So unless you were living under a rock last week (no shame, it happens to all of us) you’ve probably heard that they’re making a sequel to Frozen and that people are kind of freaking out. We’ll finally know what happens next for Anna and Elsa and Olaf and all will be right with the world!
The internet also produced a frenzy of activity when a poster for a movie titled Mean Moms surfaced and seemed to suggest a sequel to Mean Girls. The poster was fake, however, and Mean Girls fans were faced with the disappointment of still not knowing what exactly happened in the characters’ lives after high school. I mean, we all know what happened to Lindsay Lohan, but what about Cady Heron? Will my life ever be complete if I don’t know for sure that Cady and Aaron got married and had adorable, smart, athletic children?
Personally, I can spend hours debating what happens in the lives of fictional characters after the cameras stop rolling. A conversation about Gilmore Girls, for example: “Well Rory obviously realized that she should have run away with Jess in the first place and they probs ran into each other while she was on the campaign trail and then they lived happily ever after. And of course Lorelai and Luke got married and had some babies and are basically the king and queen of Stars Hollow for eternity and live happily ever after too.”
Happily ever after—such a dangerous phrase. We all use it on a regular basis, but do any of us really believe that this happens? I like a “happy ending” better than anyone (seriously, I can’t handle sad endings), but why do I find them to be a necessity in books, movies, sitcoms, reality, television shows, and even personal anecdotes? It’s not like my own life is so perfect.
But let’s be honest—isn’t that probably why we all take so much comfort in living vicariously through other people as their lives play out on the screen, as they overcome obstacles and find their happy ending? And why cliff-hangers leave us desperately awaiting the season finale of our favorite shows? Our own lives are so complicated that it’s just easier to focus on fictional characters and the stories they tell.
I mean, there are like 7 billion unknowns in our lives every single day. If it takes me 30 minutes to decide which dessert to order, how am I ever supposed to decide what I want to be when I grow up? Of course we would all love for our lives to play out like a television show, with each year of our lives ending with a season finale to tie up all the loose ends. And when things aren’t going according to plan, or when the future seems like a terrifying abyss, it’s so much easier to take consolation in the scripted life of our fictional kindred spirits and spend some time wondering what’s going on with them. A little good old-fashioned problem avoidance to make our worries disappear!
Think about it though: even after the season finale, we still have questions. Even after the movie sequel comes out, the characters’ lives still go on. The Harry Potter books came to an end, and there are still things we don’t know about the characters. News flash for all of us: their lives aren’t perfect either. They’re just like us! Well, except for the perfect hair and the unrealistic metabolisms. But other than that, just like us! If the cameras kept rolling, they’d capture some fictional divorces, college rejection letters, lost jobs, and totaled cars. A happy ending on the screen doesn’t really take into account the continuous nature of time.
So while there’s nothing wrong with obsessing over wondering what the next season of Sherlock will bring, let’s all make an effort to focus on overcoming our own dilemmas first. Just think: with all the time you’ll save not over-analyzing a fictional scenario, you can probably do some pretty great stuff with your own life. Sounds like a happy ending to me!
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