Let's Play!: How It Should've Ended

Ever watch a movie and love everything up until the last 10 minutes? Then you come up with all these ideas on how it those minutes should've went? Every spend hours and hours watching/binging a TV series and the series finale is the most cringe worthy hour of television you've ever watched and leaves you screaming at the TV "that's not how that should've gone!" Welp, I've felt that way on many occasions and have chosen a few of those shows and movies to tell how I think they should've ended.

Why Did I Get Married Too?

How it ended
Pat caused her husband to get in a car crash and he died. Pat moved on a year later and was hooked up with some man by a colleague.

How it should've ended
In the end there were 2 people who could've died; Mike and Gavin. After everything that happened in the hospital scene, I think Mike should've been the one to die. It was pretty obvious that they would let Gavin die with the way they set it up. It would've given more of a shock factor if it was Mike, to me. I also would've loved for Pat to realize that she needed help, whether she went through with the divorce or not. She never really dealt with the death of her son. Being a therapist, she thought that she had everything under control, but she really didn't. It would've been great to see her realize this and get the help she needed. Not knowing whether or not she got help makes me think that she would carry that baggage with her in any new relationship she gets into. Knowing that she got help makes it easier for me to see her move on.


X-Files S10

How it ended
CSM was fulfilling his plan of getting rid of everyone on Earth but the "chosen ones". Scully realized that she's the cure and needed to get to Mulder who was about to die. He was doing so bad that she figured he needed help from their son, William. Then a UFO was seen overhead and it was over.

How it should've ended
I understand they did what they did in order for people to want another season, but we all thought this would be a one shot revival. There was no closure on any fronts! We don't know what happened to CSM. We don't know what happened with William. I'm not even sure what the exact nature of Scully and Mulder's romantic relationship is! I think they could've kept the storyline if the just let everything happen sooner. Scully should've found out she was the cure sooner. She should've gotten to Mulder sooner and figured out they needed William sooner. They should've found William and saved Mulder and let that be the end. Then we could be left with the question of "what now?" Now they've found their son, who probably has tons of questions for them, and now they have to deal with him knowing who they are. With that ending, us fan would've gotten our shippy, emotional Mulder/Scully moments and wouldn't have been left screaming "Oh come on!" at the TV. And we would still want to know what happens next.


Girlfriends

How it ended
An engaged Joan finds out that her fiance, Aaron, was coming home from fighting in Iraq war. Also, William was about to have a baby, Maya was thinking about adopting and Lynn had her music.

How it should've ended
When I think about this show I always think that they should've gotten a few more episodes to complete the series. Here's how I think it should go. First Aaron comes home and he and Joan have this epic reunion. Then they go full on into the wedding planning. I mean, trying on dresses, picking out flowers and cakes and all that stuff. I also think it would be interesting if they showed how different Aaron and Joan's relationship would be now that he's gone through war. One thing I really would've loved to see was for Toni and Joan to reconcile their friendship. Then the wedding would happen and all 4 girlfriends would be together, on last time. Obviously you would throw in what happens with Maya and her family, and Lynn and her music.


Whew! That was fun and cathartic. Let's do it again sometime. How about you put a show or movie in the comments and if I've seen it, I'll do another post like this.

Black women are EVERYTHING!

"Strong Back woman! Rhino skin!"

I know what you're thinking: "What did she just say?! Rhino skin?!" Let me explain myself. My sister told me story about someone she's knows actually being told this by a white woman. Ridiculous right? Something else that's ridiculous is that this is a trope that's seen far too often in the movie/TV industry. The trope that Black women are these super strong people who can take anything that life throws at them and are put through some of the worst of the worst situations only to brush it off like it has no effect on them. And this is something that's seen as a positive. Now, I'm not saying that Black women can't be strong. The problem is that's all we're allowed to be. (I'm using 'we' because even though I'm talking about black women characters, these shows and movies influence people's opinions on us.) We are the strong, finger waging, neck rolling best friend. Awful, traumatic things may happen to us but we just let it roll off our rhino skin backs and everything is alright.

This is a problem because black women are more than this but we're rarely allowed to be the opposite of strong. We are rarely allowed to be vulnerable. This is really problematic on many fronts.
Before we go into it I want us to first accept the fact that TV shows and movies have an influence on us whether we're in it for just the entertainment or are seeking something more. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let me move onto these fronts.

We ARE human
Seeing us black women as one thing and one thing only dehumanizes us. I mean, the phrase "rhino skin" equates us to an animal. Black people's history includes our ancestors being treated and sold like property. It includes an actual law that stated that we were considered 3/5 of a human being. We weren't considered fully human and now we have these characters that aren't allowed to express the full spectrum of human emotions. When you create these characters that are only allowed to be one thing you're enabling those who still think that we aren't fully human. You're also planting that seed into the minds of people who may not have an opinion formed yet. Which brings me to my next point.

How you see us on screen is how you think we are in real life
If you live in an area with little to no black woman or people, what you see on TV or in the movies is what you're going to think we are like in real life. You may not think this but it goes back to what I said about the influence of TV and movies. Just sit and think for a minute about what you think about black woman, or any type of person for that matter, and why. You may be surprised.
How you think about a group of people determines how you treat them.

How we see us on screen is how we see ourselves
I'm going to get a little personal here. I'm one who bottles up my feelings. I also am the type of person that when things happen to me, I let it roll off my back and move on with my life. Anyone out there knows how important and necessary it is to express your feelings and emotions.
So, when  I see a character on TV or in a movie who looks like me and expresses her feelings I think "Well if she can cry her eyes out about xyz and it's okay, I can cry my eyes out about abc and it's okay." We don't have to feel ashamed, embarrassed or think that something is wrong with us when we express these feelings and emotions. It's okay.

So, Black women are everything. We are strong. We are vulnerable. We complex, multi-dimensional people. We are human.
Let's celebrate these types of characters by leaving your favorites in the comments.