Tragic Ending Vs. Tragic Living

We classify some movies as tragedies. Typically these are movies with a tragic ending where a lead character is killed. Obviously, the hero or heroine and not the villain.

I sometimes wonder if this is the right classification. Well, there are movies where the characters go through one misery after another after another up until they die miserably. Doubtless they are tragedies.

But I am referring to movies like Titanic where the character Jack has a romp until the end and even then dies teaching Rose how to live. Yes, the ending is tragic but not the movie. And, Jack is definitely not dead but lives on in Rose’s heart.

I think it has something to do with our fixation on being alive rather than living that has to do with this “mis-classification”. We associate death with tragedy not focusing on the quality of life lived before death and the reasons and manner of death. Primarily we believe death is the end when it is just the beginning of another life.

Essentially, tragic ending does not mean a tragic living. More importantly tragic living is the real tragedy, not tragic ending.

Just a thought I had on my mind.