Seniors #3 Journal---Old Fashioned Stories
POST ON OR BEFORE WEDNESDAY SEPT. 28
You should have anticipated the "girl finally discovers that she loves boy" happy ending of An Old Fashioned Story. A story's title, after all, serves an important purpose, often to foreshadow plot.
Even though Elizabeth secretly harbors a hatred of Nelson throughout the story, she really can't find any faults in him; she has to invent crimes that he "might" have committed, like eating the mashed potatoes he cooked up for himself with his bare hands!
Years pass and yada, yada, yada, ... so finally realizing the error of her ways, Elizabeth falls for the dashing Nelson who is also living a secret life, presumably, more exciting than Scrabble games and trips to the state prison to counsel the inmates. Nelson does the "most un Nelson-like" thing and kisses her and confesses his love to her. Will the Rodkers and Leopolds be planning a wedding in the near future? No, Elizabeth and Nellie agree to keep their new romance "secret" for just a while before adopting the lifestyle of their parents.
From your reactions to the story, I suspect that you have differing opinions on what constitutes a good story. For instance, some of you might have enjoyed the happy, somewhat-of-a-surprise ending in An Old Fashioned Story. Others may have resented it, or found it corny or too predictable.
I'd like to know where you stand, at the moment, on the matter of happy endings vs. sad ones. Choose to respond to one of these prompts:
1. Many adolescent novels these days are depressing. Follow the link to read the article Why Teachers Love Depressing Books. You may either respond to the article, or write about the books you loved when you were an adolescent, or both.
2. "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." Good storytellers never do, as the writers of the popular movie Rudy apparently did when they made a film about the bench-warming Notre Dame football player who finally gets to play in a game. Follow this link to read what Joe Montana, NFL Hall of Fame and former Notre Dame quarterback (when Rudy was on the team), reveals about the "real" Rudy story. Comment on Montana's words and how they affect your view of the movie, Notre Dame football, Hollywood, etc. Maybe write about whether Montana should have kept his mouth shut and let the Rudy legend live on.
3. Write about a story, book, or movie that you (for the most part) enjoyed, EXCEPT for the happy ending. Explain thoroughly how this happy ending was either unexpected, unrealistic, or unfufilling for you. Or all of the above.
WARNING: Enjoy the "light" reading for now. We're heading down a pretty scary mineshaft that plunges into the depths of human existence real soon. [TRANSLATION: we going to read some pretty sad stories].
posted by JTF @ 9:30 PM
58 comments
58 Comments:
The saddest stories that are made into books or movies are always the ones based off of a true story. During fifth grade I discovered a book “A Child Called It,” after my friend had read it and passed it along to me. She told me the book was about child abuse, a subject we were just beginning to grasp in our elementary years. A little boy named Dave Peltzer was a victim of severe physical abuse throughout his entire childhood. The book put you into his pained mind as he suffered from being starved, stabbed, burned, beaten, and even suffocated with toxic chemicals. This is a true story based on the writer’s personal experiences, as he was the narrator of his own nightmare. I read and re-read this book many times and it never ceased to bring me to tears. As the book made it’s way around my group of friends and eventually around my entire class we all witnessed Dave’s horrible struggles and it taught us a lesson in a way we didn’t yet think was possible. We all felt sympathy and began to realize how lucky we really are. Although the dialogue and violent images seemed a bit graphic for a fifth grader to be exposed to, this book had a very strong effect on me and it’s a read I will never forget.
#3. I enjoyed most of ‘A Gracious Plenty’ except I thought the ending was unfulfilling. While it was not exactly the happiest ending for most of the characters, the main character, Finch, was happy at the end. I thought it seemed strange that she could no longer see any of the dead in the graveyard. I understand it is because she is now happy in the living world, but I think it would have been nice to find out what happened to all of the dead after the storm. I also thought she accepted that Reba was now being nice to her very easily. The one part I did enjoy, because of how unexpected and surprising it was, was the fact that Mrs. Livingston accidentally suffocated Marcus to keep him quiet. Some parts of the ending were nice, though, like how Leonard and Finch were better friends after the storm. I still believe this book could have ended better. Like the beginning, where it does not explain that she is talking to the dead at first, the end is confusing. In the end, things happen very quickly: the storm, the aftermath of the storm, and everything that happens when Finch returns to the graveyard and is unable to see the dead anymore.
Not too long ago the movie “Dear John” was released, and practically every girl was dying to get to the closest movie theater to watch this romantic flick. I, however, was doing just the opposite. My sister at the time was dating a boy who was in the marines and was currently diploid, so this movie hit too close to home. I promised my sister that I would keep her occupied and in good company during the duration of the release of the film. Deep down inside I knew I wanted to see this film because I knew some of the pain that would be depicted, and I wanted to see how it would be played out. A few months later I found myself lying in my bed with a swollen face due to my wisdom teeth being pulled. When I turned on the TV “Dear John” was the next movie to come on and I made the decision to watch it, but boy do I wish I never had. When the movie ended I couldn’t stop myself from immediately uttering the words, “what a stupid ending.” I hated how Savannah just leaves John for another man because he’s gone too long at war. I felt awful for John when he received that letter and I could feel his anger. As the movie played on and ended with the two meeting again with the viewer left to think that they get back together, I was disappointed. Even though this was supposed to be the ultimate “love story” John should never take Savannah back in my opinion because he will only end up hurt once again. I’m someone who always wants a happy ending, but when it comes down to this movie, I was completely upset with how it ended. I wish it was played out differently. Maybe with how John comes home and moves on with his own life, kind of like how Savannah did when he was at war. This is one movie I know I will not be watching again or be suggesting to a friend.
The one story that stands out in my mind when thinking about happy endings that were just simply unrealistic or unanticipated, is the story of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves". When I was young it always stood out to me as the story with the ending that I never liked, even though it was happy. In the story, Snow White is offered an apple by the old witch, and she eats it, the catch being that it is poisoned. When Snow White dies from the apple, the Dwarves have a type of funeral for her and are already mourning around her. When, comes along the Prince who kisses her and brings her back to life. Being young, many thoughts raced through my mind. The main thought being how unrealistic is was that she was clearly gone, but comes back to life once he does kiss her. Looking back, I know it was just a story and not everything had to make sense, but the "happy" ending never settled well with me as a child. Everyone likes a good and happy ending to a story, but when it is just unrealistic, it leaves you more wondering, than it does happy.
Children's books are seen by adults to generally be fairy tales and fables. Those cute, unrealistic dramas that have a moral or pretty illustrations are given to our innocent to encourage imagination... usually. There is one series of books that pointedly contrasts this idea to a simply ridiculous degree. While some children's novels now involve death and trouble, none incorporate it to the extent of Series of Unfortunate Events by 'Lemony Snicket'. Even throughout the series itself, the books remind the child of the morose theme and encourage the reader to perhaps drop it right then and there, picking up a cheerful book without terrible things done by terrible people to innocent, kind orphan siblings. The story of three protagonists is interesting and draws the child in. The horrors are exciting and the sadness pulls out empathy. The unfortunate orphans become heroes time and time again with their bravery and noble sorrow.
The child reading is given a realistic idea of success and noble characteristics in an unrealistic but not so fantasy scenario. This is but one of the qualities that makes these books a good choice. When read at a later age, one can finally recognize and label the innumerable literary devices used. The author chooses words carefully and thinks ahead, filling pages with similes, metaphors, alliteration, allusions and all sorts of quirky tricks that leave a child subconsciously wanting more. These are often found throughout deep, less appealing books that a child may not be reading of their own will but rather for a class. The stories similar to Series of Unfortunate Events inspire not only a love of reading but an appreciation for literary devices and interesting writing.
