Crying at the Movies

I’ve come across a somewhat surprising realization of as late, that when watching movies, I cry more times than I do not.  I say surprising because I am not typically a crier, and I’m not known historically to be an empathetic individual.  In real life, profound, serious moments I may be found laughing rather than weeping.  (This may be something I need to look into...)

But I say only somewhat surprising because my tears really should not at all be shocking.  The dominoes were set in place with my first ever movie theater experience.  I was four years old and my parents took me to see 3 Ninjas.  I don’t remember much, but only my mother carrying me out of the theater as I sobbed on her shoulder.   The grandfather of the three ninjas* had just been scissor kicked in the head, and it looked as if all hope was lost. I lost it.  I do remember my mother cracking the door open showing me that all was working out well.   Thank God for jelly-beans. 

*I’m not sure if it was ever explained how an old Asian man, refined and skilled in karate was the grandfather of three white suburban adolescents but I guess the film isn’t known for its logic and realism, but more for its emotional depth and insight.  (Maybe my parents wanted me to see, at a young age, that racial diversity in a family was the norm...)

After that, the tears became more and more sporadic.  I remember crying while watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the scene where Splinter speaks to his boys through the fire.  Ah, gets me every time.  But once I reached middle school the tears dried up.  I don’t think it was until two or three years ago, that the tears returned, but even then the movie or the scene would have to be pretty powerful to open up the ducts. 

But nowadays I probably cry at 70% of the movies I go see.  For a guy, that's an embarrassingly tragic percentage.  Many, if you know me well, would think that I engage movies more intellectually than emotionally, and you’d be right.  But here is the distinction.  When I watch a movie for the first time and especially in the theater, it’s just me and the story.  The experience of going to a movie is somewhat profound, and carries a personal sense of piety and ritual.  I hardly ever cry when watching a movie for the second time, because then I am engaged in technique, dialogue, acting, cinematography, and all that jazz.  But it’s something about the experience of the theater that unlocks my heart of emotions.  Let’s recap the films I went to in 2011 and see:

Black Swan – Cried (this is an emotional roller coaster)

The King’s Speech - Cried

The Dilemma – Did not cry.  Well maybe out of disgust and embarrassment for those who made it.  

Rango – Eyes were a little wet

Midnight in Paris – Yep, watery eyes again

Tree of Life – You better believe I cried

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Pt 2 – Cried (And I’m not even a Harry Potter fan!)

Contagion – Misty

Drive – Teared up

Moneyball – Did not cry

50/50 – Cried, a lot.

The Ides of March – Did not cry

The Descendants – Blinking a lot, tears in eyes, not on cheeks

Hugo – Cried indeed, very much so

Mission Impossible – No tears

Adventures of Tintin – No tears. 

So as you can see this is a very startling trend which will bring us to my next confession (not my proudest, manliest moment).  But alas, there is no shame now that I am alive in Christ.  So I went and saw Hugo in 3D, and they had a trailer for a movie.  An older movie.  And in the absence of all dignity and self-worth I found myself tearing up, during a trailer.  A trailer!  What, you may ask, brought such a wave of emotion in a two minute time span?  *sigh *

                                           (Once Celine kicks in with that high note... game over man)