History IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy / Film

** A more platonic version than most in the prequels, wherein Obi-Wan is all but stated to know that Anakin and Padme are in a relationship in violation of the Jedi forbidding attachment, but maintains plausible deniability because them being together is one of the very few things that gives Anakin some measure of happiness.

%%* TheReveal in ''Film/TheManWhoShotLibertyValance''.

* In the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' film series, Ursula [[ShoutOut Ditko]]vich is clearly infatuated with Peter, but when she senses he's in trouble, advises him to call Mary Jane and does what she can to help him.
* ''Film/KalHoNaaHo'': Aman fixes all the problems of the Kapur household and helps Rohit seduce Naina because he wants her to be happy.
* ''Film/HumDilDeChukeSanam'' - Vanraj spends half the movie helping his wife search for the man she loves.
* ''Dosti: Friends Forever'': one of the weddings you expect in the first part of the movie is cancelled for this reason. [[spoiler: Raj thinks it's unfair to marry Nandini given that he's dying.]]
* ''Film/LoveActually'': Juliet notices that Mark, her husband's best friend, is cold and avoids talking to her which she assumes is because he doesn't like her. It's actually because he's in love with her and, knowing that she has no interest in him, is trying to keep his distance so as not to ruin her marriage or his relationship with his best friend. Their storyline ends with him telling her that he cares for her but knows it's hopeless, so he's going to do his best to move on.
* Tinkerbell does this in ''Film/{{Hook}}'', where she helps Peter (who's regained his memories of Neverland, but regressed to the point where he's forgotten his adult life) remember his children, rather than letting him remain "her" Peter.
* ''Film/UnfaithfullyYours'' did this as one of the ways Alfred planned to deal with his wife's apparent affair.
* ''Film/GoingTheDistance'': Garrett breaks up with Erin in order not to make her choose between him and her dream job.
* Proxy example in noir film ''Film/OutOfThePast'': the hero instructs his deaf sidekick to tell his good-girl love interest that he had planned all along to leave her for TheVamp, when in fact he knew that he was going to end up dead, so she didn't have to live the rest of her life in his shadow.
* ''Film/{{Ted}}'': Ted, a magically animated sentient teddy bear, is willing to abandon his lifelong friendship with John, the boy (now man) who wished him to life, because he knows that he is holding back John's emotional development, which led to John's break-up. John himself wants this for his ex-girlfriend, after he fully accepts responsibility for the behaviour that led to their break-up.
* In ''Film/{{Cyrus}}'', the [[MommasBoy title character]] is jealous of his mother's new boyfriend, so he does everything he can to drive him away. He succeeds, but at the cost of making his mom miserable - so he apologizes to the now ex-boyfriend and begs him to get back together with his mom.
* It was revealed before the film's release that in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', Sif would [[spoiler: make a large sacrifice]] for Thor, out of love for him. This turned out to be [[spoiler:helping him save Jane and free Loki. She was branded a traitor for her actions, but they helped save Asgard and the rest of the Nine Realms]].
--> '''Jaimie Alexander:''' She does [[spoiler: sacrifice quite a bit]] for Thor, because she is so very much in love with him, so you do get to see that... She cares about him. [[ChildhoodFriends They grew up together]], you know?
* ''Film/{{RIPD}}'': [[spoiler:In the end, Nick decides to let Julia go so that she can live her life.]]
* In ''Film/TheCircus'', [[Creator/CharlieChaplin the Tramp]] convinces Merna to marry Rex so she can escape the authority of her abusive father.

* In ''Film/Marianne1929'', Andre comes home after having been blinded in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, and having spent four years in a German POW camp, to find that his intended Marianne has fallen in love with an American serviceman. He steps aside, joining the priesthood.
* In ''Film/TheHungerGamesMockingjayPart1'', Gale is the first to volunteer for [[spoiler:the Victor rescue mission, knowing that rescuing Peeta is the thing Katniss wants most]].

