And They Lived Happily Ever After?

There's nothing worse than an unsatisfying ending to a movie.  Okay, there are a lot of things worse, but an ending that doesn't give you a good payoff for the turns, spins, peaks and valleys of a movie -- just leaves you unsatisfied. 

It's like when someone serves you a slice of strawberry shortcake.  It looks so pretty with its whipped cream icing and plump strawberries.  You can't wait to take a bite.  But when you bite it, all you taste is a stale mess.  Now you've got strawberry juice dripping from your mouth and a stain spreading on your brand new, white silk blouse. 

I know what you're thinking.  We can't expect every movie to always have a happy ending, but it would be nice to have a hopeful one or at least one that makes sense.  Last weekend, I saw Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Get Married Too?"  

I loved the first one.  Satisfying ending ... definitely, I was already writing the sequel by the time the credits rolled on the screen.  I couldn't wait to see the sequel.  It was supposedly set three years later, but it felt more like three months later.  

(Why Did I Get Married Too?)

I didn't see any growth in the characters (except for one couple) and maybe that was the whole point of the movie.  Of course, this is purely a subjective view.  I don't want to give away the movie for those who haven't seen it yet. Unfortunately, the ending left me deflated and not wishing for another sequel.

On the other hand, Tyler Perry's "Madea's Family Reunion" took you on a domestic roller coaster ride that gave you a satisfying ending and floated you away on a "Happily Ever After" cloud. 

There can't always be a happy ending, but the ending should be a climax for the events of the movie.  Some may watch it and say it was.  But for me, the ending seemed too easy. It didn't make sense.  I guess there was a glimmer of hope.  

I'll use this analogy to describe what would've made the ending more satisfying for me.  When you get a boo-boo, you put on a band-aid.  Once it starts to heal, you rip off the Band-Aid so it can breathe and finish healing.  Everyone sees the yucky sore for a little while, it's not pretty, but then it heals and disappears.  Only you know your boo-boo was there.
  

There are two consequences.  Either you'll no longer wear those stilletoes that made you fall in the first place and created the boo-boo.  Or you'll learn how to walk in them. This approach would've made the ending in Why Did I Get Married Too?  more satisfying to me.    

(Because I Said So Cake)

Often symbolism help give you that satisfying ending.  The above black & white polka dot wedding cake with red rose buds played a symbolic role in the  the movie, Because I Said So starring Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore.  

Growing up, how many times have you heard your Mom say, "Because I Said So?"   That many.  If only I had a dollar for every time, you would be calling me Joan B. Trump.  That infamous response by parents to squash a child's question easily becomes a battle cry when the questions don't stop in a timely manner."  

Just the title alone tells you this is a family dramedy.  You'll discover from the first scene that it's a grown baby daughter vs. controlling mama drama.  Daphne (Diane Keaton), the mom, doesn't think her youngest daughter, Milly (Mandy Moore) can find Mr. Right on her own, so she secretly places a personal ad.  

(Because I Said So Fashion)

Mom wears her favorite black and white polka dress when she interviews potential son-in-laws.  Out of her three daughters, she believes Milly's the most like her and tells her this every chance she gets.  Of course, Milly thinks they're night and day.  Did I mention, they're both in the food business?  Daphne is a baker, Milly is a caterer. 

Daphne buys Millie a  red and white polka dress and insists she wears it to an event she's catering the next day.  Daphne doesn't know that Mom arranged for her chosen Mr. Right, a wealthy architect, to show up there.  He gets Milly's attention when he compliments her on the polka dot dress.  

Mom stops by her apartment before the date with Mr. Right and is shocked to see her wearing the polka dot dress again and Mr. Wrong at the door.  He's the guitarist Mom vetoed at the pre-screening interview.   

Throughout the movie, all of their boo-boos get bandaged and aired out for healing.  And then we get a satisfying ending where the boo-boo is barely visible.  You see, while Daphne's looking for Mr. Right for her daughter, she finds a Mr. Right for both of them. Daphne, in turn, finally accepts with new eyes that she is her mother's daughter  and she's okay with it.  Ah!  Satisfying.  Don't you love it!   
 

(Edge of Darkness)

A satisfying ending can also mean a sad ending.  In Mel Gibson's 2010 thriller, Edge of Darkness about a cop, Thomas Craven, who investigates his daughter's murder, a contracted hit by her employer.  Emma Craven is first poisoned with Thalium after drinking organic milk and shot to death when Dad tries to rush her to the hospital.  

His dead daughter who guides him through dreams and his imagination.  He also drinks poisoned milk to flush out Emma's killer.  Hand-in-hand, Father and daughter are victorious at the end.  At the end of Edge Darkness, we leave with faith that good will always take the upper hand. When I watch thrillers, I need to see this kind of ending. 