3. Literally most of every story, book, or movie that I have come in contact with has ended in some type of corny ending, especially a love story. In nearly every love-story movie I have watched, one person fall in love with another guy or girl, but then ends up falling for the “right” guy. Occasionally there is a story where the guy or girls moves away, have some other feelings for another person, but then ends up being together once again. One the most well-known love story is the movie The Notebook. Now don’t get me wrong, this is one of my favorite movies and not to be ashamed of it but I shedded a few tears. Even though this was a fantastic movie, which kept you on the edge of your seats thinking whether or not Allie and Noah would somehow get back together, I think everyone knew how the ending was going to play out. Allie and Noah fell in love during one summer. They spent every day and night attached to each other, vowing that once Allie goes back to school and Noah goes back to work that they would write letters to one another to stay in touch. Of course the mother of Allie doesn’t let Allie see the mail he had sent, and Allie moves on to a much better and well-educated man. As months pass by Allie comes across a newspaper article that involves Noah fixing up the house back at her hometown that she always wanted to live. What a surprise that Allie goes back to the house and falls back in love with Noah. I knew that once she went back to Noah, this would just turn into another “happy ending”. I think a writer needs to step up and write a love story that would shock their viewers. For example: Have the girl choose the wrong guy and let the audience feel the pain in the man that she didn’t choose or have one of the main characters suffer a fatal death and watch the other person live with pain and agony. These aren’t the greatest most fulfilling endings the love stories are accustomed to but who says they can’t be done?
I know we have all seen the movie Cinderella and if you haven’t you at some point in your life will watch it. Babysitting many young girls I, not only as a child but also now as a babysitter have watched Cinderella hundreds of times. There have been many spin offs of the Cinderella story and guess what they all end the SAME! The plot and events leading up to the ending are always different but in the end that cookie cutter happily ever after always happens, it is almost expected. To this day I can watch any Cinderella movie and love all of it except that same old ending. How can you be surprised when the ending never changes and the “perfect” guy always gets the “plain” girl? Cinderella almost created the “story-book” ending that the girl when all odds are against gets her prince. In real life all our problems do not work themselves in a nice way so in the end all goes as we hope. In that sense the movies, no matter what the spin-off is, and are unrealistic. Not only that, from when the issue is introduced into the movie you can already get a sense of how it is going to play out and instead of throwing a curve ball it ends the way you suspect. This technique almost makes the movie unenjoyable and ruins the entire ending of the story.
Rudy has been one of my favorite movies of all time. From the characters to the storyline I loved everything about it. Being an athlete, I related to the message portrayed in this movie. Every time I see that it is being played on television, I make sure to watch it. After reading what Joe Montana had to say about the movie, I was upset. The reason I loved the movie was because it was about an underdog who knew what he wanted to do and worked his hardest to get there. Now I realize he did not really accomplish what Hollywood made it seem like he did. Ever since I saw this movie, I have loved Notre Dame Football. Anytime they were playing on television I was sure to cheer them on. Now I have mixed-feelings about them and feel as though the movie portrayed the team to be something they are not. This just shows that Hollywood will do anything to make a movie more interesting. I think they should have told the story the way it actually happened and viewers would have liked it all the same. In my opinion, I think Joe Montana should have kept his mouth shut because now I will never look at that movie the same. Now when I see this movie on television, I will probably just turn the channel.
I can’t even count the number of times teachers ask us students, “How many of you read books outside of school?” Then we raise our hands, and they follow it up with, “For those of you who aren’t raising your hands, why?”
“I hate reading!”
“I only read good books.”
Then I’m one of those students who usually say, “I don’t mind reading. I just don’t have time.”
I empathize with those students who hate reading. Truth is, sometimes school sucks the fun out of it. We are forced to read these novels and short stories in class, yet we have no idea what they’re talking. Sometimes the language throws us off, or it’s too wordy. We just don’t understand the story, but who cares? That’s what teachers are for. We students read the story for homework, and the next day the teacher goes over all of the main stuff we need to know. If we write down every word that the teacher says, we should be set for the test.
“I only read good books.” Well, what classifies a book as a good book? I agree with the essay, “A Good Book Should Make You Cry.” Good books describe “child and teenage protagonists weathering abuse, addiction, parental abandonment or fecklessness, mental illness, pregnancy, suicide, violence, prostitution or self-mutilation.” I think these topics give the book action, and I am all about action. It is no fun to read a book where everything is perfect all the time. Let’s be realistic. Life is not like that. I enjoy reading books that I can relate to. No, I’m not saying that my parents beat me and I live a horrible life, but at least those characters have emotion. I can get a sense of what they are feeling. Give me a problem novel and I will read it all day long.
3. When it comes to movies, stories, or books, the ones without a happy ending are the kind that usually stand out from all the others, and are just all around spectacular. Everyone expects a happy ending. But I, however, don't expect one whatsoever. I don't live my life as a fairy tale, because no one should. If they do, they need a reality check as soon as possible. For a movie to be incredibly real, the happy endings must not be valid in the end. It's reality after all, nothing in the real world is ever perfect, but can be almost perfect. Perfection is a whole parallel definition in reality than in the movies.
Now, getting into elaborated specifications...
A movie, called: 13 going on 30 is a perfect example for movies that I liked, but didn't like the happy ending at all. The happy ending simply was fulfilling to me. The movie had such a strong message, yet the message was entirely diluted because of the happy ending. In order for a movie to fully impact me, it needs to be realistic, and sensible. With 13 going on 30 being a simple, yet meaningful movie, it's a let down that its flawless story was put down by an unsatisfying ending. The main character, Jenna Rink, wished to be older, prettier, and more successful, only in a faster manner. She wished to become 30. And that wish was granted by magic wishing dust. Once that wish is granted and once she lives the live of her future 30 year old self, she realizes the essentials of growing up like a normal girl, without rushing a thing. Not to mention, in this time she loses the love of her life, Matt. Time is an important factor in life. And seeing that throughout the movie, Jenna learns what she's missing out in between the ages 13 to 30. She has to grow into becoming that age and learning what are the most important things in life, not skip to becoming 30 years old in just a matter of seconds. The story ended with Jenna turning 13 again, after ironically knocking off the magic dust again off of Matt's old dollhouse he made her. It was a happy ending when Jenna immediately knew what to do and what not to do, after not learning about things the hard way. She ends up marrying Matt and living a fulfilling life. In this situation, a crucial lesson has been taught in this movie; to never rush time and never take anything for granted, and it was all sugar coated and extremely typical in the very end.
I have read a lot of books with happy endings as any girl will throughout her life. One I have read recently that had an unfulfilling ending is Beastly. Beastly is a modern take on the Disney classic, Beauty and the Beast. This book is about a boy who was popular based on looks and sadly knew it. He thought that he was better than everyone else because of his looks and his status as a television son. The witch cast a spell on this boy to turn him into an ugly person to show him what it feels like to be on the other side of the good looks meter. He has a year to make someone fall in love with him for who he is as the ugly person. For a long time this boy sulked with his tutor and house keeper while his dad went on with his life as a television star. His father bought him the house to keep him away from his old life so that he wasn’t seen as the tattooed freak the spell had made him. This boy fell in love with a girl and he arranged for her to come and live with him. At first the girl felt like she was kidnapped and wouldn’t even try to learn about this boy who took her from her home. She was lonely and eventually she came around to meeting this boy and realizing that he isn’t so bad. After some time together they slowly fall in love and as we all know true love is the only way to break the spell. So needless to say, they fall in love and the girl breaks the curse of the boy giving him true loves kiss. The ending of this story is unfulfilling because it is the same old ending of every fairytale ever written. We have all heard the story of finding true love and only a kiss will make the world right again. The ending was expected and anticlimactic to say the least. We all knew that living with each other will cause these two to learn and recognize all of the qualities that they like in each other. Most stories don’t mention the ones that they don’t like about one another. You knew that they were going to fall for each other and that the true love test would break the spell. This story was a very well written modern take on a classic novel but it needed something unexpected to win me over.
