# Earliest Memory of a Downer Ending (Spoilers Aplenty!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188 "2008-12-15T01:31:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/61 "2008-12-15T21:15:18Z")
The short story _Colie_ in [My Friend the Dog](http://www.tias.com/cgi-bin/showcase-item.cgi?itemKey=1922841531&store=/stores/rrt). Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/62 "2008-12-15T21:30:39Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > The Valse Triste segment in [Allegro non Troppo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegro_non_troppo). > > Grab a kleanex and [watch for yourself](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3Blm2qWduY). Good god…I first saw that movie when I was twenty years old, and it _still_ tears me up. How young _were_ you? (Emphasis on “were”…I don’t think a person _can_ stay young at heart, not completely, after seeing that. 😃 ) > [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Most of mine have already been named, but I have one that sticks out in my memory. > > My parents were just getting into the whole video rental thing and brought me home full-length cartoon movies a lot. One time, they brought _The Plague Dogs_. I think I was 8 years old. Say, did you read [the book](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plague_Dogs)? I understand the ending’s…a bit different. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/63 "2008-12-15T21:34:45Z")
> [@dotchan](#): > > Speaking of _I am the Cheese_, our class was puzzled by the significance of what it meant until, sometime later, we sang the song where the lyrics comes from: The Farmer Had a Wife (or something like that), where it goes from the Farmer, his Wife, the Dog, the Cat, the Rat, and then down to the Cheese: > > A collective :smack: moment ensued. 😃 I did the very same thing. ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/64 "2008-12-15T23:05:12Z")
For me it was Silent Running. I don’t recall much about the movie, but I do remember that, after slogging through a very sad story, it ended even sadder. After checking the end just now on Youtube, that seems fairly accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/65 "2008-12-15T23:15:26Z")
Bambi, Old Yeller, and other Disney kid stuff never did get to me that much. My first real downer ending was Lord of the Flies. Completely bleak and hopeless. Even when the kids are rescued at the end, so much innocence has died. I think I identified with Piggy. I was 12 or 13 when I saw it (and soon after read the book) and it just sent me into a tailspin of existential despair. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/66 "2008-12-15T23:56:55Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Good god…I first saw that movie when I was twenty years old, and it _still_ tears me up. How young _were_ you? (Emphasis on “were”…I don’t think a person _can_ stay young at heart, not completely, after seeing that. 😃 ) I think I was three or four. The image stuck with me for years until about a year ago, I asked here on the SDMB where it came from and they identified it. Confused and traumatized would be appropriate descriptions of my feelings about it. For whatever reason, I hate ALL downer endings now. The only reason I read this thread, is to know in advance what movies and books NOT to read or see. Reality sucks enough. I don’t need to soak in it. ---
**Author:** ![Across](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Across](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Across)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/67 "2008-12-16T01:10:41Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > For me, it was a collection of (unabridged) Hans Christian Andersen stories I got when I was 8 or 9. Plenty of downers there, but I think \*The Steadfast Tin Soldier \*made the biggest impression. > > The book scarred me for life, and I mean that in a good way. Is that the story where he gets thrown into the fire and melted? Good call - a lot of classic HCA stories were damn depressing. I also though of another movie that broke my heart, but I was a bit older - probably 8 or 9. _Watership Down_. Though it never really had the same effect on me after I saw the Goodies spoof 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/68 "2008-12-16T01:55:28Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > I think I was three or four. The image stuck with me for years until about a year ago, I asked here on the SDMB where it came from and they identified it. Confused and traumatized would be appropriate descriptions of my feelings about it. For whatever reason, I hate ALL downer endings now. The only reason I read this thread, is to know in advance what movies and books NOT to read or see. Reality sucks enough. I don’t need to soak in it. I sure hear ya, there…just try being a fan of Japanese animation, _and_ a diagnosed clinical depressive. ☹ “Hey, this series is _really_ great! I can really get into it, the characters are engrossing, and easy to identify and sympathize with…[26 episodes later] :eek: ::stunned pause:: [::Vader](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s) [No::](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BigNo)” ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/69 "2008-12-16T05:45:01Z")
My first was “Bambi,” as I’m sure it was for most of us. The one that sticks most in my mind was the ending of Steinbeck’s “The Pearl” (spoilered for those whose 7th-grade English teacher wasn’t as Steinbeck-happy as mine): When Coyotito was shot by the guy after crying, and later Kino and Juana walking back to the village with the body of Coyotito, and Kino throwing the black pearl into the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/70 "2008-12-16T06:19:32Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > As a preschooler I was traumatized by [this](http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=cLywD77KBT0). (video) Oh happy memories. Sad, yes. But that always cracked me up. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/71 "2008-12-16T08:14:57Z")
There was a real-life Disney movie about Rascal the Raccoon. I was destroyed when he went back home to the woods. I was about five. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/72 "2008-12-16T11:17:16Z")
