forward to it!
June 21st, 2007 at 7:24 pm
I hate the baby ending! Like yeah, a needy, screaming infant who wants to be attached to its mother’s nipple 24/7 is romantic?
Bonnie, thanks for stopping by! I Actually don’t watch The Sopranos, but I probably wouldn’t have liked that ending very much.
Rob, I like your idea of an HEA! I take it it’s a vampire book?
Miranda, that is a very interesting take on the HEA. So, sometimes if your’e so involved int the characters, you want to keep thinking about them?
I just have to say that Before Sunrise is one of my favorite movies of all time. In fact, I think that will the topic of my blog next week!
June 21st, 2007 at 7:58 pm
See Feisty, I loved the simplicty of Before Sunrise… but I still wanted to know. Actually, I think I got pissed that they made the second movie. If you’re going to leave the first up to our interpretation, then come on and leave it already.
My book Ain’t Misbehavin’ was actually somewhat inspired by Before Sunrise. :) The whole two strangers meeting in Europe and only having so long together. Suhweet.