* ''Film/GeekCharming'': Although Dylan shows signs of liking Josh, she does play {{The Matchmaker}} for him and Amy. Caitlin also feels this way about Josh after watching his movie.
* In ''Film/AGirlNamedSooner'', [[spoiler: Mam Hawes ultimately allows Sooner to go with the [=McHenry=]s, and is shown to be privately sad about it.]]
* In ''Film/TheBookOfMasters'' (2009), Yangul doesn't arrive at this trope right away: at first he attempts to MurderTheHypotenuse, stopping when his beloved Katya pleads with him, then he considers ScarpiaUltimatum (twice), and when Katya actually agrees to it, he states that she doesn't love him and orders her and her intended to leave before he might change his mind again. [[spoiler:[[DeathOfTheHypotenuse He never gets a chance to.]]]]
* In ''Film/HailTheConqueringHero'', Woodrow has been turned down for the Marines because of his hay fever, and being ashamed of this (for a number of reasons), writes letters to his mother, where he lies and says he's in combat. He also lies to his girlfriend Libby, writing her that he's found another girl, and she should feel free to move on. When he comes back home, he's upset about having to keep up the pretense of being a war hero, but he's overjoyed when he finds out Libby is engaged to another man, because it means she'll never know Woodrow's a fraud. Subverted in that Libby doesn't take the fact Woodrow's happy about her engagement very well, because she still loves Woodrow.
* A variant occurs in ''Film/TheAdjustmentBureau'' where David learns if Elise stays with him she won't become a world famous dancer and choreographer, causing him to leave her for good. [[spoiler:It turns out this was bollocks said by Thompson to manipulate them into following "the plan" and, after a prolonged chase by The Bureau they manage to get together in the end.]]


* In the epilogue of ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', although Peter promised MJ and Ned that he would [[spoiler:come back for them and restore their memories of him after Strange's spell made them forget, he ultimately chooses not to. While trying to work up the courage to reintroduce himself, he overhears them discussing getting into MIT and notices a band-aid over a cut on MJ's forehead from the previous battle. He then decides that they would be better off not knowing him, after he almost ruined their futures and endangered their lives when they did know him.]]
* ''Film/TheAviator'': In the brief time that they dated, Creator/HowardHughes loved Creator/KatharineHepburn deeply and is devastated when she breaks up with him after getting tired of his workaholism. He still holds feelings for her, bribing a reporter to stop the press from leaking pictures of her with her new lover Creator/SpencerTracy in order to protect her reputation (Tracy was still married to another woman when he and Katharine fell in love). Later, when Howard spirals into madness as a result of his OCD become increasingly worse and locks himself up in his screening room, Katharine comes to visit him in an attempt to cheer him up. While he appreciates the gesture, he tells her to go back to Tracy, knowing that he can give her the happiness that Howard can't.

* A more platonic version than most is from Franchise/StarWars, wherein Obi-Wan is all but stated to know that Anakin and Padme are in a relationship in violation of the Jedi forbidding attachment, but maintains plausible deniability because them being together is one of the very few things that gives Anakin some measure of happiness.
* Also TheReveal in ''Film/TheManWhoShotLibertyValance''.
* As well as the (far less) climactic scene of ''Film/BruceAlmighty'':
-->'''God:''' Grace. You want her back?
-->'''Bruce:''' No. I want her to be ''happy'', no matter what that means. I want her to find someone who will treat her with all the love she deserved from me. I want her to meet someone who will see her always as I do now, through Your eyes.
-->'''God:''' Now THAT'S a prayer.

* ''Film/SomeCameRunning'': Ginny tells Gwen straight up that "I want him to have what he wants, even if it's you instead of me." She also offers to leave town if Dave and Gwen are serious.
* The end of ''Film/TheresSomethingAboutMary'' shows Ted redeem his earlier behaviour by going out of his way to ensure Mary's happiness by reuniting her with her ex-boyfriend, [[spoiler:with the twist that Mary realizes that she'd ultimately be happiest with Ted after her brother DOES NOT FREAK OUT from Ted touching his ears, which is usually his BerserkButton with anyone outside of family]]. And throughout the film, he was the ''one'' person to finally realize that he wanted her to be happy ''more'' than he wanted her to be with him. Of all the men who were in "love" with her, he was the only one who put her needs before his own desires.
* In ''Film/{{Bedazzled 2000}}'', Elliot uses most of his wishes trying to make Allison fall in love with him. He uses his final wish to give her a happy life instead. [[spoiler:He then asks her out normally, and she turns him down. However, he does wind up with someone else [[ReplacementGoldfish who looks identical to her]].]] It also turns out to be a [[spoiler:contract breaker, since a SelflessWish nullifies it; like everyone else, Elliot didn't bother to read the DoorStopper contract]].
* This put the "bitter" in the BittersweetEnding of ''Film/ImagineMeAndYou''.
* Han Solo makes a heroic effort in this direction in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' when he thinks that Leia is in love with Luke. Leia quickly disabuses him of his RelativeError, much to Han's relief. [[OhCrap And confusion.]]
* In ''Film/TheRecklessMoment'', crooked Martin Donnelly sacrifices himself by admitting to a murder he didn't commit to protect Lucia from her blackmailer, and therefore, from the police.