When “The Parent Trap” came out my sister was obsessed. She was beyond obsessed so every time we watched a movie there was no other option. I can recite every line and my sister and I can even do the hand shake. It starts out with two girls being sent off to camp. One of the girls is from London and the other from California. The girls see each other for the first time and everyone sees the “resemblance.” Hallie and Annie fight almost the entire time, pulling pranks and trying to embarrass each other. Eventually, because of the pranks, they are sent to live in the isolation tower by themselves. There, they realize that they are sisters and that they were separated at birth. The only thing that bothered me about the whole twin thing was that they were identical. They looked exactly the same and I never understood why it took them so long to figure it out… They make up an elaborate plan of switching places at the end of camp and getting their parents back together. Hallie cuts Annie hair, Annie teaches Hallie how to talk in a British accent and then they are both off to their new lives. When Annie arrives she finds out that her new dad that she never knew existed just got engaged. This makes their plan harder but in the end their mom and dad end up together. Endings on movies are so predictable these days. It literally always ends the same and even though it’s what everyone wants, that doesn’t mean that people can’t switch it up every once in awhile.
When I was an adolescent my favorite book was To Kill a Mockingbird. Most teenage girls would be reading Twilight and Nicholas Sparks books, but I did not. I loved To Kill A Mockingbird so much because it is my Father's favorite book. Most children are read bedtime stories like Where the Wild Things are or Disney stories, but not me. My bedtime story was To Kill A Mockingbird. Every night my father would read a few pages to me. And once we finished it he would start it again. Of course I had no idea what was going on in this book, I was only a child. Once I turned 10 years old I realized that we owned the movie, so I watched it. I threw a huge fit about how could the movie possibly be in black and white. Once I started watching it however, I realized how great it really was. I read the book again, and I loved it. I must have read it at least ten more times. When we had to read To Kill A Mockingbird again in high school I reread it. I learned so much more about the book. I had no idea about half of the meanings. To Kill A Mockingbird gets better every time that I read it because I always learn more about it. I love this book so much because of all the lessons it has to teach you. For example the children were always scared of Boo Radley and they would dare each other to see how close tot the house they would get. In the end though Boo is the one who saves Scout and Jem. I love the character Atticus Finch. He is the kindest, smartest man one that everyone should try to be like. He stands up for what he thinks is right and defends Tom Robinson. He puts his career on the line for a man he know will lose in court because of the color of his skin. I will always love To Kill A Mockingbird because I truly grew up reading this book.
The most inspiring and breath-taking movie that has one of the greatest endings is the movie "Miracle". The movie Miracle was based on a true story of the United States Hockey Team’s trip to the Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Miracle is the story of how the United States Olympic hockey team came together and won an Olympic gold medal. College boys made the team, not professionals. In every movie that depicts a true story, usually the ending is a happy one; this statement is true for this movie. When you think of happy endings you think of corny love stories of how in the end the girl finds her true prince. However, in the movie Miracle the happy ending is the United States hockey team beating the Soviets in the Olympic semi-finals. Watching this movie never gets old, even if I know every line, I still get chills when the games are being played. Nothing ever beats a happy ending as the movie Miracle showed. Team work, perseverance, and faith in one another, helped the hockey team win and bring home the gold (literally) for the United States. This movie shows not only how hard work beats talent, but shows how happy endings are not only fantasy love stories. What happened in the Olympics that year was not only a celebration, but truly a miracle.
One of my favorite movies, Sweet Home Alabama, follows the old-fashioned story line. It is about a southern girl who is ashamed of the way she was raised in a redneck family (like that in "Lucid Eye in Silver Town"), who makes a name for herself and moved to New York as a famous fashion designer. There, she finds love in a wealthy gentleman who happens to be the son of a high-class New York socialite. The engagement sparks a trip back home to inform her parents of her wedding plans, but more importantly to divorce her husband that she married years ago when she still lived in Alabama during a life she had hoped to keep hidden from the press in New York. Jake, her husband, is the complete opposite of socialite Andrew. He is a low-class hillbilly who was an infamous bad boy in their small town. The movie continues with Melanie Smooter arguing with Jake to sign the divorce papers, but at the same time reminiscing on old times and rekindling their old flame. Eventually, Andrew joins Melanie in Alabama and embraces her roots, and they plan their wedding there. In the middle of things, a lawyer interrupts brings the divorce papers that Jake had signed and informs Melanie that, ironically, she was the one who forgot to sign the papers. As this hits her, she decides that the high-class, New York lifestyle is not for her. She chooses Jake, the bad southern boy who she has loved all along, over Andrew, the proper socialite. The ending was so unexpected which made it very expected and really annoying. It was almost too unfair that she got everything she thought she wanted all along. The ending is very unrealistic to me. She really had the best of both worlds and she was able to participate in two completely different lifestyles and came close to marrying two boys the audience loves despite their faults. Stuff like that would never happen in real life which is what bothers me.
3. Novels with happy endings usually result after a not-so-happy story. This is true in a story I read. I read and watched a movie called "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold and it was an incredible read. The movie was not as good, and not exactly the same as the novel. Although it was so tragically sad throughout the novel, the ending was unexpected because it took a turn. So many terrible things happens, such as Susie being murdered. Susie dying was the main point of the story, and the tone of the story was depression and sorrow. At the the end the killer was caught and everything was peaceful. The family could move on from the death of Susie. They seemed to move on too fast, right after the killer was caught. This ending was also kind of unfufilling because it is boring that it ended so peacefully. It was expected that the killer would be caught, but not that everyone would feel okay again. I would have enjoyed this ending more if the story tone did not change so drastically. Even though I did not enjoy the happy ending, I thought this novel was very exciting to read.
One of my favorite movies that I love to watch is the one of many Nicholas Spark movies, The Notebook. This movie is relatable to many different people, like couples and teens, even my dad watches it with me because of the setting and time period. The movie talks about a young girl named Allie who comes from a very rich family and falls in love with a not so rich guy named Noah. It took her some convincing at first for them to go on a date, but she fell in love with him right away. They are soon separated by their social differences, Allie moves on to bigger and better things while Noah thinks of her everyday. One day, Allie comes across an article about how Noah built an old house they used to vacate on summer nights. At this time in her life, Allie is engaged to a wealthy man whom she and her parents love. After seeing this article, Allie takes a trip to see Noah where she falls in love with him all over again. This story is being told by an older man to a woman who has no memory. You find out later that the man is Noah and he is reading their life story to Allie, who is now very old and can’t remember anything while living in a nursing home. This is the classic love story, where too young people fall in love and end up living happily ever after. I dislike the ending because it shows Noah trying to re-teach their lives to Allie. The ending seems predictable until Noah gets Allie to remember one night. Five minutes pass and she forgets everything again. The ending is sad because Noah and Allie are found in their beds dead. I think the ending should have been happy and not shown the couple together like that. It always makes me cry to realize that when I watch it, I have to see their happy lives together fly by.
1. One depressing book I heard when I was in eighth grade was A Child Called It. This book is a detached autobiography about a boy named David, who suffered a violent childhood due to his alcoholic abusive mother. Although the book was very depressing, I enjoyed it because it made me realize how lucky I am to have grown up with love. The author used great word choices. The imagery he created made you feel like you were watching the story as a movie. In its subtle manner, the story was able to evoke emotion. His mother stabbed him, tried to burn him on the stove, and starved him for days. David’s will to survive made the story very inspiring. The story comes to a happy ending in which the school nurse, who had been taking note of all David’s bruises and his stab scar, calls the police. David is rescued and given food. I liked the story because it showed that the will to live can get you through any torture one may endure. It portrayed the bravery of a young boy to escape the abuse of his mother and make a better life for himself.
