In continuing my earlier tirade on romantic comedies, I often wonder why–as I often wonder about inane and useless matters–reviewers often say that the endings are “predicatable”. I think that would be rather obvious. In fact, I can give away the ending to almost every romance, either movie or novel, that will be coming out in 2008. Be warned: Spoiler Approaching…
The hero and the heroine end up together.
Yes, that’s right. If I have ruined all future romances for you, I apologize, but it’s true. The guy will almost always get the girl (or, for the truly modern romance, the girl gets the guy). Movies or books where the two main characters do not end up together often get thrown across rooms, crushed beneath bootheels, tossed out windows, torn into itty-bitty pieces, burned at stakes… you get the idea. Why is this? Because lovers of romance want that happy ending, and we feel cheated when we don’t get it. (Unless the story’s really good. And I mean really, really good.)
Yes, we know it’s coming, but what’s important is not whether the characters end up together but how they end up together. So it always irks me, just a little bit, when critics label a movie as predictable. Well, duh.
Libi, the Little Bitch who lives inside my head, thinks, “Wow, the Brilliant Critic figured out what happens. Good for you. You have a brain. Now stop yammering about how smart you are and tell me how it was.”
Romances are like the adage, “It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey.” (Ah-ha! Didn’t expect me to go all wise and sagacious, did ya? Yeah, I’m like that. Full of them surprise endings and what-not.)
Strange Candy 