Yes, we live in the real world, but can't we enjoy a hopeful-ever-after escape now and then?  

(How Stella Got Her Groove Back)




  

Sleep Well, Miss Lena Horne ...

"It's So Hard to 
Say Goodbye to Yesterday..."

I can't get that song from the "Cooley High"  1975 movie out of my head when I think about Lena Horne's home-going on Monday, May 10.  It's sad to face the painful fact that this era has gone, but certainly not forgotten.  

(portrait depicting Harlem Renaissance - 1904-1935)

I'll never forget this Harlem Renaissance Baby, Hollywood Glamour Girl, Night Club Gem and Broadway Darling who strutted the entire entertainment package.

 (Lena Horne - Starlet)

Wrap it up with a social conscious bow, and you've got a wonderful gift for the world to enjoy for years to come.  Lena Horne had beauty, brains and a social conscious.  She knew who she was and where she came from, but more importantly wanted all people regardless of the color of their skin to have access to the same opportunities in life. 

(Lena with Frank Sinatra)

One would think that the title: civil rights activist would not be in the same bio of a Hollywood icon, but she was both.  Her distinctive singing style captivated many, even those who didn't enjoy contemporary standards.  Stormy Weather was the only popular song my mother hummed, when she wasn't humming her favorite spiritual.

Growing up, I remembered how the older African American women, the elders in my life -- always referred to her as Miss Lena Horne.  They saw her as an elegant, talented lady who could have passed for a white actress in the 1930s and 1940s to win coveted roles.  But she did not and would not.  

Max Factor even developed an Egyptian makeup shade exclusively for her, but she refused to go along with the studio's efforts to portray her as an exotic Latina.  

She once said, I don't have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I'd become, I'm me and I'm like nobody else.

(All Star Pics)
(From Yahoo News) 

When Horne was only two her grandmother, a prominent member of the Urban League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) enrolled her in the NAACP.   Activism didn't become a part of her life until 1945 when she was performing at an army base and saw German soldiers sitting up front while black soldiers were confined to the rear. 

Eighteen years later, she joined the Hollywood stars who Marched on Washington in 1963 for Jobs and Freedom when Martin Luther King gave his "I have a Dream" speech. 

Lena Horne was a star from the time she emerged out of her mother's womb.  Born in 1917 in Brooklyn, her mother left her in the care of her grandmother to find work in show business.  

By age 16, Horne danced in the Cotton Club's chorus line where the entertainers were black and the clientele white.  She became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood.  

She left the Cotton club in 1935 to tour with Noble Sissle's orchestra billed as Helena Horne, the name she continued using when she joined the Charlie Barnet's white orchestra in 1940.  A movie offer from MGM came when she headlined at the Little Troc nightclub with the Katherine Dunham dancers.

(Cabin in the Sky)

She had roles in numerous movies and more substantial parts in the all black productions:  Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather in 1943.  Because of the communist scare and her progressive political views, she was blacklisted and unable to find work in Hollywood.

 (Stormy Weather - Black Classic Movies.com)

Some of the legendary performances shown in the movie, Stormy Weather include:  (From Black Classic Movies.com)

•  Bill “Bojangles” Robinson showing his fancy footwork in multiple tap dance routines.  He was 65 years old when the movie was made and had been in show business for over 50 years.
•  Fats Waller performing Ain’t Misbehavin’, which was the song that made him famous.  He also performs a standout duet with Ada Brown singing the bluesy song “That Ain’t Right.”
•  Lena Horne singing the title tune “Stormy Weather,” which would become one of her signature songs.  She also dances with Bill Robinson and sings other memorable songs like “Diga Diga Doo.”
•  Katherine Dunham and her dance troupe performing memorable, Caribbean-inspired dance numbers.         
•  Cab Calloway in his trademark zoot suit leading his orchestra in the hip musical compositions “Jumpin’ Jive” and “Geechy Joe.”

•  The Nicholas Brothers performing a breathtaking dance number is one of the best dance routines ever captured on film.

(Lena Horne)

Returning to her roots as a nightclub performer, Horne performed in nightclubs, television and released well-received albums. 

She announced her retirement in March 1980, but starred in a one woman show in 1981 -- Lena Horne:  The Lady and Her Music that with more than three-hundred performances earning her a special Tony Award and won two Grammy Awards for the accompanying album and a third in 1995 for An Evening With Lena Horne.

Her distinctive jazz and blues style earned her critical acclaim for the songs:  Stormy Weather, The Lady is a Tramp and Cole Porter's Just One of Those Things, just to name a few.

(The Wiz)

Her last movie role was in 1978 as Glinda the Good in the movie, Wiz.  She also won two stars on the  Hollywood Walk of Fame – one for motion pictures and one for her work in the recording industry.

Sleep Well, Lena ... We'll miss you.