3) Holiday’s mean happiness, traditions, and family gatherings. So once October hits, my family and I know that the best things to come aren’t the sugary snacks you beg for at the neighbor’s doorstep, but rather the Halloween movies they show every night on numerous channels. In particular, Disney’s The Little Vampire. The Little Vampire has been my absolute favorite Halloween movie since it came out about ten years ago. It’s about this little boy, Tony, whose parents had moved to Scotland due to his father’s new job. While being the new kid isn’t always fun, Tony meets bullies at his prestigious school and soon, being bullied becomes a normal part of his day. While dreaming in his room one night, Tony meets a vampire, Rudolph who quickly becomes his best friend. As the two boys talk about their lives to each other, Tony soon learns all about vampires, and the man who wants to ruin the vampires for good; the vampire slayer, Rookery. Rookery travels in an automobile with lights and sirens so once he sees a vampire, he can shine the lights on the victim, and soon, they would be weak enough so that he can kill them. Though his tricks don’t work with Rudolph’s family, Tony soon finds himself struggling to help Rudolph as Rookery finds the family’s hideout in the grave yard. Unfortunately for Tony, Rookery sees him with the vampire family. Rudolph explains to Tony that his family is looking for a stone to make them and all the other vampires, humans, while Rookery is trying to steal the stone so that he can kill all of them. Like a good friend Tony works hard to help his friend’s family, and almost becomes the victim because of it. In the end, Tony and his parents try to help Rudolph, his family, and fellow vampires and they save them. It wasn’t till Rudolph and his family head towards the light (to become humans) that Tony realizes he lost his best friend and becomes rather upset. A little while later, Tony is at the market with his parents when he sees a moving van and a family coming out of it: one member in particular. Rushing over to make sure he saw correctly, Tony is overjoyed at the fact that Rudolph was now human, as well as his entire family. This ending was unfulfilling to me because after the whole issue of moving and trying to save each other, I had thought that Rudolph would go live a better life somewhere else. I thought that the director made it very clear already that Rudolph was going to be human in the end because of how the entire movie played out. Also, I can’t think of a single Disney movie that has not had a happy ending. To me, the ending as Rudolph and his family going into the light would have been a much better ending since it showed their friendship to a whole new level. Adding extra fluff at the end to make it even happier is just not needed and a waste in my eyes since the two families were already friends before the transformation occurred. The viewers don’t need to be reminded of this friendship between the family’s right after two entire scenes were dedicated to this purpose right before the last scene.
I am not going to lie; I am a sucker for a happy ending in most cases. When I was little I was always the girly-girl who dreamed of one day finding my prince and living happily ever after. I enjoyed reading and watching movies and in elementary school “library class” was probably my favorite time of day because I got to browse through the children’s section and listen to stories. I preferred the fairy-tale stories because they always had a dreamy, carefree plot and ending. Disney stories of course were always a classic but that is such a generic favorite. So to be more specific, Junie B. Jones turned out to be my favorite series. I read every single book and when a new book would come out in the series I would be the first person to buy it. What I liked most was the main character, who as the title implies is named Junie B. Jones. She was a hilarious and unorganized little girl who was in kindergarten. She was very opinionated and had several catch phrases. Some that I remember off-hand are “Wow-ieee wow wow!” and “911! CALL 911!”, which she would say whenever something happened that alarmed her. I enjoyed the book because of it’s humor and light-heartedness.
The first movie that came to mind when reading the prompt on happy endings that left ME unhappy was the movie Dear John. The Movie started out as a book. In both the book and movie, John is a soldier who is home with his dad on leave in north carolina. By chance, he meets this girl named savannah and they end up spending the summer together. Throughout the summer, they end up falling in love. But at the end of the summer john gets deployed and then only way he can communicate with savannah is through writing her letters. John writes savannah every day pages and pages and she writes back, but soon the letters from savannah come less and less often. Finally, the last letter john receives from savannah is explaining that she fell in love with an old friend and marries him. Meanwhile john is still overseas, now heartbroken. Sad enough right? Well in the book, john and savannah never get back together. But since movies are deceiving and like to play with peoples emotions, they End up running into each other Years later and get back together. I like that in the book they don't get back together because it's more realistic, but I also like that they get back together in the movie because it gives me hope that true loves does exist. Corny, I know, but true. So I'm not really partial to either side of the ending of a story, I like both for different reasons. I guess it all depends on my mood that day.
Recently I saw the move “Contagion” which portrays an epidemic taking place throughout the world and how everyday life is affected by it. This movie used imagery very well, so well that afterwards I did not want to touch anything ever again without gloves or hand sanitizer. I enjoyed this movie a lot, and it had a very good plot line and story, as well as a strong tone that helped to set the overall feeling of the movie. It traces the events of a new disease breaking out and infecting the human population, and how terrible things could possibly get. From the beginning, you find out one of the main characters is immune to the disease, and the entire time you are fully anticipating the doctors and scientists to use him to find a cure, after numerous attempts to find an antidote elsewhere failed. But, nonetheless, they never take advantage of this precious chance. They never utilize the main character’s gift to save all of humanity, and instead they simply discover the cure in a lab while testing many other drugs. The entire process of defeating this seemingly perfectly evil disease is culminated with a doctor finding a cure, leaving you with a very unsatisfying sense of victory because to be honest, it was for the most part very boring. But perhaps after all of the paranoia and death, the film makers decided to add in this bland ending to keep the audience from having too much emotion and perhaps dying of a heart attack, but who knows. Despite conquering sickness in such an ordinary fashion, “Contagion” did leave off on a very interesting scene, by showing you how the disease originally started, leaving you with the thought that this could happen at any time, or any place. All in all, this movie did a superb job at simulating a possible real world scenario, even if this scenario did not include billions of people dying and one man rising to the spot light with the one and only cure ready to save the day.
One of my favorite movies, “The Breakfast Club,” never gets old, even after being watched ten hundred times. The story in general is great, how teenagers, having very little in common and reputations to hold, befriend one another while spending their Saturday in detention. The entire movie has me wondering what they will be like in school around their clicks. The ending was great when John Bender gets the kiss of a lifetime and he thrusts a fist into the air. However; the one question I always ask myself after watching this fantastic movie is, “Do they stay friends in school?” It leaves me wondering if they ever overcome their clicks and find the courage to talk to one another in front of their school friends. I wish the movie continued to the next day of school so I could see how they act around their friends. If the movie showed them continuing their friendship in school, it would have been a better happy ending for me. Then again, maybe John Hughes wanted the audience to use their imagination and decide how they group turned out for themselves.
Over the years, I have read many books that have had a basic storybook ending where the good triumphs over evil, the girl gets the guy, or everyone lives and in the end it is all happy. But real life isn’t always like that. The book, “My Sister’s Keeper” had a happy ending to it, but I thought that the ending was unrealistic. The book is a little bit different than the movie. In the book, Anna was conceived to be a donor for her sister Kate who had Leukemia. Usually Anna is willing to donate blood and bone marrow for her sisters recovery but this time she refuses to do it. Her family doesn’t know why she won’t give in, she hires a lawyer to sue for the rights to her own body. In the end, she wins the rights to do as she wishes and you find out her sister Kate wanted Anna to stop giving her transplants so that she would die and Anna would be able to live a full life. But at the end of the book, Anna gets into a car accident and is going to die. So they give her organs and such to Kate so that she will live. The ending is happy for Kate but not for Anna. The movie version is a little bit different because Kate ends up dying as she wishes. I prefer the movie ending and not the books ending.
These days, it seems that many novels, stories, and movies follow the same story line as “An Old Fashioned Story”. But yet, we still all enjoy watching and reading them. For the most part. A movie that has a similar story line to this is “The Ugly Truth”. This movie is one of my favorite movies until it gets to the end. It is so predictable, and I’m tired of all these movies ending the same exact way every time. In “The Ugly Truth”, the two main characters work at the same news station. Abby works behind the scenes on the newscast, and Mike has a segment on the show. They have a rocky relationship with each other until Mike starts to give Abby advice on how to meet guys. As she finds the perfect man for her, Mike helps her through the relationship, giving her tips and pointers. This is until her gets offered a new job and has to move away. In the end he ends up staying and than they fall in love with each other making up in front of the whole city on the news. For me this ending is too cliché and predictable. It’s like every other romance chick flick out there. The movie over all was hilarious, but for me the ending was unfulfilling and too simple. I wish that some of these new novels and movies would change it up and make up better, less cliché endings.