** Plus note his vengeful-drunk situation stemmed mostly from having destroyed his fleet in pursuit of Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl, and most of his anger is directed at Jack for having (in Norrington's view) turned him into the thing he hates, a pirate. That, and he's ''drunk'' at the time.
* The main character of ''Film/TheButterflyEffect'' spends the whole movie going back in time to try to end up with the girl, mucking things up more and more, before figuring out that this is the only way to go. In fact, this {{Aesop}} is taken to an extreme, as in ''everyone in the world would be better off without knowing you at all''. In an alternate ending, the character figures ''that'' out as well, and ''[[spoiler:strangles himself in the womb.]]'' [[SarcasmMode God knows]] why they don't show [[DownerEnding that one]] on TV... It's also strongly implied that this alternate ending has happened MANY MANY times before to his mother with previous pregnancies...

* Played with in ''Film/StrangeDays'': Mace is vocally dismissive of Lenny's pathetic pining for his ex-girlfriend Faith, and is quick to remind him that she doesn't love him anymore and that he needs to move on. However, Mace herself is in love with Lenny and ends up reluctantly helping out with his attempts to protect (and win back) Faith because ultimately she wants him to be happy, and he so clearly isn't.
* A particularly excellent example is in ''Film/{{Witness}}''. Even though Detective John Book has fallen in love with the Amish widow Rachel, he knows that he would never fit in with her people. He gives his blessing to her union with his rival Daniel (an Amish man who has loved Rachel long before Book arrived), knowing that in the long run he is the man who would make a better husband for her. An example of how affecting this trope is if written well.

* Weebo in ''Film/{{Flubber}}''. Which is just as well, as she's a non-humanoid robot in love with an (engaged) absent-minded professor.
** TearJerker / FridgeHorror: Weebo treats her beloved better than he treats his own.
* Aggravating example in the UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} film ''Film/JabWeMet'' when Aditya tries to reunited Geet and Anshuman. Subverted because [[spoiler:Geet is in love with Aditya at this point, and lets him know it. They then get married and presumably live happily ever after.]]
* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', Aragorn encourages Arwen to go to the Undying Lands, claiming that they can't be together because he is mortal and she is an elf and eventually, they will part in death. Keep in mind that humans and elves have a different afterlife. Even in death, they will not be together. But [[spoiler: in the end, Arwen chooses to live as a mortal, meaning that when she dies, she will go to the human afterlife.]]
* Used in ''Film/{{Prime|2005}}''. While there's no "other person," Rafi breaks up with Dave, despite his desire to have a baby with her, knowing full well that it's not the right choice for him (he's only 23, much younger than she). Ironically, his willingness to take a step that he KNOWS he's not ready for (he loves her so much he's willing to make that sacrifice) makes her love him even more, but because she loves him so much, she doesn't want to tie him down like that and knows he'll eventually regret the decision.
* Spoofed hilariously in ''Film/HotShots'' the RomanticFalseLead insists on putting on a big show of how he's magnanimously letting his girlfriend go so she can be with Charlie Sheen, oblivious to how she's long since fallen out of love with him and just wants him to go away.

* In the movie ''Film/AwayFromHer'', Grant's wife Fiona is placed in a residential facility after developing Alzheimer's. While there, she forgets who Grant is and develops a relationship with another man. Grant is devastated at first, but when the other man is discharged and Fiona begins to pine away for him and deteriorate, he attempts to arrange for the man to return and see Fiona again.

* ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' has Prince Edward. When he sees his former fiancée get TrueLovesKiss from another man, his only response is a giant grin at how happy they are together. [[spoiler:And he gets a SecondLove by the end of the night.]]
** Robert's former flame Nancy does this as well. When Edward's kiss fails to revive the comatose Giselle and they realize just what the implications of that are, Nancy (who, notably, was initially quite jealous of Giselle) actually ''encourages'' Robert to bestow TrueLovesKiss upon the would-be Princess. [[spoiler:And, of course, she still gets her happy ending as well- [[PairTheSpares with Edward, naturally]].]]
-->'''Nancy:''' Kiss her, Robert! It's okay.

* In ''Film/TheProposal'', Margaret treated her assistant Andrew badly for 3 years and only cared about herself. Even to the point of ''blackmailing'' him into marrying her so she wouldn't lose her job and get deported. Throughout the events of the movie, [[DefrostingIceQueen her harsh personality starts to thaw]] and she genuinely fell for Andrew, causing her to feel immense guilt for what she has done. During the climax, [[spoiler:she confessed at the wedding to what she did and leaves in preparation to pack up her office and get deported. She also left a note to Andrew promising that she'll still publish his book regardless of her breaking their deal and tells him that he deserves to have an amazing life. Of course, by this point, Andrew also fell in love with her for real so he flew back to their office in New York to stop her and propose to her.]]
* ''Film/ElectricDreams'': Edgar, once he realizes [[spoiler:Miles and Madeline love each other, [[DrivenToSuicide short-circuits himself]] to let them be together.]]
* Ibrahim in ''Film/HowCzarPeterTheGreatMarriedOffHisMoor'' quarrels with his beloved godfather, who also happens to be the ''czar'', and falls out of favor, all because Natalya, whom he loves, doesn't love him and Czar Peter is, as the title hints, a pretty insistent ShipperOnDeck. Ibrahim only agrees to marry her after the tsar threatens to banish her family, and even then he secretly arranges her elopement with the suitor she really loves ([[spoiler:as Ibrahim thinks, because that's what the suitor told him]]).

