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Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Marriage is Murder

Me and the Hubs went to see a play over the weekend called....wait for it.......Marriage is Murder. In a nutshell, the play was about Polly and Paul (ex-spouses) who write murder mysteries together. They act out the crimes in their apartment: poisoned chocolates and lethal martinis, alibis and fingerprints, bodies in a trunk and bodies all tied up, daggers, guns and even an axe. Nobody actually gets hurt (although I wanted to strangle them somewhere in the middle of all of this) but their egos take some hits as they find that their marriage was mixed up with their work. There are many fast paced comic twists as they attempt to outdo and surprise each other.

Spoiler: They end up happily ever after. You know how I wish it ended? With one or both of them dead. Now that would have been a clever twist and a memorable ending! The more I thought about this, the more I realize that most books/movies end this way too (unless you've seen War of the Roses?). Do you prefer your Happpily Ever After endings or do you like to see something more happen at the end, even if it's traggic?

I just finished reading Breaking Dawn last week and I loved that book, but how great would it have been for something bad to have happened to at least one of the Cullens instead of everyone coming out unscathed? Don't get me wrong, I was just as invested in those characters as the next person, but we all knew that was the last book. A big ending shocker would have made a bigger impact, don't you think?

As a reader I think it would be nice to NOT know what to expect once in a while. That's just my two cents.


11 comments:

Erinn said...

I felt the same way at the end of Breaking Dawn, what annoyed me was how much was built up for a battle that never happened and the reveal of the werewolves. UGH. It was entertaining but disappointing. Although I'd hate to be in Meyers position, there really was no way to end the series without disappointing a huge chunk of her fanbase.

BTW YOU WON MY CONTEST!!! YAY you, head over to my blog for info.

Rose Cooper said...

That's exactly how I felt! It was such a HUGE build up which is why it felt like such a let down. Either way, I was so sad to have the series come to an end!

OMG YAY!!! *Heading over now*

Candyland said...

Yep! Because life isn't so sweet all the time. I like a bit of bitter mixed in.

Summer Ross said...

I like twist- but I prefer my happy endings. maybe its because life doesn't have a happy ending, we all are going to die, and it wont be fun, so if I'm reading fiction- I'd rather keep it fiction lol

vic caswell said...

you know, i like both.
and i truly believe that ms. meyer is secretly writing another book this moment... except that bella won't be central to it. i bet it will be about the wolves and renesmee- the ugliness of that name is the true dissapointment of breaking dawn!- i really think a lot of the set-up was changing the rules for a new spin-off series- afterall ms. meyer did say that this was the last book she was writing from bella's pov, not that she wouldn't be writing about the characters any more... she even hints on her site of having more story that she hasn't told yet such at this quote : "Someday, if I continue with the Twilight universe, maybe it will become necessary for me to..." - ok, now that i've been a total fan freak spazz... i'll just say good day and cool cake and be gone! :)

Faith E. Hough said...

Oh, wow, I was just thinking about this. You have to read "Leaf and Tree" by Tolkien, because he addresses in his essay on fairy stories what makes a really satisfying ending...and a plain "happy ending" isn't it. There is a deep, emotional, cathartic connection to tragic endings, but Tolkien maintains that if you can create a happy ending while still creating that feeling, then you have something truly great...
His ending of Lord of the Rings is probably the best example of that...it's "happy" but bittersweet, because so much had to be sacrificed for that happiness.

Aubrie said...

Overall I like the happy endings, but it's the unhappy endings that always stick with me for months after I've read the book. They do have a bigger impact in the long run.

Amie Borst said...

oooh! i blogged about this not too long ago!

happily ever afters are so individual. not only to the readers, but to the characters as well.

if katniss everdeen ends up with gale - she'll be happy - but i'm rooting for peeta!

Theresa Milstein said...

Sometimes a good mix is best. J.K. Rowling did a pretty good job with the way she ended the Harry Potter series.

Predictable often means boring.

Crissy said...

The play sounds fantastic and the cake is so cool! I am lame and only like happy endings. If I know a movie/book will end badly I won't watch/read it. I'm pretty pathetic. (:

Jenny Rose said...

I don't necessarily need happily ever after and I don't like characters who are invincible. I like to see the characters, even the hero, get a little hurt. It makes them more real. X-Men didn't end happily ever after, but it was a satisfying ending. Must Love Dogs was happily ever after, but was just silly (IMO).