1.) When I was about seven my favorite movie was Andre. Andre is a true story about the Whitney family that adopts an orphaned, baby seal. As Andre grows older, he begins to get into mischief and attracts media attention. Andre antagonizes the local fishermen causing them to want to get him out of their town. The town comes together and plans on making The Whitneys’ release Andre back into the ocean with the other seals. The heartwarming story ends with Andre’s trek back to Maine after being released into the ocean to be with his real family, the Whitney family. My mom always reminds me about how the only way to get me out of bed was to watch a little bit of Andre before school. I vividly remember crying at parts of the movie, like when Andre is taken from the family to be released into the ocean. The “feel good” theme of always finding your way home makes the movie a little predictable, but to the seven year old me, it is a movie I will never forget.
One movie that really grabbed my attention was the movie invincible. Its a classic underdog story where 30 year old bartender Vince Papale goes to open try outs for the Philadelphia Eagles. Papale impresses the new coach Dick Vermeil so much that he is invited to the Eagles preseason training camp. He faces much adversity a long the way. His girlfriend leaves him because she thinks he is going no where in life and is just a flat out loser. Also the Eagles star players gives Papale a hard time thinking that he does not deserve to be at there in the first place. In spite of this, Papale never gives up and ends up making the team. The movie was great up until the ending. In the movie, it is near the end of the game with the Eagles down by less than a touchdown, on the punt Vince jars the ball free and returns it all the way for the game winning touchdown. In reality, the ball was hit right into his hands and was not even close to a spectacular play that the film writers made it out to be. They should have not tried so hard to make the movie more suspenseful. Too much of anything is never a good thing.
I recently watched the movie The Break Up with my girl friend. This is 2006 American comedy-drama romance movie starred Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. Even though it is somewhat girly, I generally enjoyed the movie, except the unfulfilling ending. The movie is about a couple that begins dating and buys a condominium together. Soon enough they are pushed to their breaking point with one of their last arguments. They both find themselves unhappy with each other. After another incident that happens between them, they break up. Neither of them agrees to move out of the condo so they decide to compromise living as roommates and both begin acting out to provoke the other. Both try to make each other jealous, but also both give it a shot to give their relationship one last chance. They both discover it is too late and they do not feel the same about each other anymore. They both move out and do their own thing for a while. Some time later they meet by chance on the street. After some friendly catching up, they part ways. As they are walking away they both glance over their shoulder and share a smile. This ending was happy, but was unfulfilling. The whole movie they lead you on that they still do have feelings for each other deep down, and would eventually get back together. I believe when they met on the street they should of perhaps gone out on a date together and got back together. I enjoyed this movie but was unhappy with the ending.
When I first saw the movie "Rudy", it all seemed a bit "Fairy tale-ish" in the way how everything predictably panned out, all leading up to the underdog impressing his doubtful father. Sure it was a fine movie, a good feel good film to pick you up, but to me, after reading Montana's article it took away some of the "fairy-tale" details and really made the whole movie turn into a second rate story. I don't condone Hollywood taking their creative license to extremes, but they need to make their mark in ticket sales, and not too many people are going to go out and recommend a strictly factual documentary about a runt who wanted to play football. So I stand somewhere in the middle, let Hollywood dress up a few things but don't go crazy and turn it into an all out miracle. And as for Montana, he could've kept his mouth shut about a few of the details, especially by belittling Rudy when he said, "The guys carried him off, kind of playing around".
All in all the movie "Rudy" was a good solid film and even though Hollywood might have gotten carried away with some of the garnishing, the basic story remains the same. The actual story of Dan "Rudy" Ruettiger, although less flashy than the Hollywood version, is still one for the books at Notre Dame.
When I was younger, I didn’t like reading all that much. It wasn’t until my 11th birthday that I got the 4 books that would open my eyes to the literary world forever. Ironically, the 4 books were Harry Potter, which everyone knows, Harry finds out that he is a wizard on his 11th birthday. I couldn’t put them down! I ended up finishing the books before finishing 4th grade. I think the reason I loved reading Harry Potter was because it took me to a different world and to a different society of the UK. I have a better imagination after reading Harry Potter and my vocabulary certainly was enhanced. I was talking about muggles and casting spells and it was a spectacle to my mother. But the Harry Potter books got me into reading other books and opened my mind to a whole new world of books. I am currently reading the 3rd book in the series of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, which has become the hit show True Blood on HBO. These books are a very easy read and the show does a really good job following the books. I also showed interest in the show Dexter. I went to the library near my house and I found the books to the True Blood show and the Dexter show, so lets just say I have a lot of reading to before they’re due on October 17th!
The musical Once on This Island is good but the ending is unrealistic. It is about a peasant girl named Ti Moune who falls in love with a rich man named Daniel. She cares for him after he almost dies in a car accident made by the gods. When Daniel’s father, Armand, finds out where he is, Armand sends men to bring Daniel home. Ti Moune wants to follow Daniel but her parents are afraid that she will get hurt out on her own. Ti Moune’s parents let her go find Daniel. When Ti Moune finds him, she sneaks in and takes care of him again. After being with him for a while they fall in love, but little does Ti Moune know that Daniel is arranged to marry Andrea Deveraux. Ti Moune is banded from Daniel’s house. She waits at the gate hoping that he will come get her and marry her. She starves herself to death while waiting for him. The gods take Ti Moune and turn her into a tree. The tree is where Daniel’s son and a peasant girl meet showing that the power of love can bring people on the island together. This ending is unrealistic because no one would be turned into a tree after dying.
When Toy Story 3 came out this past year I could not wait to see it. The movie was great and the ending for the most part was happy but very unexpected and unfufilling. If you followed the whole Toy Story series, you would know that Woody the cowboy and Buzz Lightyear are toys that belong to a young child named Andy who continues to grow up through each movie. In the third movie, Andy is getting ready to go to college and his mom is helping him organize his stuff. Considering Woody and Buzz are Andy’s favorite toys, he still owns them after all these years. While sorting through Andy’s things, his mother thinks he wants to get rid of all his old toys including Woody and Buzz so she takes the box and donates them to a daycare. At the daycare the toys meet a little girl who is very kind and caring toward them and at the end of the movie Andy gets his toys back but decides to give them to the little girl anyway since he does not play with them anymore. Although this ending was in fact happy, I found it very unexpected and I did not quite feel fufilled because all these years we were lead to think that Andy loved his toys unconditionally and he would never want to get rid of them. Also, the toys loved Andy back just as much so for them to actually be OK with the whole idea of him leaving them was a little surprising. Plus, the fact that Andy did not even keep just Woody or Buzz may have been the most unexpected and surprising part of the end since they were his favorite toys.
A movie that I watched and I am sure everybody else watched is the Toy Story. First off it is a Disney movie, which is a giveaway that it will have a happy ending. Besides that the story plot was so predictable. They fall out of the car and have to find their way home. The whole movie they are trying to find their way home and in the end they finally do, surprise surprise. Don’t get me wrong I loved the movie, who doesn’t. It was funny and had a really good story line to it, but the ending was just too predictable. The plot was building up to the ending where they finally find their way home and live happily ever after. That’s why I don’t like Disney channel movies in the end everybody lives happily ever after. Anyway in toy story the ending was unfullfilling. What would have made it better was instead of them making it back home and living happily ever after they should have been stranded in the streets. For the next movie they could be trying to survive the outside world. That would have been more exciting then the same old same old.
When a story brings you to tears, it obviously makes you think and that is the best thing a work can do. Last fall, I started getting in to the author John Green and one of the first books I read by him was Looking For Alaska. Looking For Alaska is the story of an awkward new kid, Pudge, at his new boarding school with his new friends. The most important of these is the girl he finds himself infatuated with, Alaska. He in fact becomes so obsessed with the idea of her; he never really catches on to how depressed she actually is. One night, after their first (and last) kiss, Alaska gets into a head on collision, which is suspected to be on purpose. Alaska was so enthralled in her depressed state, she was willing to end her life and her friends just sat and watched it happen. Pudge is Alaska’s admirer, and hears what she says but never really listens. The second half of this book I spent constantly choked up, as the friends come to terms with their friend’s death and see how they could have been so much less selfish. This story is so sad because there are people who surround us everyday who feel this same way. It makes the reader stop and think about whether one of the people close to them needs somebody, and they’re just over looking it.
