Bittersweet Ending
I once watched a television series and it ended with a young woman leaving her boyfriend as they were on the verge of a new start – about to open a food shack – instead of stealing a car and probably beginning a life of crime; a businessman suing his father for wrongful dismissal when he is fired from the family business; a lawyer leaving his job as his ‘promote me or I go’ ultimatum is a miss; an influencer attending a support group for her drug addiction; a grandfather being forced to move out of his daughter’s home and distance himself from his family due to his infamous tendencies; and an activist giving up the civil rights group that her life has revolved around. This was a comedy by the way. It doesn’t sound like a particularly happy ending does it? It doesn’t sound like the perfect ending that we all hope for. Really we would like to hear that the young woman and her boyfriend happily walk off into the sunset, starting up their food shack, that the lawyer would get his promotion and that the businessman will receive an apology from a father who has come to realise his mistake and accept him back into the business with open arms. That would be the ‘perfect’ ending. However, to me the fact that the ending was not ‘perfect’ was what made the ending so good and so perfect. Normally not having the happy ending we hope for is unfulfilling. However, despite the moment when one finds themselves feeling disheartened or saddened when the ending does not reach the most utopian outcome we can think of we can come to look upon the conclusion as the most fulfilling and perfect ending that it can be. What I particularly enjoyed about the ending to this programme was that it was real, not cliché and it stayed loyal to the characters that it was serving. My former assertion of ‘it was real’ I feel needs some explaining. I am not normally in favour of people telling one what is real or the reality of things because often in such cases the person expressing such a sentiment is not appreciative of the complexity of what is real and the fact that everyone’s reality is different depending on the context and the individual’s perspective combined. Indeed, within one context there can be many realities. The programme I reference could have had a different ending that was also reflective of the reality the characters would likely have lived, although such an ending would have required that shift away from ultimate utopia in order to serve the characters in a way that was true to them, and providing us with a new kind of perfection. Indeed, I do not mean to say that a piece of reality can never be fully perfect for an individual but always mixed with ‘imperfections’ and hardship – that would depend on how much of the picture one looks upon; if one looks at a whole life then no reality can ever be ‘perfect’, but take one day of one person’s life, and yes it may be the ultimate utopia.
To return to the television programme, the reality had to end with ‘imperfection’ because the characters have storylines and personalities with baggage that cannot simply be ignored and brushed over. Indeed, the young woman would clearly not be satisfied with a more benign life running a food shack on the coast, she has a thirst for excitement and a taste for crime to be the answer to her craving. Moreover, she could not stay with her boyfriend because the two clearly wanted different things in life, the match was not right. Hence, in order to serve the character the right ending she had to leave. The viewer may wonder what sort of a life she may lead, potentially getting into all sorts of scrapes, yet she acted in a way that was true to herself, her own nature and her cravings. The character prioritised her own wants. Yes, arguably there’s a way for her to still achieve this in a manner that isn’t crime and would be much better for her as well as society, however, one can’t take away from the fact that the ending stayed true to the character and ultimately gave her what she searched for. Furthermore, this turn to crime is so ‘imperfect’ an ending in its nature that it is unexpected. While the viewer potentially anticipated the young woman taking up her scholarship to Oxford University as an alternative, there is a twist keeping the viewer on their toes, engaged and surprised right up until the very end. Moreover, if the latter was to come to fruition this would not be the alternative to serve the character correctly as it is a path that throughout the series the character has shown no real interest in, but instead is the dreams of her parents rather than her. The businessman’s ending too has its own nugget of happiness and peace in the knowledge that he is able to open up to his wife about his troubles and get support from her. The two are able to work towards a solution together, that not only demonstrates to his father that he will not be taken advantage of and treated as if worthless, as well as providing potential money to support the family. Although not ‘perfect’ and the problem is not solved, the audience can find closure in the fact that the businessman is taking control of his life with a plan that could allow him to find his way out of the storm soon. Indeed, the businessman would not have achieved as much personally were the easy ‘perfect’ ending to materialise, with the father grovelling and accepting him back – the discerning viewer may anticipate that the father has no real respect for his son and will continue to get away with abusing him in the manner that he does, with any apology having no real substance and therefore more issues to come. Moreover, an ending in that manner, given the circumstances, would be unrealistic and cliché. The problem was too deep for a simple fix. The lawyer’s ending stays true to the character, who in reality is not very good at his job and does not really want the promotion but simply feels he should have it. Furthermore, by leaving the company the lawyer can now have a fresh start in a career that he may be much happier in. Furthermore, no longer working for the company; the lawyer can now entertain the possibility of a romantic relationship with a woman working at the company. It is a blessing in disguise. The viewer can also feel happy for the character that he managed to do what he previously was too nervous to do; demand a promotion (although unsuccessfully) and ask out the woman he’s been swooning over. We are proud to see how the character has grown and developed for the better. The grandfather’s ending is arguably the most upsetting and one that causes the greatest challenge to the viewer when coming to accept it. Perhaps viewers don’t fully accept it, and it is testimony to the writing that this storyline has left that impact upon the audience member. Although despite the poignancy of the ending it is fitting. The daughter asserts that her father cannot stay out of trouble, and in saying so she is right. She states that she is not angry, allowing for the viewer to understand that she may continue to hold fond memories of her father, maybe contacting him sporadically in the future. The relationship her father was trying to rebuild is not broken, and indeed the ending avoids it breaking in the future. Again, the discerning viewer may consider the grandfather’s nature and reality that he will not be able to lead a quiet family life without trouble. This ending avoids family calamity, upset and bitterness later down the line. The grandfather then poignantly tells his grandson that it was he who decided to leave and that his daughter begged him to stay. He does this in order to protect the relationship between his daughter and her son, given the son’s upset at his grandfather going. Through his actions here we see a devotion to his daughter to his detriment. We can feel proud of the character that he has come to put his family and his daughter first, where he previously did not. Finally, the activist gives up her civil rights group. This ending serves the character as she hands the group to a successor that she previously framed for taking money from the group in order to retain full power. Hence, the character can undertake a course of action as a way of putting to rights her previous more Machiavellian actions, absolving her guilt with it and making her successor, who admires her deeply, honoured and very happy with it. Furthermore, it shows a strength of character and a development of her person that she was able to understand that she has played her part and can find it in herself to give up what essentially keeps her going. The audience can feel proud that she did something good despite it being hard for her, and hopes that through this action she can find her purpose without having to use an organisation as a crutch. The endings are not how we expect ‘perfect’ to be but being so ‘imperfect’ is what makes them so perfect. The characters fulfilled the ending that was right for them, they had endings that were not wholly bad either but showed a happiness that is not loaded on with a trowel but done with a delicacy of hand.
