Anti-Closure

Lately I've had issues with the endings of movies. Specifically chick flicks. They all end the same way. They always end up together. It's the traditional pattern for a Hollywood chick flick. Haven't we gotten to the point where we don't even need the last three minutes of the movie? Don't we know they end up together? Can't we just use our imagination and end it ourselves?

Let me give you some examples...and don't worry I won't be ruining anything if you haven't seen the movie yet because you already know they are going to end up together. It's Hollywood.

Notting Hill: William Thacker finds Anna Scott at the press conference and tells her he's reconsidered her offer of love-"I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her." She then tells the reporters that she's going to stay in the U.K. indefinitely. Movie DONE! We don't need to see them going to awards ceremonies together and ending up on a bench in a park. She said she was going to stay indefinitely so we know they are going to get together. Use a little imagination and come up with your own ending!

Serendipity: Sarah and Jonathan find each other at the skating rink in Central Park. They embrace, they kiss, they cry. You really think they AREN'T going to end up together? They've spent the entire movie trying to find each other. Seeing them drink champagne in the department store is unnecessary.

Leap Year: Declan asked Anna "If the fire alarm went off and you had 60 seconds to grab something before running out, what would you take?" She didn't have an answer at the moment. Further into the movie she pulls the fire alarm during her engagement party and realizes she doesn't own anything she'd want to take with her. OBVIOUSLY she has a realization that she's engaged to the wrong guy and has to go back to Dublin to reunite with Declan. Why do we need to watch her return to Dublin and tell Declan that she really wants to be with him? We already know, thanks to the Chick Flick Formula, that they are going to be together. The movie should have ended at the fire alarm.

Now allow me to present a couple of examples with endings that I approve of...

My Best Friend's Wedding: Jules thinks she's in love with her best friend so she tries to stop the wedding. It doesn't work out and her best friend ends up marrying someone else anyway. Some may find this ending a little depressing because Jules ends up with no one but a gay friend (literally). Hollywood did it right with ending it right there. We don't need to see her end up with the man of her dreams a few years down the road. We get to use our imaginations! Maybe she ends up an old maid because she has issues with the "ucky love stuff". Maybe she gets over these issues because she meets the man of her dreams. Who knows? Who cares? The point is cheesy closure just isn't necessary.

Groundhog Day: It's finally February 3rd and Phil wakes up with Rita. There's no cheesy marriage proposal, there's no "1 year later", it's just "Let's live here!" and DONE. PERFECT ENDING! Now (if I desire to think about the movie AFTER it's over) I can picture them getting married or moving into their new house in Punxsutawny, PA, etc. The possibilities are endless because Hollywood didn't tell me what happened.

What is comes down to is this: I don't need closure when it comes to a chick flick. I know they are going to be together and I know they are going to be happy. Cheesy proposals, corny lines referencing something earlier in the movie ("Let's bet on it."), and weddings of supporting characters are superfluous. Hollywood should save themselves a little money and save me a little time by just cutting out the last couple of minutes.

So let's practice this no-closure-use-your-imagination thing: I'm 23, as single as single gets, graduated from college, working a full-time teaching position, counting the Sundays until I can move out of this ward...