"That's Reality" - On Hollywood Endings
Most people seem to sniff derisively at the idea of a "Hollywood Ending," but let's face it---most of the sniffers must be lying. Because the only reason Hollywood Endings get shoved down the throats of movie and fiction writers is because people want them. Or I guess at the very least have been trained to expect them, and Meeting Expectations = Satisfaction, right?
But isn't that boring? Wouldn't the happy endings be even more satisfying if we didn't know to automatically expect them 95% of the time? And wouldn't we learn to appreciate different kinds of endings if more of them made it to the marketplace? Or are tied-in-a-bow happy Hollywood Endings simply what people want and there's no changing it, so if you endeavor to write in certain genres, you've simply got no choice other than to give the majority of people what they want?
My perspective on this seems to have changed in the two decades since I first saw The Player. Back then, when I saw the scene I've linked to the photo below, I was 100% with Bonnie in her insistence that the writer was a sellout. But now I don't know, I think he makes a valid point when he says, "Everybody hated it. We re-shot it, now everybody loves it. That's reality."
The setup: Throughout The Player, a screenwriter (the gum chewer) has insisted that his movie will have no movie stars in it (yes, that's Julia Roberts at the height of her popularity) and that the evidence to clear the main character, who's been falsely accused and faces the death sentence, will only be discovered after she's been executed..."because that's reality."
Click image to see how the gum chewer's vision played out.
How do you feel about Hollywood Endings?Like 'em? Bored with 'em? What?
P.S. I've already packed three items in my time capsule from the future. How about you?
But isn't that boring? Wouldn't the happy endings be even more satisfying if we didn't know to automatically expect them 95% of the time? And wouldn't we learn to appreciate different kinds of endings if more of them made it to the marketplace? Or are tied-in-a-bow happy Hollywood Endings simply what people want and there's no changing it, so if you endeavor to write in certain genres, you've simply got no choice other than to give the majority of people what they want?
My perspective on this seems to have changed in the two decades since I first saw The Player. Back then, when I saw the scene I've linked to the photo below, I was 100% with Bonnie in her insistence that the writer was a sellout. But now I don't know, I think he makes a valid point when he says, "Everybody hated it. We re-shot it, now everybody loves it. That's reality."
The setup: Throughout The Player, a screenwriter (the gum chewer) has insisted that his movie will have no movie stars in it (yes, that's Julia Roberts at the height of her popularity) and that the evidence to clear the main character, who's been falsely accused and faces the death sentence, will only be discovered after she's been executed..."because that's reality."
Click image to see how the gum chewer's vision played out.How do you feel about Hollywood Endings?Like 'em? Bored with 'em? What?
P.S. I've already packed three items in my time capsule from the future. How about you?
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