One of my favorite books of all time is Marley and Me, the story of a family and their beloved dog. Through the book, you learn the story of Marley, a giant yellow lab that is full of love. He is always getting into trouble, but his owner John and his family can’t help loving him anyways. He goes on adventures through their hometown, plays a role in a movie, and is a friend to the family members when they are going through hard times. I have always had a love for dogs, and I really related to this book. I felt like I got to know Marley and I had my own kind of attachment to him when I read about the bond between John and Marley. Towards the end of the book, Marley got really sick, and he eventually was put down. As if this wasn’t sad enough, the book ended when the family replaced him. This upset me because I don’t think you can replace a friend like that. Marley was a special part of their family and was special to me as the reader. It was a disappointing ending, because in my eyes, a dog like that can never be replaced.
The story that comes to into my mind was one I read in middle school called “The Giver”. It was a very interesting book in my opinion. It was full of mystery and rebellious activity, so the excitement in the novel was great. It kept you wanting to find out more about the society in which the character grows up in and how everything works and how it came to be that way. And the more you read the more you find out about this society but every time you put the book down your left thirsting for more information. Towards the end of the novel when you find out as much about the society the main character begins to question the things he has grown up with. The more rebellious side comes out towards the end with it all leading up to the boy to run away from the town. And he travels for what seems like ages and as he begins to see another town off in the distance and he realizes it is much different then his own. But just as he is sledding down a hill towards the town he looses control and crashes. The book ends with the boy on his back and he just passes out with the towns lights twinkling in his eyes. I did not like the ending of this story because you never find out what happens, if he makes it or not. It is a very unexpected and unfulfilling ending because they build his escape up so much and he travels all this long distance and you expect him to make it to the town when he finally sees it but he doesn’t. I would have changed that around and made him get to the town first before maybe passing out or he would just make it to the town and not pass out at all. It is also unfulfilling because throughout the whole book you can tell the boy doesn’t really like where he lives and doesn’t agree with there ways. So when he escapes you are in a way rooting for him to make it and start over again but he comes up short and that’s the end of it. It was a big let down for me. But it is a happy ending because the boy escapes the town and almost makes it to a new one where things are different, and I like to believe that someone found him and brought him to it.
A movie that I went and saw with my family that I genuinely wanted to watch was a movie called 30 Minutes or Less. The title was based off of the main character’s job, pizza delivery man. At the pizza place where he worked, the motto was, “If the pizza isn’t delivered in 30 minutes or less, it’s free”. I initially wanted to see this movie so badly because it had two of my favorite comedic actors: Aziz Ansari, and Jesse Eisenburg. Thus, I begged my parents to take my sister and I to it, and they agreed. The movie was really funny, and had me laughing pretty much the whole time. Then, just as the climax of the movie occurred, with the protagonists in sticky situations and things looking very grim, a surprise character came out and saved them. The movie could have ended right there, and I would have left a happy viewer, but then the antagonists were murdered by the good guys and then the hot girl that the loser pizza guy protagonist had always been in love with, and I had to suppress the urge to vomit right there. The ending had the basis of a Disney movie: guy gets the girl and they ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. The thing that I really didn’t like about the happy ending was how off it was. Here’s this guy who’s just had a bomb strapped to his chest and was almost killed several times, and yet he doesn’t just get to get off with being happy that his life was saved? He has to go off and kill people instead of bringing them to justice? That isn’t heroic, that’s cowardice. With the girl too, that I believe was just too cliche. Maybe if they directors and producers had picked a more creative ending, I wouldn’t be writing my blog post about this.
I think the reasoning that ‘a good book’ should make you cry is like saying rectangle is a square. A book that makes you cry (unless your crying about how bad it is) is most likely a good book. But crying is not a prerequisite for a good book. A good book that I read that wasn’t sad was a survival guide for high school. The main character wrote it so his baby sister wouldn’t have such a rough time in high school. It was pure fun, all about the craziness of high school life. Nothing terribly horrible happened in the story. Nerd gets the girl, and it has a good lesson about not following the crowd. Plus for the kids who don’t want to read depressing stories, fun books are a good way to get into. Almost everyone likes a good laugh, and what’s the point of reading if it can be fun once and awhile. I’m not saying sad books aren’t good (I personally love them), but who wants to be depressed all the time. Especially if the kid doesn’t know if they like reading, depressing stories all the time will cause kids to associate negative feeling with reading. So saying that depressing books are the only good books is counterproductive.
2. Rudy is a movie for the little person, overlooked by those bigger or more popular. Rudy pulls at your heartstrings, you can relate to his trials and tribulations. He failed for 3 years to play on Norte Dame’s football team, but still he kept trying. Superficially this movie is about football; however, it has a much deeper meaning- never give up. Not to mention, some of the scenes had you sitting at the end of your seat. And when Rudy finally got in the game, he makes the game-ending sack.
Consequently, I don’t think Montana’s words affect my view of the Rudy story at all. Montana explained how some scenes never happened and were created strictly to make the story more dramatic, but it doesn’t matter. Montana also mentioned how the most triumphant scene in the movie (when Rudy got the sack), really happened, which proved to me the core of the story is true. You can kill the man, but not the legend. In all honestly, the entire story could be falsified and it would still leave me inspired. The stories values and life lessons are second to none. Not only is it the greatest football movie ever, it’s the greatest movie ever. Heroes are remembered, legends live forever. Rudy will live on forever.
In my opinion Joe Montana should have kept his mouth shut and let a great legend live on. Not only does this kill the glory and the feel good story of Rudy, but it also hurts Joe Montana's reputation. Now that he exposed Rudy he looks like a big jerk. On what grounds did he have the notion to sell the movie out like that? If it is true that Rudy worked his butt off during practice and the off season, why not let this classic American story live on as an endeared film. Truthfully everyone with a little common sense knows that Hollywood does everything over the top and over exaggerates, so if you wanted to argue that Rudy was fake you could figure it out yourself. The thing is, is that no one wanted to think that Rudy is just a true story that has been subject to Californication. Every Notre Dame and Rudy fan looks up to this movie like a starry eyed child would their grandfather. No one wants to hear about how Grandpa’s stories are exaggerated, sure grandpa might not have actually met Babe Ruth or danced with Marilyn Monroe, but we believe in the glorious memories and feats of the things we are fond of and don’t want anyone to ruin the joy that those stories bring to us.
The most notable story with a happy ending is, of course, Cinderella. It is the pride and joy of Disney. Children are fed the sad tragic story of this poor orphan girl turned slave who's life utterly sucks. She's forced to clean, clean, and clean some more, for little gratification and thanks. Children are supposed to see this and believe that they can accomplish anything they want.. but with a twist, They have a "magic" fairy god mother. Kids are shown this and are expected to believe that all their problems will be solved for them, when in reality life sucks, and you have no one to depend on but yourself. Adults know this, but still constantly feed these lies to children because they are afraid to reveal the truth too early. Looking back at the movie, i know immediately how it ends. The Ugly Step Sisters lose and Cinderella wins the heart of the Prince and they live happily ever after.
As an adolescent I considered myself to be someone who enjoyed reading a tear-jerking story. The more it made me cry, the better I consider the story to be. The stories that are all sunshine and rainbows just are not as realistic to me. Some of my favorite stories that I read as an adolescent are still my favorite stories now. They are A Bend in the Road, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Tuesdays with Morrie, and Dear John. All these stories do not have your “happily ever after”. They are all filled with death, despair, and pain, but that is what makes them so fantastic. A good story should leave you with thoughts of “what if?” What if he didn’t go back to war? What if I will see certain people in heaven, and what would I say to them? What if I lost my spouse, and could I survive that? Books that make you think of this are more thought provoking and therefore more interesting to read and experience. As an adolescent I felt the same way. Yes, stories and movies that have a happily ever after might lift your spirits, but they never gave me the feeling that what I just read or saw was amazing. Back as an adolescent and even to this day I love those stories that by the end your face is streaked with tears, they are, and will always be my favorite kind of stories.
