What are the best and worst endings?

What is true is not always popular. Far too many times in a life telling people what they want to hear is a far better path to success than telling them what they need to hear. It's easier to lie to people and give them a fantasy than to lay out a narrative which is realistic, whether if one wants to debate fiscal policy or tell a story for an audience. This is why for most of Hollywood’s history, there has been a bias towards happy endings, with executives afraid audiences would dislike spending their money and hours of their lives on a story which ultimately led them to a sad place.

Starting in the late 1960s and into the 1970s, there was a turn to more realistic depictions of dramatic loss, which tracked with the national mood after controversies which divided the American public and punctured idealistic notions of modern American life. The switch to summer blockbusters and big budget action films in the 1980s is also a reflection of cultural movement. After enduring hostage crises, oil embargoes, and multiple incidents of perceived American impotence, the public embraced films where the wish fulfillment of “getting shit done” and killing the “bad guys” could be achieved and enjoyed. These kinds of shifts in mood can be seen in television as well. The current “golden age of television” has been defined by dramas centered around middle-aged, white male antiheroes frustrated by their circumstances. For these characters, the world isn’t working the way they think it should. The resentments represented by these characters are indicative of a lot of Trump voters’ frustrations about life, and the shows can be seen as depicting a power fantasy of how life can be made “great again” and things can be the way they “should” be, if only we’d do some things in the worst possible ways.

With both Avengers: Endgame and Game of Thrones nearing conclusions for long-running story arcs, I thought it might be interesting to look at what people really want from a story. Does audience want to be entertained? Do they want an ending which makes the journey of the story feel worth taking, even if it ends in tears? Do they want to be moved emotionally, no matter the result? And if the ending is bad, does it make everything before it, even the “good” parts, less than it was?

from Daily Kos http://bit.ly/2PwhZxw