HAPPY ENDINGS?

Hey all you writers, readers, movie goers out there.  I have a question for you.  Do you think our books/movies should always have a happy ending?   

One book I read recently, well, it didn’t have a happy ending.  As a matter of fact, I was completely crushed when I read that his one true love died.  I was brought to tears.  Yes, that means the book was good, it provoked emotions, yes, but I was seriously bummed out for, like, two days.  There have been a few movies I have seen that produced the same results.

I’m torn on the whole, happy ending thing.  My writing tends to lean that way as it does for most writers; however, does it need to?  Are people looking only for happy endings, no matter what?

I’m thinking YES, they should have happy endings, all of them.  Because, I tell ya, I see more sad/depressing endings to things throughout like (news stories, etc)–so when I read a book, write a book, see a movie…well, I’m looking for an escape from reality.  

What do you think??