- Slumdog Millionaire - Salim finally repents for all of his sins - his taking advantage of his brother's love interest, his running away and selling his morals in order to work for the mob just to make money - he undoes it all by distracting the gang members who would have gone after Latika by allowing them to shoot him, appropriately, in a bathtub full of money. This way, Jamal can still have his happy ending with Latika after winning the game, representing the end of a thusfar terrible life, and a beginning to a new, peaceful one.
I'm not crying, you're crying. Shut up.
- Legally Blonde - Elle wins her case on without Callahan, the boss who sexually harassed her, succeeding completely on her own smarts, independence, and power of deduction, with only a little help from Emmett, the guy who actually treats her well. She decides that she does not need Warner, and the film ends with her making a speech at her Harvard law school commencement, with a promising future ahead of her. The best part? She ditches the navy blue suit and wins her case in a hot pink dress, without ever betraying the confidentiality of sisterhood that her client Brooke depended on from her.
QUEEN.
- Donnie Darko - This movie is so great because you can have hour long conversations just exchanging interpretations of it - I've done it. In the end, Donnie allows himself to be killed by a jet engine falling through his roof in order to seal a wormhole and prevent a series of terrible events that would eventually lead to the destruction of the universe itself. If you haven't seen this movie, watch it but don't judge it until you've seen it a good five times. There's a lot to take in.
Very spooky but not a horror film I promise.
I don't watch scary movies.
- Les Miserables - The main antagonist (I refuse to call Javert a villain) has escaped with his life after being captured by Jean Valjean, the man he was chasing for so many years, and cannot reconcile that his ultimate rival, the man he wants to desperately to catch and punish, showed him kindness and humanity. Should Jean Valjean actually be a good person, Javert's entire life's work trying to catch him for breaking parole would have been a waste. Therefore, Javert cannot exist in the world of Jean Valjean, but he cannot kill him as Valjean showed him mercy. Therefore, Javert decides to take his own life. All the other character's plots have endings too (most of them just die), but this is the ending to Les Mis that I consider truly genius. Valjean could not have killed Javert as he is a good man, and Javert could not have killed Valjean as Valjean has shown him mercy, yet Javert can physically not reconcile them both existing in the same world, so the ending is surprising when you first see it, but makes so much sense once you see it.
Credit to the good people over at Hark! A Vagrant for this.
Book endings:
- The Poisonwood Bible - I remember reading this in a Starbucks and crying. It really tied everything together in a way that provided resolution for an earlier death in the book (no spoilers because you all need to read it) as well as leaving us with a sense of satisfaction about where each character ends up. I can still hear my English teacher reading us the last passage aloud because it was so powerful and we all needed to hear it a second time.
- Harry Potter - Um, duh. Voldemort dies human, not like a God or a supernatural being, he falls like a mortal, defeated finally understanding what Harry has that he doesn't. Every character has shown their true colors, and cheesy epilogue aside, there are no loose ends left untied and in no way did Rowling betray her fans by cheaping out on the ending of this phenomenal series. You can tell it was all truly planned from the beginning.
*Breathes heavily*
- A Series of Unfortunate Events - SPOILER ALERT: This ending was, admittedly, a little corny as well, what with Count Olaf having his final act be of goodness and bravery for the sake of the children, but the series maintained its cleverness and relevance throughout the series, something that is difficult to keep up in quality over thirteen books. "The End," was all around not disappointing, wrapping up many of the mysteries that we'd been wondering about literally from the prologue of the first book (Those Beatrice notes always kill me), but still leaving us interested and curious enough to come up with some of our own interpretations of some things left more intentionally vague by and about the narrator/author/character that Daniel Handler created for this series.
Best endings from stuff we've read:
-Interpreter of Maladies: "Sexy" - I may be biased because it's one of my favorite stories ever, but I really loved the conclusion of the affair that resulted from the self-respect that Miranda gains by the end. Of course this is prompted by the honest comments of the young child, and I would never claim that someone lacked self respect based on any of their sexual decisions, but seemed as though Miranda's relationship revolved around motives of attention and validation that in the end were really unhealthy, and her coming to terms with that and breaking it off herself, not because it was "wrong" or wasn't working, but just because she didn't feel good about it anymore, which honestly is how most relationships end in real life.
- "The Thing Around Your Neck" - Going along with the theme of healthy endings to relationships, "The Thing Around Your Neck" presented a character who really grew a sense of autonomy throughout the process of getting her footing in a new land. While she initially felt security from the Afro-file that she was dating, and found safety in that relationship even if did make her uncomfortable at times, when she was faced with the task of going back to Nigeria to mourn with her family, she made a decision about her relationship that was based solely on what made her feel comfortable. Again, this truly is the way most relationships end in real life. Many stories portray endings of relationships as dramatic break-ups accompanied by explosive arguments and messy after bits, but this is really an honest depiction of a choice between two conflicting interests- your lover and your cultural stability - and the narrator simply chose what made her feel most grounded.
While thematic similarities can be found between these selections, I tried to choose diverse works in order to show that I truly don't believe there are any rules or formulas for "good" endings. Sometimes I like happy endings just like anyone, but sometimes they don't thematically make sense. For example, "The Bell Jar" is my absolute favorite book, but I was let down with the ending because it was too happy for the point where it seemed contrived and untrue to how Plath truly felt in order to make the book's darkness palatable. I truly believe the only thing that makes a good ending across the board is that it makes sense. If it's happy or sad, case closed or open ended, as long as it makes sense with the narrative and concludes the story in a consistent way that conveys the message of the work, it's a good ending in my mind. The only thing it can't be is tacked on just to have something to wrap it up. It should feel natural and intentional, just as any other part of the story.
"At times the world may seem an unfriendly and sinister place, but believe that there is much more good in it than bad. All you have to do is look hard enough. And what might seem to be a series of unfortunate events may in fact be the first steps of a journey."
- Lemony Snicket
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