Imagine how we’d have felt if we never found out whether Han Solo got rescued after being encased in carbonite. And how about if it was left up in the air whether Marty McFly ever rescued Doc from past? If Jack Sparrow ever escaped his fate? If Neo ever stopped the sentinels from reaching Zion? Or who was responsible for the Reavers in Firefly? Does Bella ever bangs the werewolf instead of the sparkly vampire? I totally would! And just whatever did happen to Johnny Rico after Starship Troopers? Er…skip that last one. The point is that we have this inherent want, need and desire to see a story through. If there’s a cliffhanger, then we want the sequel. We want a beginning, middle and end. I do.
It wasn’t until I was reading a commentary by LZ Granderson on CNN a week or so ago and he mentions a conversation with Michael Irvin where he (Irvin) suggests we need to consider the current fight for gay rights as running a race we may not be around to finish. That irked me. That irked me bad. Where the hell is my happy ending? But then, too, It kinda got me thinking.
Look at all the fights going on in the world; save the whales, no dolphins killed while catching tuna, the invasive carp in Michigan lakes, the threat of nuclear war, terrorism, racism, famine, poverty and the list goes on. How do you choose your battle? Or how do you choose your battles? Can you choose more than one? I don’t believe I had a choice in mine and I don’t mean because of my genetics. I mean because I seem suited to be able to use words and humor to help people understand that my existence and those like is no threat to them. I picked up that fight, am in what feels to be the middle of it and, damn it, I’m expecting a conclusion that doubles as a happy ending.
Okay, it amuses me a little to think of the next couple of generations picking up where I leave off…provided this doesn’t end before my time is over…and it better end before my time is over or you will see one seriously pissed off elderly gay man. But these other generations? Have you seen the way they drive? Girrrrrrrl, between that and their inability to keep their pants pulled up–put on a (censored) belt already!–we’re in some deep sushi.
It really is a strange feeling that I could one day pass away and leave things undone and incomplete. I’d still like to see The Expendables 2. What will the next Roxette or Alphaville CD sound like? What happens in the next Dorien Grey novel? Will they cure Alzheimer’s by 2025? Will they finally reveal who killed JFK? Will Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone ever get a Blu-Ray release in 3-D? Jaws 3 is. And when will the day arrive that nobody bats an eye when they find out someone’s gay and married to the person they love?
We have things to live for and we want to see them through. We want our happy ending. We want that sense of closure without the cliffhanger. Tears For Fears understood this. Remember their last album? Everybody Loves A Happy Ending? They were on to something with that.
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Kage Alan is the Pet Shop Boys watching, Enigma listening author of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to My Sexual Orientation,” “Andy Stevenson Vs. the Lord of the Loins” and the first book in a separate series, “Gaylias: Operation Thunderspell.” He’s been sitting on writing this blog post for a week now trying to get it just right…er, write heh heh heh…in his head. And he did. And here it is. So, you know, enjoy it and leave a little love. We like that in our tiny bit of the blogoverse.
Happy endings are nice, but you have to pick which happy ending to focus on. The further afield your happy ending is from your center, the harder it is to find.
Thought-provoking as always, Kage. And thank you for the mention!
Always a pleasure, sir.
I can’t even think about happy endings when I’ve been pondering the meaning of life in general. It all seems so…..BIG. Great post Kage, and, as always, you put some smiles in with a tough and deep topic.
Thank you, Carah. The more I write, the deeper the topic gets to the point I lose sight of where it began and where it could possibly end. Makes me realize that I’m a very tiny piece of a rather large puzzle.
Wonderful post as always Kage. Though you had me with the mention of Firefly. lol
I need to mention Firefly more often. Still miss that show. (sniff sniff)
I don’t know fire fly but you write a mean blog dealing with very serious life changing events, yet alway manage to inject some bits of humour in your subject matter; always managing to putting a smile on my face, but then it would be a sad commentary indeed if we couldn’t laugh at ourselves and the situations we find ourselves facing. Keep up the good work on giving us a good profile and voice.