# Why do hollywood movies almost always end 'happy'?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hollywood-movies-almost-always-end-happy/456313>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 13, 2008, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hollywood-movies-almost-always-end-happy/456313 "2008-07-13T07:32:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hollywood-movies-almost-always-end-happy/456313/61 "2008-08-03T14:01:49Z")

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the link between a happy ending and box office success is not universal. In the early days of cinema, a happy ending was a recipe for disaster for Russian directors. Even then (this is the first decades of the twentieth century, even in the days of the silent movie) they’d tape a different ending for movies they were going to export to the West.

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**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hollywood-movies-almost-always-end-happy/456313/62 "2008-08-03T16:12:49Z")

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Horror movies often have depressing endings.

Se7en, Saw, Psycho, etc.

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**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-hollywood-movies-almost-always-end-happy/456313/63 "2008-08-03T17:17:59Z")

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mispost

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