Guys, it’s OK to shed some tears in your popcorn

Call me a wuss if you want, but I cry during some movies. I don’t know what gets me choked up,… Call me a wuss if you want, but I cry during some movies. I don’t know what gets me choked up, but if the story is good enough and the actors are believable, the tears fill my eyes.

The other night I watched “Ladder 49” with one of my roommates. I had seen the movie when it came out in the theaters, but he was watching it for the first time. The first time I saw it, I was in a theater filled to capacity with local firemen, and there were more than a few of those men crying at the end of the film. So when I saw wet cheeks as I was leaving, I didn’t feel so bad about crying.

The other night as the movie was coming to a close and tears started forming, I peeked over at my roommate to see if the movie was doing the same to him. I wasn’t alone, and I know why.

The events that lead to the end of “Ladder 49” bring you close to the characters. You are scared for them just like they are for their own lives. All of the action and emotion that leads to the final scenes, including the monologue by John Travolta’s character during the funeral do nothing but make you feel for these make-believe heroes.

More than that, though, you start thinking about real-life firemen who you know. You think about those guys that volunteer their services back in your small town and you know how everyone would react if one of those guys lost his life in a burning building. You take what happens in the movie and you relate it to your personal life, and that makes it emotional and worth tearing up over.

I don’t just tear up during “Ladder 49.” There are a couple of movies that I find myself getting the Kleenex for. Every time I watch “Remember the Titans,” I cry. Not because the story about the team getting over racial issues is so heartwarming, or because the children teach the parents a thing or two about understanding through differences. I cry every time I watch Gerry Bertier (Ryan Hurst) drive his car down the road, saying hello to all his friends and fans after winning the big game, only to get T-boned by a truck and have his football career ruined.

It’s easy to figure out why I tear up during this movie. Every one who has ever played a sport in their life has nightmares about getting into an accident that will prevent you from playing that sport again. I had those horrific dreams almost three times a week, especially when the football season was in progress. I would wake up and feel for my legs to make sure they were still functioning.

No one wants to have what they love taken away from them, and that’s what happens in “Remember the Titans.” What’s worse is that “Remember the Titans” was also based on a true story about an actual group of kids, and that one kid did lose what he loved in that accident.

Now, not every sappy flick makes me wipe my eyes, but if it does, it must be a pretty damn good sappy flick. For a movie to have a part that is so emotional that someone in the theater is brought to tears, it has to have the key components of a good movie. The script has to be good, the acting has to be believable and the emotion has to be real.

A good audience can tell if the actor is lying to the camera, because if the script is good and the actor just can’t pull it off, the audience leaves wanting more. But even if the script is bad, a good actor can make the audience weep, as long as the actor’s emotions are real.

A movie that probably shouldn’t have made me cry, but did, was “Spanglish.” The film’s tone was lighthearted throughout, but there was a subtle undertone of deep brooding emotion and separation between the family members.

The mom wanted her overweight daughter to be perfect. The dad was caught in the middle and didn’t know what truly was going on because he was wrapped up in his restaurant. Mix in a beautiful Spanish woman and her perfect daughter, and the tension gets thicker.

Adam Sandler wasn’t supposed to pull off the role he did. Critics were mixed about the film, but I think that it was real. When Sandler’s character is talking to his daughter about pain and how trying to be sane can drive you nuts, I couldn’t help but feel the same way those characters did. I’ve gone through rough times with family, and I’ve driven myself nuts trying to be sane.

No matter what you want to call me, I’ve cried during movies, and as long as the films keep trying to be real, I’ll stay in touch with my emotions.

Brian Palmer is the A’E editor and isn’t a fan of Kleenex, because when you pull one out everyone knows you are crying. Instead, he just wipes the tears away with his hand. E-mail him names of the touching films that make you cry to bkp8@pitt.edu.