So much for my happy ending.

I seriously can't imagine why people prefer depressing endings. It breaks my heart scanning the 'Downer Ending' page at TV Tropes that there can be so many examples. My thinking is this: isn't real life full of these kinds of endings? What's more, why would people want them in their movies, where people go to escape reality?

Interestingly, I stumbled upon an article that makes another argument for why purveyors of these conclusions should soak their heads:

Why all stories should end happily