Happy Endings

If a story ends on a happy or hopeful note, does that make it “fluff?” Are cynicism and a bleak or melancholy tone required for something to be considered “intellectual?” If you happen to enjoy reading romance or Chick Lit, does this make you superficial and vapid?

I can’t deny that Hamlet is one of the greatest tragedies every written, but let’s not forget that Shakespeare was considered low brow in his day. Appealing to the masses with sex, violence, and bawdy humor, his plays were often considered a guilty pleasure. Yet today, we hold up the Bard’s work as literary masterpieces, and indeed they are. But not because everybody dies at the end. Because his stories were rich with drama, humor, suspense and damn entertaining.

I studied drama in college, which covered everything from Eurpides to Eugene O’Neill. And you know what? There were a lot of happy endings and humorous, “pastoral” plays mixed in with those great tragic tales. And they were every bit as popular and as revered as the dramas that we now consider superior to comedies.

I have this theory that just because something is humorous, it is instantly considered “less than.” How often are comedies nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards? Melissa McCarthy’s nomination for her side-splitting role in Bridesmaids caused quite a stir. Why? Was it not a brilliant performance? Does she not deserve accolades for her talent? No. Because it was funny. And we all know, if something’s funny, then it can’t be important. Especially if it was a woman who made us laugh. (But that’s an argument for another day!)

I happen to love comedy. And when it comes to reading materials, it’s pretty much all I can stomach. I have one of those minds that absorbs and internalizes everything. So, reading a depressing memoire, which aside from Jen Lancaster’s, they pretty much all are, I nearly collapse into a state of deep remorse, unable to shake the misery of someone else’s tragic life. Thus, I choose to read Chick Lit and Women’s Fiction almost exclusively.

This is not to say that Chick Lit and Women’s Fiction don’t cover serious topics. Many do. The difference is, you don’t feel like slitting your wrists at the end. At least I don’t. I can handle any subject matter you throw at me, just deliver it with a wisecrack and a happy ending, and I can close the book knowing that all is okay in my world.

In a time when the evening news is filled with real life tragedies, both at home and abroad, I need to escape into a world where happy endings do exist. Where I can forget about the 10 car pile-up that killed dozens just yesterday morning. Or the fact that young men and women die in combat fighting a war they don’t understand. Or that children across the globe go to sleep hungry every night. In a world where tragedy is an everyday occurrence, I need to laugh and to love and to hope for better days ahead. Even if it is all fiction, its impact on my heart is real. And I’m a better person, a happier person because of it.

Ciao,
Lucie