Can you forgive a bad ending? Hmmm...

The reason I ask this question is that of lately, I find myself disappointed with more and more endings. All kinds of endings. Book endings, TV show endings, and movie endings. Perhaps I'm just too picky, and some of what I may say you might shake your head and say, "She's nuts! That ending was perfect!"

In the last few weeks I feel myself surrounded by bad endings. Mostly from books in a series or from the movies/shows I've watched. Let's just say that I feel quite unsatisfied and let down. Example number one (and feel free to disagree), was in watching THE WOMAN IN BLACK.

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(Possible spoiler alert, though I try to be vague)

When I'd first seen the trailer for this move (see below) I was instantly drawn in and put this movie on my TO BE WATCHED list. I like a good scare--but not a super scary movie, since I'm a chicken that way--so this movie seemed right up my alley. Since I don't get out much (tis the life of a hermit writer), my husband and I watched it on DVD. I liked it. I was intrigued. Certain parts scared me, and then BOOM...the stupid ending. I actually said out loud, "Are you serious?"

From what I understand, the movie's ending is different than from the book ending in which the movie is based. Since I haven't read the book, I have no idea what the real ending is, but I can tell you the movie ending sucked. I won't go into too many details in case you haven't seen the movie yet and still have the desire to check it out. I can see what the movie makers/producers were going for--a happy ending of sorts--but it was just wrong. That was not the ending I was looking for. The ending I wanted was either a) defeat the weird ghost at her games OR b) give me more creepy by showing us that the crazy ghost can not be stopped.

Don't have the crazy ghost mend the guys broken heart by doing what she did (see, trying to be vague here). This should be a scary movie and not a "You helped me get what I want so now I will help you get what you want, even though it is wrong and disturbing." I had high hopes for this movie and I was let down by the ending. So yes, for me, the ending matters.

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Another let down came after watching back seasons of BIG LOVE on HBO. It's an interesting show, a but wacky and bizarre, but I watched all five seasons, got to the series finale and was like, "Seriously? That's how it ends?"  I didn't like it one bit. Not at all. I wanted something bigger.

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Then, I've been reading a few books that are the first books in a series. I loved the book...until the very end. It was as if the author took a REALLY big book and then chopped it up into pieces to make it a series--no real conclusion or wrap up at the end. That's not satisfying at all. And when an author does this, I have no desire to pick up book two to see what happens. I know it won't end well either since there is a book #3 and a book #4. I think it is incredibly important for a book in a series to have some type of conclusion. Not everything can be cleared up, I get that, but the book should be able to stand on its own if it had to. When it can't, that is a failure.

Some books with really bad endings...The Lovely Bones (stupid ending), The Road (so depressing), Mocking Jay (sorry, I really didn't like the way it ended at all. I wanted more relationship development or why she chose who she did), My Sister's Keeper (are you kidding me???). 

But this has me thinking...how important is the ending? Can it make or break a book (movie or whatnot)? I say yes. For the most part, I have a hard time looking beyond it. I like the feeling of a great ending, of walking away feeling satisfied and as if I haven't wasted my time.

So what say you? How important do you think an ending is? Can you forgive a good book with a bad ending? What book left you shouting, "Are you kidding me?"