> [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](#): > > As sad as the Old Yeller movie is I always thought the book was probably sadder (and actually probably much more realistic to the place and time the story takes place): > > In the book like the movie Old Yeller gets in the fight with the rabid wolf and wins, saving his family. However in the process Old Yeller gets somewhat chewed up by the wolf. The boy’s mother reminds him that even though O.Y.'s injuries aren’t so serious that he won’t recover, since the wolf was rabid O.Y. will almost certainly get rabies himself and put the whole family in danger. The boy realizes his mother is right and executes O.Y. on the spot. > > Basically the boy is no longer a child at that point. I never read the book, but that’s exactly how I remember the movie ending. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/73 "2008-12-16T11:27:05Z")
> [@](#): > > I never read the book, but that’s exactly how I remember the movie ending. Not exactly. In the movie the parents let the dog be quarantined. The end happens only after it is certain that OY has rabies. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/74 "2008-12-16T11:50:43Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Not exactly. In the movie the parents let the dog be quarantined. The end happens only after it is certain that OY has rabies. Seriously? I do remember OY being in a corral of some sort, but I also remember the mother speculating that a healthy wolf would never attack in daylight, with rabies being implied. I don’t remember there being proof. I manufactured a memory that matched the book? Weird! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/75 "2008-12-16T12:49:40Z")
> [@Across](#): > > Is that the story where he gets thrown into the fire and melted? Good call - a lot of classic HCA stories were damn depressing. Yep. _The next day, when a servant took up the ashes she found him in the shape of a little tin heart. But of the pretty dancer nothing was left except her spangle, and it was burned as black as a coal._ ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/76 "2008-12-16T14:44:32Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I never read the book, but that’s exactly how I remember the movie ending. 😕 Loach has it right…in the movie the kid’s mom (I think the father was still away at that point) let them quarantine O.Y. in the corn crib, a kind of shed. He naturally develops rabies and then the kid has to shoot him. This seems to me to be unrealistic for the time and place. Heck, the book and the movie both establish the younger brother can’t stay out of trouble, he would have let the rabid dog out of the shed on the first day. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/77 "2008-12-16T15:24:50Z")
Isn’t there a story book called _The Velveteen Rabbit_ that involves a stuffed rabbit who has been thrown out in the trash because nobody has any use for her any more? Am I confusing that with another story? Because it was horrible. I remember receiving the book _My Girl_ as a Christmas present when I was 6 or 7, and being absolutely enthralled and devastated by the ending. The most upsetting thing was the funeral scene, where Thomas J looked all disfigured. It was a really disturbing way to confront the idea of death. Now that I think about it, before that there was _Blubber_ and _Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself_ from Judy Bloom. That woman had a penchant for writing about depressing things. _Sally J. Freedman_ features a Jewish girl in the post-WWII era who grows up in the United States. She thinks her neighbor might be Hitler and has nightmares about him eating her fingers. It’s pretty awful. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/78 "2008-12-16T16:46:32Z")
> [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](#): > > Loach has it right…in the movie the kid’s mom (I think the father was still away at that point) let them quarantine O.Y. in the corn crib, a kind of shed. He naturally develops rabies and then the kid has to shoot him. > > This seems to me to be unrealistic for the time and place. Heck, the book and the movie both establish the younger brother can’t stay out of trouble, he would have let the rabid dog out of the shed on the first day. Of course, the real tear-jerking part is that (in the movie) when the mother picks up the rifle to go shoot Old Yeller the kid stops her, then takes the rifle from her and says that it’s his dog, so it’s his job to shoot it. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/79 "2008-12-16T16:54:19Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Isn’t there a story book called _The Velveteen Rabbit_ that involves a stuffed rabbit who has been thrown out in the trash because nobody has any use for her any more? Am I confusing that with another story? Because it was horrible. Not quite that bad. The Boy’s favorite toy is the China Dog, and one day it can’t be found. So he plays with the Velveteen Rabbit, which is the laughingstock of the playroom because all the other toys believe themselves to be Real. The boy comes to love the Velveteen Rabbit as his favorite toy, until he contracts scarlet fever. When he recovers, he is sent on a trip to the seaside. He is given a new rabbit toy, and the Velveteen Rabbit is supposed to be burned because it is contaminated. The Rabbit is so sad that it cries a Real tear, and the Nursery Magic Fairy comes and turns him into a Real rabbit at last. He goes and joins the other Real rabbits. I have something in my eye . . . ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188/80 "2008-12-16T17:14:12Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Now that I think about it, before that there was _Blubber_ and _Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself_ from Judy Bloom. That woman had a penchant for writing about depressing things. _Sally J. Freedman_ features a Jewish girl in the post-WWII era who grows up in the United States. She thinks her neighbor might be Hitler and has nightmares about him eating her fingers. It’s pretty awful. Heh, my mother grew up Jewish in Toronto during the WW2 era. She learned as a little girl that “the Germans” were killing Jews - but that this was happening “far, far away” - specifically, far to the _east_. She thought that meant “the Germans” were killing Jews on the other side of Yonge Street - that being as far “east” as she could imagine. She developed a phobia of going to that part of town. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-memory-of-a-downer-ending-spoilers-aplenty/477188.md?page=5)