I guess if people want to believe OUATIA is mostly an opium dream Noodles has in 1933 they can. For me, it cheapens the film and makes it less interesting. I read plenty of O. Henry stories growing up, and saw my share of Twilight Zone episodes, and I have to say that stories with twist endings leave me cold at this point. And I have a hard time believing that SL, after developing as an artist over half a dozen films, and after trying to get OUATIA made for nearly 20 years would resort to such tomfoolery at the end.
And it's more satisfying to know that this is a certainty, not some vain imagined hope of Noodle's.