# Worst Happy Ending **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508 "2018-05-03T14:16:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**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:** [May 9, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/81 "2018-05-09T17:59:41Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Sleepless in Seattle. Now she gets to spend her whole life wondering if she measures up to his dead wife. Not only that but she dumped a great guy who’s only fault was he had allergies for a guy who lives 3,000 miles away that may not be compatible with her. > [@enipla](#): > > A perfect ending to a great movie. Wasn’t supposed to be happy. As with a lot of movies mentioned I’m not sure if some people have the same definition of happy ending as I do. > [@Driver8](#): > > This pattern is pretty common with action movies though. One of the Die Hard movies comes to mind, where they’re all yukking it up and the Christmas carols are playing and it is all super happy, but just hours earlier a hundred or more people have been murdered, including a whole bunch of people and families on that British airliner. Many action movies have what would be the largest slaughter of police officers in history but that’s just background. There could be 20 good guy bodies laying around but no one cares unless it’s the red shirt partner. Recently the Punisher series was guilty of this. > [@TroutMan](#): > > I still cry about Porkins. We’ll get top men on that. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/82 "2018-05-09T17:59:56Z")
I’m not sure this fits the nature of the OP but I always thought the end of Avatar was really just the beginning of nothing but bad endings for the Na’vi and Pandora. As if humans starving for energy would just throw up their hands and give up all that unobtanium. Get ready for a rain of fire and death from above, Pandora. Humans will attack you from space until there is nothing living left and sweep up what they want from the ashes. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/83 "2018-05-09T18:38:35Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I’m not sure this fits the nature of the OP but I always thought the end of Avatar was really just the beginning of nothing but bad endings for the Na’vi and Pandora. As if humans starving for energy would just throw up their hands and give up all that unobtanium. Get ready for a rain of fire and death from above, Pandora. Humans will attack you from space until there is nothing living left and sweep up what they want from the ashes. That’s not an ending. It’s a set up for the proposed 4 sequels. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/84 "2018-05-09T18:47:42Z")
The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy leaves her new friends and a colorful land where she could be queen to go back to miserable, colorless Kansas where she still has to give her dog up once Almira Gulch realizes Toto escaped her basket. Not a single thing is resolved other than Dorothy’s rash decision to run away from home during a tornado. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/85 "2018-05-09T19:22:16Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Sleepless in Seattle. Now she gets to spend her whole life wondering if she measures up to his dead wife. What about poor Tom Hanks? He’s now hooked up with a psycho stalker who broke up her engagement on a whim to pursue a man she didn’t even KNOW!!! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/86 "2018-05-09T19:26:03Z")
A whole lot of these endings weren’t SUPPOSED to be happy! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/87 "2018-05-09T19:37:14Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > Another thing that I find baffling with the ending is that… > > … during the whole movie, old boyfriend was an evil scumbag and then you’re almost tricked into pitying him. Hey, you almost wish he’d try and get the heroin back. Either that’s a typo or I really don’t remember that movie very well. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/88 "2018-05-09T23:10:08Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > What about poor Tom Hanks? He’s now hooked up with a psycho stalker who broke up her engagement on a whim to pursue a man she didn’t even KNOW!!! Pretty much the same thing happened to Frank Sinatra in _ **The Manchurian Candidate** _. :eek: While we’re at it, I’ve never really understood the logic behind that movie. Angela Lansbury is a John Bircher who wants to establish a dictatorship in the United States so she can battle the Communists, whom she despises. For help, she turns to … the Soviets and the Red Chinese, who freely offer their help because they loathe and detest the United States and actually \*want \*a Joe McCarthy–type to become president. She then lets them brainwash her son right in the middle of the Korean War because she has an incestuous relationship with him. After deservedly whacking her and her husband, he then shoots himself, a great happy ending. What’s up with _that_, eh? :dubious: 😕 ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/89 "2018-05-09T23:13:17Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > The Wizard of Oz. > > Dorothy leaves her new friends and a colorful land where she could be queen to go back to miserable, colorless Kansas where she still has to give her dog up once Almira Gulch realizes Toto escaped her basket. Not a single thing is resolved other than Dorothy’s rash decision to run away from home during a tornado. Didn’t Gulch die in the the tornado? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/90 "2018-05-09T23:18:40Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Didn’t Gulch die in the the tornado? After being sucked into the funnel, she was transformed into the Wicked Witch of the West (at least in Dorothy’s dream). ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/91 "2018-05-09T23:41:58Z")
