By Spence Blazak
Tragedy has been the trend of late in movies, television,
and storytelling in general. In 2012, patrons of the arts found themselves mourning
over everything they loved dying on “Game of Thrones”, they all but lost hope
in humanity with Season 5 of “Breaking Bad,” and they saw a seventh consecutive
year of romantic misery for Ted Moseby on “How I Met Your Mother.” Sadness and
heartbreak (with a pinch of hopelessness) were the hip and current fad until HBO’s
masterful mini-series “Parade’s End” premiered last month. “Parade’s End” just
might have been the catalyst into a wild new movement: dramas that end….with
the characters being happy.
“Parade’s End” consists of 5 episodes, and follows
Christopher Tietjens (Benedict Cumberbatch, “Sherlock”) as a heroic British
statistician (I say this unironically) during the 1910’s. Tricked into marrying
the contemptuous Sylvia (Rebecca Hall, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”), Tietjens
suffers through years of marital horrors rather than divorcing her and taking
the demerit to his social pride. Marriage, AM I RIGHT? He finds himself falling
in love with a young suffragette, but never consummates the affair, because he
is just that good of a guy. He winds up in World War I and is shrouded in
misery throughout the series. Just from the words “World War I, British, and
love triangle,” it seemed like a tragic outcome for poor old Tietjens was soon
to be at hand.
When “Parade’s End” had concluded, and all poetic justice
had been served in the way of a happy ending, it was absolutely shocking.
Seriously. It had “this dude is going to off himself” written all over it.
After 3 seasons of tragedy befalling “Downton Abbey,” no happily ever afters on
“Boardwalk Empire,” and an adaptation of “Les Miserables” that made….my
friend….cry, it seemed like Tietjens had no hope. The catch is that rather than
feeling like a cop out (as many happy endings tend to do), “Parade’s End” feels
like a breath of fresh air, a well deserved gift to drama watchers. It is the
tragedy that doesn’t end in tragedy.
Throughout the history of the fictional story, it seems as
though happy endings could never be synonymous with good endings. It also seems
that whenever an audience genuinely wanted the two main characters to wind up
together, any hope for their happiness became immediately doomed. Rick and Ilsa
in “Casablanca” are the Barack and Michele of classic cinema: their chemistry
is loved across the board. Sadly, Rick and Ilsa have the misfortune of being adored
by an audience, so they, per the rules of drama, don’t wind up together.
This entire case can be juxtaposed to that of “Twilight.” At
its pinnacle, it was about as popular as popular could be, for some reason or
another (probably the surgeon-like handling of Jasper’s origin story. Ha!) Yet
anyone outside of the “fanboy” culture of the films merely saw the campiness of
the story and its relationships, specifically that of Edward and Bella. Due to
the fact that the relationship was just regular for the average reader or
filmgoer, Bella and her vampire boy toy get a dull and predictable happily ever
after.
“Parade’s End” might be the new beginning in endings for
dramas, where the characters get a shot at happiness, while still having it make
sense to the course that the plot took. While
in the past, a character being likable and having a goal which would make them
happy if achieved was the proverbial “black spot” on them, nowadays, it might
mean that maybe they’ll be, gasp, okay.
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