Tanya Writes About Movie Endings That Suck...or Not

Well, I'm cozy in the vacation condo with a thunderstorm threatening outside...so it feels right to take time pontificate about--romantic movie endings. Each of the flicks I'm discussing has been described as some sort of romance...or love story, so I'm going at it full time.

There are three major movies (ahem, books) that end so sorrowfully I couldn't sleep for days. Couldn't the writer have made things a bit easier for those of us who totally believe in happy endings? I mean, everybody in the world knows that Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara are going to get back together. There is no doubt. So couldn't the author/director of Gone With The Wind have added an epilogue showing the meant-to-be couple in a month or two, or year or two, or decade or two, all happy and content? I mean, who else on earth could put up with them? Arrrrgh.

And The Last of the Mohicans? Of course Nathanial Poe (read: Natty Bumppo) will end up with the beautiful, heroic Cora Munro...but hey, couldn't lovely Alice have ended up with Uncas (read: Chingachook) and allow us to leave the theatre without feeling like throwing up? Jumping off a mountain side was pretty gnarly.

And Titanic? Now, come on, James Cameron. We all get the symbolism about the "heart of the ocean" over sized, uncomfy diamond. But couldn't Leo-Jack have climbed on that floating door somehow? Whew.

Then again, there are three sucky endings that totally work and couldn't exist otherwise. Like Romeo and Juliet. Oh, Will Shakespeare got that one right. As tragic as their doomed love is, no matter how many time you see/read the play, you hope things will work out....even though you've known since you were twelve that they don't. Such is the genius of the Bard.

And Dr.Zhivago...With my Russian heritage, I couldn't help loving that that cheatin' dude, but he didn't deserve either of the women who gave their heart to him. But oh, the ice-encrusted onion domes, the weeping sunflowers. The balalaika. Sigh.

And Armageddon, the perfect action movie for guys full of gooey love and a cool song for the girls. Sorry, it's a love story in my book. How could it be otherwise, Bruce Willis giving his life to save mankind...and his little girl for Ben Affleck. And yeah, Steven Tyler.

And here are three movies with perfect and IMO happy endings. Oh, Notting Hill. That wacky ensemble of friends pretty much figures things out and Hugh Grant ends up with the pretty albeit snotty Julia Roberts. It all totally works for me. Hoosiers? Now I know it's mostly a sports movie, but come on. Gene Hackman has the hots for Barbara Hershey from the start. After the big win, The Look he gives her across the crowded room is one of the hottest ever.

And last but not least, or maybe the most: Casablanca. Yeah, Humphrey Bogart doesn't get the girl. But he can live with himself forever after knowing he did the right thing.

Now...if I've left any out, please let me know!

Tanya Writes About Normal

Yesterday, my hero took me out to lunch. His idea. Applebee's French onion soup, my absolute favorite.

It was so delish. So wonderful. So normal.

So normal.

Then today he and I wandered the aisles at Costco. He pushed the cart and got us a hot-dog after.

It was so delish. So wonderful. So normal.

He still tires easily and isn't yet up to an all-day marathon with our little grandson, but soon it'll be normal.

...I just finaled in a romance fiction contest with a Western historical in which a dead guy named Norman Dale is quite the kingpin to the action. Yeah, I named him after the coach in one of my favorite movies, Hoosiers....the entry got judged by three pubbed authors, then I got a chance to polish, or not, according to their remarks. They all loved it, but they found I'd mispelled Norman Dale's name a couple of times:

Normal.

Can't be mere coincidence, seeing that the same day things started to turn normal.

But I edited it to Norman because....now the thing goes to an editor. It's the second time this work has done well in a contest. Not long ago it placed first, with perfect scores in a fiction competition. It would be nice to see Marrying Minda brought to life.

But it won't matter a single whit whether or not the manuscript ever sees print. Because my life with my hero is on its way back to being delish, wonderful.

Normal.