Focus Group this!

Today, I feel my right to decent film is being compremised by focus groups!

Last night, Lacey and I sat down to watch a film with two actors with whom we have both been impressed with their body of work to date, Justin Long and Drew Barrymore. From the dude in the apple ad to the gay guy in "Zach and Miri Make a Porno"... Justin Long never fails to entertain while Drew Barrymore has been a winner ever since ET (with the possible exception of "Never Been Kissed", but hey, everybody has to work!)... So with the the inclusions of both of these stella actors, I thought we were in for a most enjoyable night of entertainment with the viewing of "Going The Distance"...

.... For the first 80 minutes... I was right!

[SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE WHO HAS NOT SEEN THE FILM]

The movie actually ends 10 minutes prior to the roll of the closing credits, my advice to anyone who watches this film from this point on is simple:

TURN THE FILM OFF WHEN HE IS PLAYING SPACE INVADERS FOR THE SECOND TIME! YOU WILL BE SO MUCH MORE SATISFIED!

It has made me ponder the question of why films are dumbed down to the lowest common denominator when they show such potential... there is not always a need for a happy ending. If we take a look at some of the most important stories of all time, very few of them have a stereotypical "happy ending"...

I suppose you could ask me "Is there anything wrong with a happy ending? Are you just some turd who is never happy unless he is miserable?"... No, I just think that Jennifer Anniston with her leading man of the moment who she just so happens to be dating at the time (very smart if you ask me, makes average movies more interesting to the tabloid market) and Kathrine Heigl/Gerard Butler have this market down pat.... don't fuck with it... The masses can get their opium there.. So why ruin otherwise great, entertaining movies by giving them an obvious afterthought of a happy ending?

It has made me wonder what changes could be made to other films/stories for broader mass apeal...
Schindler's List - Musical Version... With a chorus line scene in the showers?

Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence - More carols maybe?

Titanic - Would have been better quite frankly if Leo had been kneed in the balls in the start of the film and spent the next 3 hours groaning!

Million Dollar Baby - I shouldn't need to say really!
Gone With The Wind - "Frankly My Dear, I really care and want to sit down and have a deep discussion about your feelings on the matter"

The list goes on....

The core of my rant is this... Out of the human spectrum of emotions, joy is not the only one of merit. There is sorrow, melancholy, regret, guilt and countless other topics that make for equally great films and satisfying endings... Why does the boy always have to get the girl? Sometimes the boy and girl just can't get their shit together in real life, and if art is an imitation of life, why does it always have to portray how we want to feel... rather than how we do feel most of the time...