I made the mistake of sitting and watching some of the movie Open Water 2 last night. I hadn’t seen the first one, intentionally, because I hated the fact that it was a true story and these people died this awful death. Anyway, somehow I zoned out on the title and didn’t connect that this was a sequel and I started to watch.
One of my kids finally told me it was a sequel and I realized this movie was going to end VERY badly. (If you’re not familiar with it, this group is out on a gorgeous yacht and they all manage to jump overboard to swim in the middle of the ocean and nobody remembered to put the ladder down. So they slowly die right in the shadow of their own yacht. Talk about freaking depressing.)
It got me wondering–am I the only one who just can’t stand watching (or reading) “hopeless” books? Ones where you know the ending is going to be just depressing as hell? There have been a few I’ve liked enough to overlook the fact that it’s going to end very badly (Sophie’s Choice, for instance) but for the most part, I just can’t watch or read this kind of stuff. (I ended up watching United 93 and while I thought it was wonderfully-carefully–done, I found myself holding my breath in the final minutes, praying it would end differently than I knew it did. And I wished afterward that I hadn’t watched it.
I guess that’s why I’m not a big fan of Oprah books. The few I’ve read and the ones I’ve heard about seem to have that want-to-slit-your-wrists-at-the-end factor.
So is it just me? Anyone else really hate reading or watching stories that are just utterly hopeless?
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Carly wants to remind you: LUCKY STREAK will be in stores Today! The Book Video is on my website now! Visit www.carlyphillips.com
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Sorry to intrude again, but Carly has another reminder: I’m guestblogging today at: My Book Addiction and More and I hope you’ll stop by and say hi!
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Leslie Kelly used to say she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up, but then she discovered Nancy Drew books. Being a flashlight-under-the-covers-nose-in-book reader throughout her childhood, she couldn’t think of anything else she’d rather do as an adult than continue to lose herself in fictional stories. Her real life marriage of 20 years to the man of her dreams is a constant reinforcement that happily-ever-afters really can happen…and that they’re worth writing about. Living in Maryland, Leslie spends her non-writing time laughing a lot with the above-mentioned romance hero and their three daughters. Though an author of more than thirty sexy, contemporary comedies, she has recently branched out to write dark romantic suspense under the pseudonym Leslie Parrish.
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Once Upon A Valentine
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I am the same way. Titanic? No thanks, I know how it ends. I prefer my stories with a happy ending. I don’t think I have ever read an Oprah pick. I have never understood why all the “great literature” has to have a crappy ending to be considered great. Can anyone explain that?
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I totally agree with you about Oprah’s book club.
Over the years I tried several of her recommendations, and they were just miserable — not the writing, but the themes of abuse, death, desertion, etc. 
When I read, I want to be entertained not sent into the depths of depression!
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I’m the same way. Real life is hard enough, I want my fiction reading and viewing to make me feel good, and maybe even happy. I’ve never seen “Titanic”, and once I learned of the plot for “Marley and Me” I took it off my TBW list.
I don’t mind sorrow and heartache in the middle of the story, but the ending has to be positive.
Lu
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Hi Les, I know what you mean…I don’t like to read depressing books because they always impact me in a negative way…when I was younger, I used to internalize the conflicts characters went through, especially if they were like mine…I didn’t know how to compartmentalize then…as an adult I try to stay away from books that are too sad, but I read some of them…I have learned to separate myself from characters, which has been a book plus…very therapeutic actually…when I am depressed, I try to avoid these types of books, but even when I read other types of books during these times, the negative conflicts always seem to outweigh all the good in some of the books…unless, the plot is so good, that I forget about it…
Peace and love,
Paula R.
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Les, I love Romance because I hate depressing endings!
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I am with everyone else about happy endings…I love happy endings. Some of “Oprah’s books” are, in my opinion, not very well written, either.
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Hmm…you’re probably preaching to the choir here, Leslie. I imagine most readers of commercial fiction (any genre) prefer a happy–or at least a triumphant–ending. I love thrillers–especially the kind with a mystical bent to them–and they don’t always have happy endings, but generally good does beat back evil and that works for me.
I can think of a few unhappy endings I enjoyed though–one that comes to mind is Elizabeth’s Berg’s novel Talk Before Sleep. I started crying somewhere around page 5….and it is, to this day, one of my favorite books. I rarely read the genre, though–I used to refer to women’s fiction as “day in the life” books–so I can’t compare it to others of its ilk.
When I was told I “had” to go see Titanic by a friend, I shut her up for good by asking her if the boat still sinks…
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I hate “hopeless” books. Of course I call them “dead baby” books. I use this title because no matter what the depressing outcome you feel like you just lost a baby.
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I’m with you, Les. Don’t ask me to read a book where the hero dies in the end or the heroine winds up making the same mistake in the last chapter as she did in the first. At the movies, I don’t want to watch the ginormous tidal wave crash down on characters I’m invested in. I’m in it for the HEA, baby.
