Has it become human nature to expect the "happy ever after"?

I know I will always be subconciously searching…

Fairy tales are tools of marketing and media. It is an artistic interpretation, and a very optimistic and naive one. But selling that hope, that vision, is what makes them rich.

You likely won’t find your prince charming, because very few people are the type of perfect person who won’t have any conflict whatsoever. Relationships aren’t some magical thing that requires no effort or communication whatsoever, but these Disney fairytales never actually get into the way the fairytale couple live, whether Prince Charming really was a douche who expected Snow White to do all the dishes all the time, etc.

This is similar to people who watch high school drama shows, then wonder why their high school life is not like the one on TV. Very little on TV is real. Sadly our brains don’t really understand this, and even though we know we’re watching a TV set, they sometimes get tricked into thinking that this is the way the world really works.

So in my mind no it’s not human nature, it’s marketing abusing our brains into believing in false hopes and dreams :)

I think it’s an unrealistic expectation, projected onto us at a young age.
I don’t really see anything wrong with fairytales, and fantasy….but real life is not magical like that. To me though, that doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of life.
Yes, I’m in love with the man I want to spend the rest of my life with…but it’s far from a fairytale! Things aren’t always smooth sailing, real life involves struggle, sacrifice and heartache. It’s not all bad though. You may very well find your “prince charming” but don’t expect it to be like a fairy tale.

Fairy tales lead to false expectations. In fairy tales, no one ever poops or belches or farts or makes hurtful remarks (unless they are the wicked step something). No one struggles to pay bills or go work and care for kids.

They are fantasy. All fantasy, if overindulged and not challenged, leads to false expectations. What happens then is you miss your chance to recognize happiness or your true love, because you are expecting perfect. Since you aren’t, why would you expect it in someone else?

What’s sad is that fairy tales are sterile and static. Life is colorful and changeable and rough, with moments of despair and moments of joy, and if let it happen a warmth and quiet contentment that beats a fairy tale all hollow because it is real.

In general, we don’t ever expect a “happily ever after”. We might hope for it, even strive to find it, but very few of us really expect it to ever happen to us. If we expected the happily-ever-after we would never make do with anything less. People wouldn’t stay in abusive relationships for what little love they can get because they’d expect there to be something better.

Errrr… it’s just laziness on the part of the story tellers. You have to end the tale somehow, and it’s pretty easy just to say, “and they lived happily ever after.”

All very enjoyable answers! Lurve.

Happiness is what you make of a world that is about nothing more then.
Shit happens and then you die.

:-)

Most of the original fairy tales in our culture, like those written by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, were originally folk tales, or morality tales, handed down for generations. If you look at the original, “un-Disney-fied” versions of the tales, you will see a completely different telling of the story, usually darker, with a strong moral to it. A good example of this is the story of Pinocchio. The Disney version is squeaky clean, but the original story is filled with violence and death.

not for the everlasting pessimist. I’m a fairytale aficionado and I love them all. But I’m also a pessimist and I believe whole heartily I wont get a happily ever after so I guess it depends on your mindset.

yes it has and we are dellusional

Fairy tales are illusory. To expect a fairy tale life is to live under the dark clouds of delusion.

Fairy tales, movies…how about you have real love in reality – heart-wrenching, tear-inducing, sweat-producing love…the happiness ever after is real but it’s not like it is in fairy tales..it is better

@Simone I have only had that which is why I have asked this q. Soul shattering, identity stealing, bone harrowing ‘love’ and it was a shit experience. I deserve a happy ending now.

@Sariperana without a doubt

You get a bum, with a blackberry. You get a guy that locks up his shopping cart when he goes into a store. You get someone that had it, with a ginormous sack of regret. I think about my life, and how what I’m living for is to be the most regret filled old man. I don’t exactly Carpe Diem, more like crappy denim, can’t even afford a pair of decent jeans. Seriously though, I think that which you speak comes with being born, and maybe it fades, or maybe we end up really having awesome lives. blah bla

love you…bum x

Wow, I’m like a constant downer huh? And with nothing to show for it, crap, got to work on that.

ok so this is a little easy and difficult for me. I am always a downer and never expect a happily ever after, i just expect something and wait for it to come into focus. Never think you live a fairytale or your prince charming or damsel in distress will pull a reversal on ya and make wife beater and cheating wife. You can still have hope, but not Disney hope. That’s the worst in ways. Hope you have an “ever after”, don’t put anything on that or it will cause a heartbreak. I used to think my life would play out as a comedic manga, doesn’t go the way you want but play it off as if it does.