Happy Endings

I always talk about how I don’t like happy endings in films, books, or TV shows, perhaps because it fits in with the cold, cynical character I enjoy playing, but quite naturally I still want a happy ending in any story in which I am the protagonist. It’s not that I hate the concept of happy endings - it’s more that they’re a cliché at this point, dull and predictable. I’m not interested in a story where the starcrossed lovers ride off into the sunset, I’ve read a million of those already, there is nothing new for me there. I cannot gain any insight into the human experience, nor be exposed to any fresh and previously unconsidered perspectives. People’s pain is always far more interesting to me than their happiness, as is echoed by the sentiment that one always learns more from failure than success. There’s nothing to learn from a happy ending, but perhaps there is from a less twee outcome, no matter how fantastical or unrealistic the situation might be,