Bittersweet Writing
Pieces of writing and performance that have that bittersweet nature have always had an impact upon me, and often my favourites follow that same pattern of being fulfilling and overall happy despite the presence of imperfections added into the mix. I feel that there is such artistry and skill in being able to complete a work with a subtlety of bittersweet combined with something light-hearted and potentially humorous. That is not to say that in a work that is completely different there is not skill or artistry; however, it is always something I have appreciated and believe is underrated. It has an understated emotion that creates some of the most believable characters and storylines that are immensely engaging. Such works are varied in their nature, allowing the reader or viewer to feel a plethora of differing emotions, creating for a cathartic as well as comforting experience. My appreciation in a similar manner extends to a film that also demonstrates the ability to create incredibly poignant moments while sustaining a warmth that revels in the beauty of life. However, much like the ending of the series I spoke about, what I believe is so perfect about the formulation of this film, allowing it to reach all of the merits I spoke about, is that it embraces the imperfections that life consists of. The film portrays rejection before the main character finds his match. It explores the impact of alcohol has upon a character who relies on it in her unhappiness, causing a catastrophe about half way through the film. Finally, it explores the death of a loved one, all the while encouraging the sentiment that life is beautiful. The moments of sadness within the film, for me, are what make it perfect. Such moments provide a substance that is reflective of the fluctuation within everyone’s reality. The film says that life is beautiful even with adversity. I do not mean to say that having death as a part of life is what makes it perfect. Within the context of the film, portraying loss is perfect because it acknowledges grief and the characters coming to terms with it rather than shying away from it in a manner that demonstrates a skill of writing. The film portrays that despite death life can still be beautiful as there are other bountiful elements to enjoy. It is a film that celebrates life, not only of the main character, but with the clear message that the character who died had lived a happy and fulfilling life, being ‘a time traveller who gave up work at 50 to spend more time with his family’. Indeed, the ending is more typically perfect than that of the series, but the context was different and so it was the right ending considering the characters and what had happened in their story. The theme here, in what makes both the series and the film so perfect to me, is the embracing of imperfections.
Bittersweet Life
I believe that this can be applied to life. Life is beautiful because, like the series’ ending, it is befitting of reality and varied. That is not to say that anything bad happening in life should be seen as a good thing because ‘life isn’t perfect and that’s a good thing’. I would not call instances of extreme tragedy or moments of deep pain and sadness an ‘imperfection’ either. The imperfections are that we all feel lonely or insecure at some point. I do not mean to take away from those negative feelings by saying that one should be happy about them, and of course if at an extreme the conversation would be different. On a more average level, of course, such moments are not pleasant to say the least. However, it is viewing these imperfections in a particular way that is where perfection can be found. Some espouse that in order to be happy we must focus on the positive. That can help in some instances. However, I would further the statement and say that in order to be happy we should embrace the negative and focus on everything combined together. In order to feel extreme happiness, we have to have had moments where we feel sad. In order to live life to the fullest, we experience a range of things; that is what it is to be human; that means we experience rejection, for instance. We don’t need to take away from the fact that such instances are hard, but in dealing with them, if we try to remember that we are living a full and varied life, fully experiencing being human, when looking at the bigger picture the presence of those imperfect moments make for perfection. Indeed, such moments build one as a person, allowing for the creation of incredible works of art or simply an expanded level of understanding about oneself and the world around them. Without these moments, we mightn’t be able to experience and/or appreciate some of the positive moments to the same extent. Not every life has the luxury of being ‘perfect’ and beautifully bittersweet. However, because every life has imperfections doesn’t mean no life can be ‘perfect’; indeed, often those ‘imperfections’ make for perfection. In a similar vein, I am sure you know the phrase: ‘Nobody’s perfect’ because we all have flaws. However, often those ‘flaws’ are another side of our very best characteristics. An individual may be impatient, but with that, they are focused and intent on being productive and hence, very reliable as they’ll always get the job done. To return to the idea of my dislike for stating reality; the reality is there is no perfect as perfection comes in many forms, each dependant on perception. One person’s utopia is another person’s dystopia. The conventional ‘perfect’ doesn’t exist, but other forms of perfection do, and they are always hand in hand with imperfection.