In reality every movie or book has an ending which if thought about beforehand, one would realize it was a typical ending. The couple always lives happily ever after, the hero always defeats the villain and saves the world, and the victim always escapes or is saved. For the most part, every story, movie, and book has a predictable ending. There are, however, the rare exceptions that in the end just end up “blowing your mind.” One movie that I believe is phenomenal is Inception. Not only did it have a different but complex story line, it also had deep characters, a few of which change throughout the story. This movie draws the audience in and makes them think and reason along with the characters. Inception has so many different levels of dreams and flash backs that if you blink you could misinterpret the whole movie. It is also a story within a story which makes it even more complex. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Mal (Marion Cotillard) put themselves and others in a dream like state where time is much slower. You find out Mal ends up killing herself because she couldn’t tell the difference between the real world and her dream world. Cobb is tried for her death and eventually runs, leaving his family behind. Throughout the movie Cobb is on one risky job which if completed allows him to go back to the States with his record expunged. He takes the job on the premises that he will be able to see his family again. At the very end, after the job is completed and everyone survives, we see Cobb return to his home and see his children. The only problem is that the audience is unsure if he is in a dream or reality. I can say I honestly loved the movie, it was like nothing I had ever seen before and it really made me think. However, I did not like the ending. I’m sure if they gave it away then it would have been a happy ending but the question mark there just drives me, along with everyone else who saw it, crazy. In conclusion, I believe the people who make the storyline for movies always add a happy ending because that is truly what the audience wants… even if they know it is coming.
I absolutely hated the ending of “A Gracious Plenty”. It might not be particularly happy in the sense of that ‘happily ever after’ ending, but it still stuck out to me as an ending that I never would have personally chosen for any novel. The story had plenty of good bones and possibilities to grow; there was obvious potential for romance between Finch and Leonard. There could have been more to tell about the Dead, and what happened to each of them, and what it was that the Mediator wanted Finch to learn. The ending of the story left so much for the reader to have to decide for his or her self, and I personally despise stories like that! I want the author to tell me what happens and the way it happens, or else I will spend many nights lying in bed wondering what became of those characters. Sheri Reynolds had so much more potential for the novel. I enjoyed the book a lot, but I expected more from it. The way that Reynolds leaves the reader hanging at the end and never really makes a conclusion still has me fussed up to this day.
Montana's word's really did change my opineon on the movie " Rudy". I used to think that the movie was 100% true and that it was a really good and inspiring story to many people including myself. It is a really good storyline though and hollywood made a good movie. I think that Montana definatly should have kept his mouth shut. Joe Montana already has everything in life, super bowl rings, many NFL records, fame, a huge fortune, and is in the National Football Hall of Fame. I know that lying is bad and shouldn't be done but i think it was very rude and wrong for him to come out and say what he did, it was a great storyline and he should have kept it the way it was.
Every year I find myself in the same predicament. Try as I may, come the middle of August, I’ve still barely touched my summer reading books. As I sat in my room reading two entire books two nights before the quiz, I think, these books sounded like really good reads in June. I laugh as once again I come to the age old realization that I probably would have read these books on my own, but because I had to read them, there was no way they were ever getting read. I can personally relate to the article “A Good Book Should Make You Cry.” True, I may not have completely finished my summer reading, but I did read. Most people’s first thoughts would be, oh, all she read were girly fashion and tabloid magazines. Untrue. Every summer I have this tradition. I do my summer reading, even if it is just to pass the annual quiz given to see if we actually reads them, but I also read a book series of my choosing. It all started three summers ago when my friend was reading the “Twilight” series. She told me I would really like them. Honestly, I couldn’t put the books down. I read all four books in a week. I was shocked and proud of myself that I was actually enjoying reading. So, every summer since I’ve picked a book series that I want to read. Every series I’ve picked so far definitely applies to the point the article makes. Although it sounds weird, I enjoy reading books with intense subject matter. It makes them more interesting and fun to read.
While watching the crowd shout “RUDY! RUDY! RUDY!” over and over again, I can’t help but to feel a smile creep up across my face. The hard working character has inspired many people to never give up for their dream, and though this is a common theme in “happy” stories, the movie Rudy was different. Rudy was definitely not a remarkable athlete in the slightest. He was just an ordinary guy. But what made him extraordinary was his inspiring work ethic and pure passion for football. As a viewer you just loved Rudy and wanted to be there for all of his downfalls and triumphs. Another great aspect of this story was the team that backed Rudy up and not letting his hard work go to waste. The movie created an amazing image of incredible people doing the right thing together making it an inspiration. Now for me the image of this was somewhat disappointed when I read Joe Montana’s words as he spoke the truth of Rudy’s story, not in the way of Rudy, but for the team. The image of those men in my mind is now ruined when I learned that they were “jokingly” carrying him off the field. For me, this makes Rudy even more of an inspiration as it appears that absolutely no one was on his side when he fulfilled his dreams that day. Movies are movies; you cannot trust them to be truthful or realistic. They are looking at the bigger picture of the way the viewer feels. I don’t blame Hollywood for changing the story line in those few sections because I think in order to really pull at a person’s heart strings, they need to have an emotional arch which they created by having Rudy. Joe Montana’s words are not going to change my opinion on the movie. He is still strong on the fact that Rudy “worked his butt off to get where he got” and that is what makes Rudy an inspiration.
First off, we all know that Disney movies always have happy endings. However, I still continue to watch them regardless of their predictability. A Disney movie that I really do love is, “High School Musical 3.” I absolutely adore this movie because of all the singing and dancing and romantic love that apparently never ends. But let’s get real here. In the third movie all of the high schoolers who have grown up together are finally graduating and deciding where they are going to college.In addition, the main characters, Gabriella and Troy, who have been together forever, are nervous because they are considering different colleges.Troy wants to play basketball at Albuquerque, and Gabriella wants to go to Stanford. Realistically speaking, you’d think the ending would be sad because all the teenagers are branching off and ending their high school relationships. However, Troy and Gabriella are not very realistic because Gabriella ends up leaving high school early to start at Stanford and misses her prom. Yet the night of prom, Troy somehow gets to Stanford, finds Gabriella, wears his tuxedo, and sings to her in a tree. Towards the end of the movie, Gabriella comes back from Stanford to perform in the musical with Troy and they announce the colleges they will be attending in the fall. Everyone thinks Troy will go to Albuquerque and leave Gabriella, but he ends up telling everyone he found a college close to Stanford so he can be with Gabriella for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, I found this ending to be extremely dumb. I do love happy endings, but realistically that rarely happens with any relationship. Furthermore, having a boy sing to you in a tree on the night of prom does not happen very often either. I think in general I would have rather enjoyed seeing them go their separate ways. It would have been better because many more high schoolers would be able to relate to such a situation.
Montana’s words actually affected my view of the movie Rudy a lot. When I saw that movie I was so inspired and thought that everything that happened, such as the fans cheering Rudy, was true. It really goes to show that Hollywood will do anything that they think will please the public, even if it means fabricating the story of a genuine man’s life. Although I was shocked to hear the real story of Rudy, I was even more shocked that Montana would reveal the truth about Rudy. If Rudy really was the hardworking diligent man people say he was, he probably enjoyed getting a little extra attention and praise. I don’t think that it was the right thing for Montana to do to take away Rudy’s extra fame. He definitely should have kept his mouth shut and let his fellow teammate bask in the glory of his legend.
