Movies and tears, it’s OK to cry

Most of you out there are in total control of your emotions. And good for you. However, there are a few of us whose emotions tend to run away with us. Anger, sorrow, love — we tend to wear our hearts on our sleeves. Crying at movies is a good example. All we ardent folks need is a slight tug on our heartstrings and the water-works are on. Let’s take this opportunity to review the movies that make us weep not just once, but every time we see them.

Steel Magnolias has one of my favorite lines ever from a movie. Dolly Parton’s character “Truvy” comments, “Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.” This movie epitomizes that line, because although Lynn’s anguish over her daughter’s death will make you cry, Ouiser and Clairee more than make you laugh … they make you feel like it’s OK to laugh during a time of death.

Nicole Kidman and Ewan MacGregor have a showdown at the end of Moulin Rouge when he throws money at her and says, “I’ve paid my whore.” The ensuing duet between them when they realize love can conquer all brings the tears every time. “Come back to me and forgive everything,” is something we all wish we could say to that one special person in our lives, and we want to believe Kidman is singing for us as well as for her character, Satine.

Sean Penn’s portrayal of Sam in I Am Sam kept me bawling through the whole flick. It broke my heart to see this little girl just wanting to be with her father and these jerky social workers forbidding it. And Sam’s innocent inability to understand why makes you want to reach through your TV and hold his hand (no Beatles pun intended).

To watch the utter meanness that takes place during Boys Don’t Cry hurts me so much that, although I own the movie, I cannot bring myself to watch it. We watch in horror as this young man’s life is taken and then gasp when another bullet flies through a friend of his whom also happens to be the mother of a toddler. Personally, I believe the tears are from our guilt, because however awful, this movie mirrors our society’s view in many parts of the country. Let’s face it, no one wants to feel responsible for the murder of innocent people.

The ultimate crying movie is The Way We Were. This film is for anyone who has been left by a partner for what you think is no apparent reason. Hubble and “K-k-katie’s” relationship seems to be what we all want to have until Hubble becomes a jerk and leaves complicated Katie in the dust so he can marry a simple girl. The most recent example I know of appears in the second season of Sex and the City when the girls compare the movie to Carrie’s relationship with Big (and eventually, Natasha).

It’s OK to cry. It’s not always broken hearts and well-placed ballads. When Publix Christmas commercials and the “could my love open the door …” song from the Friends previews start getting to you, don’t just blame it on PMS. All it means is that you sincerely are in touch with your emotional well-being, and like Martha Stewart says, “That’s a good thing.”

Jessica Higgins is a junior majoring in mass communications.opinionjess@yahoo.com