So I have a similar post to Rachel's. I know it is kind of morbid, but I really like movies and books in which a main character, or one of the "good" characters dies, or is the subject of some other tragic event. Its not that I terribly enjoy death and tragedy, but it makes the stories all that much more believable. I think it is kind of like the old adage "misery loves company". I think I am drawn to storielines that feature an ending that are not so happily ever after because it makes them more like real life. For example the movie 300. It was an incredible movie, because all of the 300 Trojans died. Myabe that is a bad example, because the Trojans did eventually win, but all the same, I liked the fact that Leonidis and his men died in the story. Is it wrong to wish for somthing bad to happen just so the character does not live happily ever after, even if they are fictional? I certainly wouldn't wish tragdy on a real person, but is there a difference when the person is fictional and part of a mere story?
posted by BrianG at 2:24 PM
2 Comments:
I think a good answer to this question comes from the Lord of the Rings when Frodo is taken to Gondor and Sam is trying to comfort him. Sam tells him that the reason heroes become heroes in the first place is because they go through all kinds of dangers and trials and they had lots of opportunities to quit and go home, but they didn't. So to tie that in with your thought: I think if the hero dies, there's no question as to his devotion and loyalty to his cause. He was obviously willing to die for whatever he believed in, so no one can even say he didn't go all out for it. He didn't quit even though the result was his death.
I, too, like tragedies more than happy endings. There is something about a tragic story that makes it more accessible (perhaps just to me?) because it seems more "real" more "possible to happen." I don't think it's "wrong" to wish for the protagonist to not live "happily ever and so on." I think it is just your preference for which storylines appeal to you. (Maybe I'm being really cold? I just don't see it as wishing bad on a person but rather your inclination to a certain story.) From my own experience: when I was little I read all the books I could find (that I could understand!) on the Holocaust/Shoah. I didn't know at the time (and still don't know) why I was (and am) so drawn to these stories, some very horrorful (a word?). Was I a secret Nazi who enjoyed reading about the sufferings? No. Definately no. Somehow I just related. Somehow. I'm not sure how. Something resonated with me. And today, I still feel very passionate that we never forget teh Shoah. So, I think we can be drawn to stories of catastrophe wihout necessarily being immoral.
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