Our Debate Over Tony Stark’s Grave

Why Should Media Have Bad Endings?

By Nikitha Mannem

I asked my roommate and boyfriend, “Why should media have bad endings?”

My roommate responded. “Because there have to be stakes. If there’s no threat of a bad ending, then there’s no meaning.”

“Isn’t that a plot? There’s always tension that drives the plot forward,” I rebuttaled.

“It’s not just the tension of the outcome, but more the character development through a well-written plot,” my boyfriend chimed in.

“But if you go into a movie or something knowing that the ending will be good, then what’s the point? It becomes boring. There has to be the possibility of an unsatisfying ending.” My roommate continued.

“I don’t think that’s true,” I said. “There are people who only watch movies with good endings. They get enjoyment from the interesting plot.”

My boyfriend used Tony Stark’s death in Marvel’s “Infinity War” as a key argument. “It was sad that he died in the end, but people were okay with it because he grew so much as a person.”

I hitched onto his words. “He went from putting himself before the peace of the world to the peace of the world before himself, losing his family. It solidified him as a true hero even though his ending was sad. But the overall ending wasn’t even bad, the good guys still won.”

We continued talking in circles about it, eventually realizing we were debating personal opinions. There was no real answer to my question, but I think that’s how it’s supposed to be. Books, shows, movies, etc. don’t “have” to end in a certain way. They’re an expression of art, an expansion of the world inside the person creating it. The neutral consensus was: if the plot lent something new to the consumer then the ending was a good one, no matter the emotional damage.