“Let’s get the hell out of here.” probably qualifies for this thread. All was put back as it was, but at what cost, Bones? At what cost…? ST:TOS - City On the Edge of Forever - season 1 episode 28 - original air date April 6, 1967 ---
**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:** [May 10, 2018, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/92 "2018-05-10T00:41:15Z")
> [@Tinker\_Grey](#): > > A.I. That’s supposed to be a happy ending? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/93 "2018-05-10T00:44:59Z")
I didn’t read the whole thread, but ctrl f tells me nobody has mentioned _The Road_. It’s the saddest, bleakest “happy ending”. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/94 "2018-05-10T01:17:54Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > The Wizard of Oz. > > Dorothy leaves her new friends and a colorful land where she could be queen to go back to miserable, colorless Kansas where she still has to give her dog up once Almira Gulch realizes Toto escaped her basket. Not a single thing is resolved other than Dorothy’s rash decision to run away from home during a tornado. But now Dorothy knows that all she has to do is throw a bucket of water on Miss Gulch. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/95 "2018-05-10T01:19:52Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > But now Dorothy knows that all she has to do is throw a bucket of water on Miss Gulch. Except it is real life. All she’ll get is an even more pissed off Miss Gulch. In OZ, she defeated her. I’d have stayed in OZ. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/96 "2018-05-10T01:21:56Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Angela Lansbury is a John Bircher who wants to establish a dictatorship in the United States so she can battle the Communists, whom she despises. For help, she turns to … the Soviets and the Red Chinese My take on it is that Mrs. Iselin (played by Lansbury) was a communist who was pretending to be an anti-communist conservative so that she could gain power and destroy the U.S. government. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/97 "2018-05-10T01:24:17Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > The Wizard of Oz. > > Dorothy leaves her new friends and a colorful land where she could be queen to go back to miserable, colorless Kansas where she still has to give her dog up once Almira Gulch realizes Toto escaped her basket. Not a single thing is resolved other than Dorothy’s rash decision to run away from home during a tornado. At least now she knows that if there’s another tornado, her aunt and uncle will lock her out of the storm shelter without a second thought. To add insult to injury, that creepy Professor Marvel is still around; he shows up at Dorothy’s bedroom window in the final scene to see how she’s doing. Think about it: _he already knew which window was her bedroom_. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/98 "2018-05-10T04:10:29Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > Except it is real life. All she’ll get is an even more pissed off Miss Gulch. In OZ, she defeated her. I’d have stayed in OZ. OK, then. All she has to do is throw a bucket of water on Miss Gulch, then shoot her and run away again. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/99 "2018-05-10T04:26:44Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Didn’t Gulch die in the the tornado? We saw Miss Gulch in the tornado, but that was only after Dorothy’s house was ripped off its foundation. Since Dorothy wakes up and her house is fine, I assume that Miss Gulch in the tornado is part of the dream. She may have avoided the tornado entirely. At least, that’s how I remember it. Been ages since I watched that movie. > [@erysichthon](#): > > To add insult to injury, that creepy Professor Marvel is still around; he shows up at Dorothy’s bedroom window in the final scene to see how she’s doing. Think about it: _he already knew which window was her bedroom_. Or he just stuck his head in various windows until he found the right one, which is not much better, really. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508/100 "2018-05-10T05:31:37Z")
One that pissed me off was _What Women Want_. Yes, I know, it was a lame movie, but I did find it fairly enjoyable nonetheless – until they added the last scene that just turned it into pap. Like when they show _Brazil_ on broadcast TV and cut it off early. Come on, people, learn where the end of a movie is supposed to be. > [@snfaulkner](#): > > I didn’t read the whole thread, but ctrl f tells me nobody has mentioned _The Road_. It’s the saddest, bleakest “happy ending”. Probably sadder and bleaker than the end of _Delicatessen_, but only just. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-happy-ending/813508.md?page=6)