Won’t Somebody Fly Me Away?
It’s a broken world that we live in.
Dragon, fly me away. Fly me so far.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about storytelling. Jared asked us, “what’s your story?” on Saturday and, I think in general, when we hear someone’s story, we like to hear that they are better now than they were at some point in their past. It’s more uplifting to listen to than, “he was on the right track in life, but he fell off and is now completely miserable”.
I guess we can write our own stories in the sense that we can make good decisions, but not everything is within our control. That’s life. That’s why we write fiction, something we can control.
For myself, I’d say that if fiction doesn’t have a happy ending, there’d better be a reason why. There’d better be a point. For example, I could understand if movies like Taken or Man on Fire ended badly for the victim protagonists. Although fictionalized, they are based in reality. It would send the message that this stuff happens in real life and there is not always a happy resolution. Human sex trafficking and child abduction are issues that could hope to gain public interest when portrayed in fiction.
As well, certain books (i.e. The Horizontal Instrument) allude quickly to a tragic ending. But while their endings are not “happy”, they are satisfying. That said, I freely admit that I have a double standard when it comes to realistic fiction and epic fantasy.
I am of the stout opinion that fantasy literature should have a happy ending. Why? Because it is escapism and we have enough unhappy endings in real life. If I invest time into a fantasy story, I need to get that yes! feeling at the end of it, or else I consider my time wasted. Call it immature, call it unrealistic. In the end, I don’t want realistic fantasy, I want uplifting fantasy. Is it unlikely that Frodo ultimately succeeds in destroying the Ring? That Luke Skywalker blows up the Death Star? That Harry Potter defeats Voldemort? That Neo beats Smith?
Of course it is! These characters were nobodies at the start of their stories and they became something great, and we read/watched them do it. I think that’s my main issue with the Song of Ice and Fire series. I was uplifted only once by only one of his many, many point-of-view characters (Daenerys), but that’s about it. All in all it is actually too realistic for me. Beautifully, skillfully crafted, but kind of a downer for something I’m reading for fun. (Granted, the series is not over, but at this rate I could have five kids of my own before George R. R. finishes writing about the five Stark children.)
Kristen and I have spent years and years creating and writing characters. It’s surprising how attached you can become to your fictional people. In a plot that never quite got off the ground, she resolved to have her main and most beloved character die at the end. It was a shock and it was sad, but the reason resounded with me: it would be a meaningful way to increase the depth of that character’s timid wife and young son. In that regard, the death of Martin was not the end of the story, only the chapter. The story itself would carry on.
Happy endings may seem over-done, idealistic or unoriginal, but clichés in literature exist because they work. We like to see adversity triumphed over. People don’t want to spend hours reading a book only to see the protagonist fail or not accomplish anything (or worse, be worse off at the end of the story than they were at the start). If I want defeat and realism, I read the news. If I want exultation, I read fiction.
