I was talking to another school mom the other day about one of my books and she asked me the question I've heard dozens of times: "Does it have a happy ending?" All my books do, but I got to thinking about what I like in a book. Do I limit myself to books I know have a HEA ending? Not only was the answer to that yes, but I realized in recent years, I try to limit my movie experiences to those with HEAs.
I guess I feel like there's enough bad stuff going on the world that I want books and movies to be my escape from reality. If I want sad stuff, all I have to do is read the newspaper. My mother says I'm living with my head in the sand. She reads depressing books and watches gut-wrenching movies. I've let her drag me to some, like The Hours. I was depressed for a week after. Now, I just say no.
So what about you? Is a HEA a requirement for the books you read and the movies you watch?
8 comments:
Did you change your template again, or am I on glue? either way, I like it. :)
As for the HEA question...
This is hard for me to answer. I don't require an HEA. I just read a book not long ago where the hero dies at the end, and I was fine with it. More than fine, actually, I loved it. caught me totally off guard.
I think it depends on what kind of expectations I have going into it. For example, if I'm reading a horror novel, I want good to triumph over evil in the end. Mostly this is because I'm a big fraidy cat and can't read those types unless there's a HEA involved.
If I'm reading a romance, yes. It has to have an HEA. I bought it expecting one and I'll probably freak if I don't get it. I say probably because sometimes I like to be taken off guard.
As for movies, nope. I don't require an HEA there. Matter of fact, I prefer not to have one. Well, I shouldn't say prefer not to have one, but I really love those shocker endings. And Action/Adventure, Horror are my two favorite movie genres. I'm not much for Romantic comedies. Oh, and I love me some drama.
but in my romance novels? Too much drama is a bad thing.
You know, probably I should just say I'm way too anal and hard to please.
LOL
Holly;
I love that your taste is so diverse. When DH drags me to an action flick, good must triumph over evil or I'm upset for days. And so many of them end with a question so there can be a sequel. I dot a little flack from one person because of something bad that happened in The Kitten Club (which you know but I won't give away) but the book ended on an up note - sort of bittersweet, I think.
Hope the wedding plans are going well:-D
Dara,
I agree that The Kitten Club was bittersweet. I certainly wasn't expecting what happened, but it worked for me. You shocked me, that's for sure. :)
I have to have a HEA in my books. Its a must. I don't have to in movies though. I'm always watching movies that make me cry.
I need a HEE, for sure.
It really depends. I love romances with very satisfying HEAs, but I like a lot of mainstream fiction that doesn't have a HEA. One of my all time favorite books has the hero die at the end.
Oh yeah, HEA's are a definite must for me! I have said, as you mentioned, life is hard enough. Reality bites... I don't have much time to read, and even less to watch TV or movies... it had better leave me happy to deal with 'reality'. :-)
Cole
I'm a news junkie and I love tragedies, so no, I don't need a HEA. In some cases, a HEA would ruin a story for me. But in the stories where a HEA has a long, hard road, I really love them! 'Persuasion' is a perfect example. And 'A Very Long Engagement'. A total weeper but a HEA.
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