I just found out that The Descent's ending was changed for American audiences. What is your opinion on the matter?
2006-08-17 04:56:40 · 17 answers · asked by mutterhals 4 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Movies
unfortunately there seems to be some unwritten code stating that all American films (with a sadly, very few exceptions) must end with a happy ending, with evil vanquished, and the hero getting the girl.
it is one reason i like foreign films. they tend to be more realistic and therefore more thrilling (well, as realistic as you can get for a movie that you have to suspend your belief for :P). some of the best movies out there are where the bad guys get away and it shows that good doesn't always win... just like how the good guy, is not always the good guy (american films tend to be black and white with no shades of grey).
if the director wanted to show a less than happy ending, they should have stuck with it but i understand how most americans would respond badly to that (and the movie studios *are* trying to make money after all).
i find it very sad that the USA movie industry is so timid when it comes to most films (especially horror). not only timid, but downright dumb when it comes to horror. the film industry should take a chance! (the only ones who *do* take a chance are the independent films or the foreign films... which is why the USA is either buying them up, or remaking it for american audiences... the buggers).
i say, take a chance. show us the unhappy ending if it makes the story that much better!
2006-08-17 05:11:11 · answer #1 · answered by kiss my wookie! 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's kind of a generalization; mostly true, but not always. Many US horror movies DON'T have a happy ending. "Skeleton Key" was a great example of this. The ending was so disturbing on that one that I felt numb as I left the theater. Without that kind of ending, though, the movie wouldn't have had as much of an effect.
I do agree that US audiences seem to prefer happy endings, but then again, who doesn't? We get enough disappointments and sad endings from real life and the news; at the cinema, things should turn out right in the end.
2006-08-17 05:18:30 · answer #2 · answered by Baron Hausenpheffer 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Generalizing an entire group of people is not a good thing.
People hate it when Americans generalize about the world… Americans hate it when the world generalizes about America.
I happen to love all kinds of movies and I am an American. I would have to say that human nature is such that a happy ending tends to be more enjoyable than a sad one. Sad endings evoke emotions that are often looked upon as negative. I would say that sad ending happen and reflect the true nature of the human condition and therefore they should be included in movies. Of course that doesn’t help them make money, and in the end that is what they have to do to keep making movies.
2006-08-17 05:08:10 · answer #3 · answered by CL 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
People who go to see the movies don't want to watch something that's much like the life they're living. They want to dream, wan to believe that some where out there the grass is actually green all the time and people walk around happy and smiling.
People want to believe that in the end of all things the guy always gets the girl, the bad guys are always punished and the world becomes filled with happy, singing birds while the happy couple rides off into the sunset.
2006-08-17 05:01:58 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Thats not true. Im an american and I love unhappy endings. Makes things more realistic. I only saw the UK version of the Descent and loved it. I cant believe they changed the ending. Stupid.
2006-08-17 05:02:00 · answer #5 · answered by xcr0ss_my_heartx 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they are wimps and the Movies have long been a propoganda tool for the US government. The American always have to win, it's as simple as that, of course in the real world America does not always win.
2006-08-17 05:04:06 · answer #6 · answered by private 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
They are sheltered and can't handle anything too real. I am American but I love it when I see a realistic movie. One of my favorite cartoon movie is Bambie. Bambie is a cartoon is a Disney movie that ends in tragedy.
2006-08-17 05:14:56 · answer #7 · answered by Rachel Bitchface 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I don't like it when the endings aren't happy, because I love seeing the bad guy go down and the good guy win. I don't know why, it's much more satisfying that way!!!
2006-08-17 05:39:47 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
cuz american's don't like reality.
if they watch unhappy endings, they think they might as well watch their own life in front of them.
reminds them of the real world outside the theater.
2006-08-17 09:37:13 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
There's enough crap in reality to drag us down, so we need our fantasy happy-endings to kinda balance things out.
2006-08-17 05:02:53 · answer #10 · answered by gypsie_soul06 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