It seems as if now a days you cant find a realistic movie anywhere. All that’s ever being made are movies with the same boring plot, boy meets girl and they live happily ever after. It really does get old after seeing the same thing in just about every movie you watch. Even if the movie isn’t a chic-flick it still has that plot. I can’t tell you how many recent movies I’ve seen where I just sit there and go, “shes going to fall in love with him.” It defeats the purpose of watching a movie if you already have an idea of what’s going to happen right? Here’s my question, what happened to the movies that are real, that give you chills because they actually portray life the way it truly is. These old fashioned, cliché love stories that everyone is into give us a false idea of what love is like. I could watch a million movies like Cinderella and A walk to remember and try to convince myself that life is like that but it doesn’t change the cold truth; life just doesn’t work like that. Personally I think there should be more movies like Radio. This is my all time favorite movie, it’s about this young man who has Down syndrome and is taken in by a high school football coach. He protects Radio from the many abuses of his players and students. People at first are hesitant and skeptical about the coach taking this young man under his wing but eventually Radio touches the hearts of the whole community. He becomes part of the family, and cared to by everyone as if he was their own son. Through out the movie you see Radio take hit after hit, from being tied to a shed to his mother dying. But he never gives up, he keeps supporting the team and eventually wins everyone over. These are the sorts of movies that give you chills, because they are real. They portray real life problems that people go through everyday. Radio has a real happy ending, groups of people coming together to help a single person in need. That’s what life is really about. Not being swept away by your prince charming and falling in love. Sure that’s important, we all want it but the way its portrayed is unrealistic and its not the most important thing in life. Radio goes to show what love and family is really about, and that even through all the bad there is always good. That’s the kind of message every movie needs to have.
Montana’s words on how the movie Rudy did not really come to me as a surprise. After seeing multiple movies that were based on true stories, I knew that Hollywood stretched the truth about these stories. It is understandable why Hollywood does this though. The more dramatic and exciting the movie is, the more people pay money and go watch it. it also sucks the viewer deeper into the plot of the movie by throwing in those “not completely true” dramatic scenes. I do not think that Joe Montana should have kept his mouth shut about what really happened in Rudy. I think that if people want to know the complete truth they have the right to it, but if people want to be strictly entertained then they should go to the Hollywood version of the story. In my opinion hearing Joe Montana’s side of they story did not change my view of the story. I watched the movie to be entertained and to hear a good story, even though it was beefed up to sound even more exciting. Even though Rudy and other movies like this are not completely true, they still provide us with a good source of entertainment, a good story and usually teach a valuable lesson to its viewers.
One movie that I liked except for the ending was Unknown. Unknown was about a doctor, Martin Harris, who traveled to Germany for business with his wife and got into a car accident. He woke up many days later in the hospital to find that someone had taken his identity. Everybody who knew Dr. Harris before the crash, including his wife, pretended that the other man was him. He spent the movie trying to figure out his true identity and who he could trust. As the movie came to the end, he finally remembered what happened to him and his identity. I was so excited to see this movie. The movie was filled with action and mystery. It was interesting to see the main character finding different clues that hinted to his identity. While I watched the movie, I predicted who was evil and who was actually trying to help him. I enjoyed the movie until the end. I felt that the end could have been better. It reminded me of a movie I had already seen. I expected the ending to be more creative than just the same ending as a previous movie. In conclusion, I thought the movie would have been better if the ending was more creative.
I read and watched “The Last Song.” I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this book until the ending. Of course, along with other love stories and books they fall in love and end up getting back together at the end. It ended that way in the “The Last Song” as well but what I liked about this book was that there was a sad moment and the father did die. Usually, in most stories the father would survive, beat the cancer, and everyone would be happy; not in this case. The father died from cancer and added a really sad twist to it. In the end, the teenage girl going off to college, Ronnie was about to leave her house when she saw her love, Will, standing near the ocean waiting for her. He said that he was going to move to where she was to attend college to be closer to her. I just thought that ending was unrealistic. Yes, it was a very happy ending as expected but it wouldn’t happen like that in real life. The fact that he came back after they weren't on speaking terms and told her he was basically going to live where she was to spend his life with her was too cliche I believe. It wouldn't have been the ideal ending I would have picked for this story.
One book I read that I really enjoyed except for the happy ending was “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” by Ned Vizzini. Typically as I read a book, I for my own ending and see if the end turns out the way I expect it to. The end of this book was not nearly as great as I had planned out all along. Although in the end, Craig completes his time in the psychiatric ward and becomes normal again, it doesn’t fully resolve any of the other conflicts in Craig’s life. The story of Craig and Noelle, a girl he became fond of while in the ward, was never followed through in the end and the problems with Craig and his friends, both from the ward and from school, were never solved. It wasn’t as glorious and perfect as I had wanted it to be. I wanted him to stay friends with the other people from the ward beyond his time there and I didn’t want him to continue being friends with the kids who had been the cause of his time in psychiatric care in the first place. I also wanted him and Noelle to be together after his visit to the hospital but it didn’t specify whether they had or not. All in all, I found this ending as a little bit of a letdown compared to the excitement of the rest of the book.
My dad has raised me to be a die hard Notre dame fan. He was making me watch the movie Rudy even before I could count to ten. Over the years I watched this film many times. I believe Hollywood had a purpose when creating video. It was not to make the half way decent athlete Rudy famous, but to carry an inspirational feeling to the viewer. Before I read this article I had much respect for Joe Montana, he was a great quarter back and a great leader. However now I don’t believe he is anything more then a jerk with a lot of athletic skill. It was not his place or necessary for him to go out and bash the Rudy name. Personally I believe it was out of jealousy. Of course Hollywood exaggerated what really happened that day, Hollywood exaggerates everything. They did it to make money and create a great movie. Joe’s comments do not change my opinion on the film or Rudy, they only changed my opinion on his character.
In the movie The Perfect Score, two friends want to steal the answers to the SATs so that they can get into the colleges they want to get into. They end up getting a whole group together of people that want to help them do it. They end up getting all the answers by taking the SAT the night before as a whole group and making sure their answers were correct. The next morning when it is time for them to take the test, all of them decide that they don't want to use the answers they got for themselves after all and want to be fair about it. I didn't like this ending because even though they did the right thing they still went through all of that trouble for nothing. It was almost like the whole movie was a waste. To me this is like a slap in the face to the audience and is basically like nothing happened in the movie! The movie would have been pretty good if it wasn't for this ending. I understand that tried to make it interesting by twisting what happens at the end of it, but I don't think it works with this particular movie. I think it would have been cool to see everything happen the way it was supposed to after the answers were stolen and see everyone live their lives the way they had imagined in the beginning of the movie instead of everything changing the way it did in the end.
Many movies and books I have come along in my life have taught me something. Your life could end without a seconds notice and too often people around us are left wondering exactly how we felt about them. I've learned that a funeral is not the place to tell someone how much they mean to you. Whether it is your funeral or their funeral one of you will be left regretting not letting that person know how big they were in your life and left wondering how big you were in their life. While Armageddon is not a very realistic movie to begin with I believe it has a good, bitter-sweet, unrealistic ending. Bruce Willis sacrifices his life to save the entire world from certain destruction and if that was all that happened then it would have been a terrible ending. He first has the opportunity to tell the people in his life that he loved them. He tells his son-in-law-to-be (Ben Afflek), who was always under the impression that Bruce Willis hated him and was disappointed in him, that he would be "damn proud" to have him marry his daughter. Anyone who does not get choked up at that scene does not have a soul. He also tells his daughter in his final minutes how much loves her and is proud of her. It means alot to know that someone is proud of you and it is never too soon to tell them that. It is, however, too often too late. That is why the ending is unrealistic but because it is so unrealistic and so rare that is what makes it beautiful.
I have a problem with movie endings. I always think they are too abrupt and ruin the story simply by not finishing it. These endings usually are neutral in emotion; neither happy nor sad. If the writer had picked an emotional ending, either happy or sad, it would make the story more complete. In the case of Rudy, I believe the writers did the right thing by making up some of the story to make it more interesting, even if it wasn't true. An example of where this wasn't used but in my opinion should have is the move A Social Network. Many people may disagree with me on this, but I believe the movie ended too abruptly. For those who have not seen the movie, it is about the creation of Facebook and follows the creator, Mark Zuckerberg. The ending is him sitting at a table after loosing the lawsuit against his ex-best friend and sending a friend request to an ex-girlfriend on Facebook. Then some facts about what happened next, like how much he owed in the lawsuits, pop up on the bottom of the screen and it is over. I had so many unanswered questions at the end of that movie, something that I don't think should happen. The ending was not happy nor sad, we never hear about his relationship with the girl he likes or with his friend, we just have to assume that it didn't work out. I wish the writers had continued the story, even if it wasn't exactly true, to make the story complete.
Post a Comment
<< Home