* This occurs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'': [[spoiler: Rapunzel promises to be Mother Gothel's prisoner forever if she is allowed to first save Flynn's life. Aware of how seriously Rapunzel takes keeping her promises and not wanting her to be trapped forever by someone who only wants to use her for the healing properties of her magical hair, Flynn cuts Rapunzel's hair off before she can heal him, causing it to lose its power]].
* ''WesternAnimation/MadagascarEscape2Africa'' plays it straight when Melman the giraffe agrees to [[spoiler:let King Julien feed him to the volcano gods so that Gloria and Motomoto can survive]].
* In {{WesternAnimation/Megamind}}, the titular character does this when he quietly accepts Roxanne's [[WhatTheHellHero verbal lashing over a massive lie]] without contest and admits that he understands that she doesn't want to be with him, silently letting her go. This is contrasted with Hal's EntitledToHaveYou attitude toward Roxanne and is ultimately a part of what allows the relationship between her and Megamind to mend.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'': Kristoff also does this for Anna when, upon hearing that only an act of [[ThePowerOfLove true love]] can [[spoiler:save Anna from being frozen from the inside out]], he immediately tells her that he's taking her back to Prince Hans, her fiancé, despite Kristoff being in love with her himself and and having disparaged her [[FourthDateMarriage Less Than One Day Engagement]] previously.

** At least he gets some redemption in "At World's End." (Our destinies were intertwined, Elizabeth...but never joined.")[[spoiler: This is his rejection to Elizabeth's offer to join them in their escape from the Flying Dutchman, made the more poignant and heartbreaking when she sees him killed by Bootstrap Bill moments later. This was a man she contemplated marrying, after all.]]

* In the epilogue of ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', although Peter promised MJ and Ned that he would [[spoiler:come back for them and restore their memories of him after Strange's spell made them forget, he ultimately chooses not to. While trying to work up the courage to reintroduce himself, he overhears them discussing getting into MIT and notices a band-aid over a cut on MJ's forehead from the previous battle. He then decides that they would be better off not knowing him, after he almost ruined their futures and endangered their lives when they did know him.]]

* Early in ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'', Sunny is helping Dawn in her attempts to hook up with various guys despite his obvious crush on her. It's his inability to keep doing this and a {{poisonous friend}}'s suggestion to retrieve a love potion that drives the plot of the movie.

* In [[WesternAnimation/Megamind]], the titular character does this when he quietly accepts Roxanne's [[WhatTheHellHero verbal lashing over a massive lie]] without contest and admits that he understands that she doesn't want to be with him, silently letting her go. This is contrasted with Hal's EntitledToHaveYou attitude toward Roxanne and is ultimately a part of what allows the relationship between her and Megamind to mend.

* In Megamind, the titular character does this when he quietly accepts Roxanne's [[WhatTheHellHero verbal lashing over a massive lie]] without contest and admits that he understands that she doesn't want to be with him, silently letting her go. This is contrasted with Hal's EntitledToHaveYou attitude toward Roxanne and is ultimately a part of what allows the relationship between her and Megamind to mend.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'':
** More like "I Want My Beloved to Be Safe", but almost everything Elsa does is what she perceives as protecting her sister. Her desire for Anna to be happy is more evident in the reprise of "For The First Time in Forever" where she tells Anna to go back home and enjoy her life.
** Kristoff also does this for Anna when, upon hearing that only an act of [[ThePowerOfLove true love]] can [[spoiler:save Anna from being frozen from the inside out]], he immediately tells her that he's taking her back to Prince Hans, her fiancé, despite Kristoff being in love with her himself and and having disparaged her [[FourthDateMarriage Less Than One Day Engagement]] previously.
** In a platonic example of this trope, Olaf sacrifices his own personal safety to comfort Anna in what is presumably her final moments while she is freezing to death. He risks melting in front of the fireplace to console her because, in his own words, "some people are worth melting for."
** In the climax of the film, [[spoiler: Anna tries to sacrifice her life to protect Elsa from getting killed by Prince Hans]].