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I agree with you. My sister ask me to join her book club. When I tried to suggest books I was told they are going to stick with Oprah’s books. I declined their invitation. If i want to be depressed I’ll watch the 6:00 news. depressing enough. I read to take me away from all the doom and gloom.
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Leslie, I am the EXACT same way. I will say, strangely enough, I’m more ok with “not happy” movies, than I am with books. Some art house films, or international films especially, feel like they can’t be happy in order to be legit, it seems.
But for books, I’m pickier. Not only do I not want a “sad” ending, I want closure. So I’m not huge on the open ended series. (Ok, frankly I don’t really read them.) I feel like if it’s a book, it needs an ending. A serial is a different creature (but then they aren’t ~300 pages per installment.)
I suppose it’s because everything else I read is [generally] so not happy, that I need and want the happy ending in the books I read.
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It depends, for me. I don’t mind DARK movies & books, but often try to avoid depressing ones. It’s a fine distinction to make, and probably a slightly different one for every person, but it’s an important distinction. I was reading Paul Levine’s “Illegal” recently, and that distinction was something I ended up talking about in my review; I felt the beginning of the book fell too far on the depressing end of the spectrum.
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I’m with ya too. I must have a happy ending. I don’t want to feel sad or depressed after watching a movie or reading a book. I want to have a smile on my face. :)
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I don’t have to have a HEA, but I want my endings hopeful at least. I read and watch movies to be entertained, to be lifted out of real life for an hour or so. I love dark–in books more than movies–but I want a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, and it better not be a train!
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It’s funny, I love thrillers and horror, movies and books. I guess it’s just that element of *somebody* making it, and hopefully having been changed by the experience, that makes it work for me.
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I have to have my Happily Ever After ending. I won’t see something or read something that ends badly (hopeless). And if I accidentally do see something that does, I rewrite the ending and some scenes leading up to it in my head. Makes for problems when talking about the movie or book years later with others, but that’s just the way I operate. Call it self-preservation, a writer’s prerogative, or whatever you like. I generally don’t watch the news, either! That almost always ends badly or is negative. LOL
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I also am not a big fan of Oprah’s books. They are way to depressing for me. I see alot of sadness in my job and I don’t need it in my book reading.
Carly, I bought and read Lucky Streak over the weekend. I fell in love with Mike and Amber. Great book.
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Yes, I hate reading or watching those kinds of books/movies as well. As far as that Open Water 2, I haven’t seen it but when you said they FORGOT to put the ladder down. I’m sorry they died such an awful death but *ahem* what were they thinking! Obviously they weren’t. Yikes!
I just watched Nights in Rodanthe which was a very good movie but the ending….AACK!
Have a great day all,
Cher
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Like most everyone here I prefer the HEA but don’t mind the occasional sad ending, just not depressing. There is a difference, for me. I loved Titanic, yes the ship still sinks but the story was good and there were survivors. I’ve only read one book from Oprah’s book club that was raved about, made into a movie and I just could not fathom why everyone thought it was so wonderful. Give me an entertaining HEA movie or book with some suspense, drama, tension, love story and I am a happy girl!!
Cher I recently saw Nights in Rodanthe also. The ending was a surprise to me even though I had read the book. I liked the movie.
I’ll be looking for Carly’s book when I get to a store or book store!
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The HEA is very important to me. In college we had to read books that were always depressing and tragic. There is so much in life that is tragic and sad, I don’t want to have to read about it in a book.
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I’m with you. I hate stories with out a HEA.
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I guess it depends on the book. I can take a sad ending if there is a purpose to it with hope. Oddly enough, the first one that comes to mind is Charlotte’s Web. I cried by eyes out the first time I read it and still get choked up when I am working with it with kids. It is beautifully brought out that this is the nature of life and the natural progression of things. There is hope and renewal. Sadness just to upset or be sensational I can’t take. There is enough out there to depress a person. Why inflict it upon yourself unnecessarily.
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It’s definitely not just you. I hate hopeless endings as well. There’s a reason I avoid books or movies I know will end badly and tend to go more for romances where I know I’m going to get the HEA at the end. There are enough unhappy and sad endings in real life that when I take time away from that to enjoy a book or a movie, I want it to really be a time away.
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I’ve paraphrased him before, and I’ll paraphrase him again “If I want something depressing, I’ve got my life, thank you very much.” – Jerry Seinfeld.
No, I don’t like reading these books or watching these movies. I don’t need or want anything that’s extra depressing. I already know how to count my blessings, I don’t need to be immersed in someone else’s tragedies to remind me that my life could be worse.
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Yikes, Leslie–thanks for warning me off! Of course I had to go look up the plots to satisfy my morbid curiosity, but I definitely won’t be watching these! Eep!