Pass me a tissue, please…
I’ll admit it: I cry during movies…
and books, music, and podcasts. Depending on how my hormone levels are, I might
preemptively grab tissues and just watch the movie alone.
Though a lot of people smirk when
they see me watch movies in tears, I’m really fine with it. Truth be told, people
who cry over movies tend to have something that a lot of others haven’t really
cultivated: empathy.
It takes a special type of person to
have empathy. Many people out there — narcissists
and sociopaths, for example — are born without it and live their entire
lives without ever really putting themselves in other peoples’ shoes. This
means they can’t really feel for other people. Though a lack of empathy could
come in very handy for a used car salesman, it’s not always a good thing.
Actually caring about others’
situations takes strength — a lot of it. Life is brutal to some people and if
you’re able to actually put yourself in someone else’s shoes and feel that
pain, it says something about you.
You’re strong enough to actually
withstand that pain, but to feel it nonetheless. You’re strong
enough to be strong for others. You’re strong to the point that you
understand where they’re coming from and are able
to actually feel what they’re feeling.
It’s never a wimpy thing to
actually care for another person, even if that person is a fictional
character in a movie. It shows that you actually have a heart, and that it’s a
heart that can break itself for others. Though it can be broken, by the end of
the movie, you know it’s been patched back together.
Being able to recover that quickly
says something else about people who cry during movies: they
can bounce back like no one else’s business, and are strong enough and
smart enough to actually separate reality from fiction.
Of course, that’s not the only reason
people cry at the movies. There are also tears that flow because you’ve been
where a character has been — tears of memories that are painful. I have often
found it cathartic to see movies that have people going through things I have,
simply because it allows me to let
some of my bottled up feelings loose in a healthier way. I’d like to see
how anyone could doubt someone’s strength when they actually confront things
that have hurt them in the past.
Then, there’s the kind of tears that
flow when you’re really just overwhelmed with the artistic genius of a film.
It’s not just something pretentious people do, either. It’s called Stendhal Syndrome in
its more advanced forms and it means that a work of art moved you to the point
that you’re having both physical and emotional symptoms.
Having gotten it after watching the
movie Casshern, I can honestly tell you that it takes a lot of strength to jerk
yourself out of that physically-altering sense of awe.
Pretty52
For people who are really susceptible
to the way that art moves them, actually viewing a seriously good movie,
listening to a good radio show, or even reading the right comic can be a test
of your ability to keep a straight face. It can
also be a major roller coaster ride — one which forces you to face and embrace
emotions most others choose not to look at.
If you ask me, that’s a lot of
strength to shoulder.
Maybe it’s not the kind of strength
that most people think about when they think of a strong person, but
it’s the most important kind of emotional strength: empathy. And to a
point, intelligent acuity it takes to cry at a movie is something you really
can’t deny.
Even if we aren’t lifting 100 pounds,
we are exploring our emotions, and that can lift our spirits higher than
anything else out there.
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