a quick tour of aria's psyche

[aria]

I have lately (and by "lately" I mean "at various points over the last year or so") been absently tracking down and rewatching favorite childhood films. Among other things, I have discovered that [a] The Lion King is still totally awesome and [b] lots of those childhood films, especially the live action ones, make me cry. Large bits throughout Matilda made me tear up. The end of Homeward Bound made me sob! My inner child is totally bewildered, but apparently my inner child took for granted that the animals would get home or that movie narratives totally understood me and also, obviously, my brain would give me superpowers.

The point is, though, that when I was a kid, the only goddamn movie in the world that made me cry was The Land Before Time, when Littlefoot's mother dies. (You all cried. Don't lie.) I was always mildly embarrassed and totally bewildered when my parents cried at movies, especially at happy endings. But now ... I really love crying at things. I am working through how to phrase that without sounding odd? I think it's something about how I want to function as a sane adult, which means that occasionally I also want to bawl my eyes out because it's the end of Toy Story 3, and know that it's a good emotional outlet. I love good emotional outlets! It probably comes down to how I'd much rather cry because I've been emotionally touched than just because I'm stressed about something.

Some things that make me cry:

+ Vienna Teng songs (City Hall, Grandmother Song, & Lullaby for a Stormy Night)
+ vids to Vienna Teng songs (Lullaby for a Stormy Night, Doctor Who, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.)
+ most vids about awesome ladies being awesome (most consistently One Girl Revolution)
+ many films! Lilo & Stitch (anyone says "ohana means family" and I run for the tissues); Homeward Bound (the endiiiing); Return of the King (it's the Grey Havens! quick, run for the tissues!); Toy Story 3 (the endiiiiiiing, I COULDN'T EVEN SEE); Star Trek reboot (the first five minutes! and now that I have watched lots of TOS, I start crying at the end too, oh self).
+ the ending of Big Fish YES IT GETS ITS OWN BULLET POINT I THINK MY FRIENDS AND I COLLECTIVELY WENT THROUGH A WHOLE BOX OF TISSUES

So ... does anyone else do this? And by 'this' I mean either cry at any of these things also, or actively keep track of go-to things to cry to because emotional outlets are great. (Honestly I just like keeping lists of things that elicit emotional states. For instance, I also have a mental list of Hottest Things Ever, although eventually it'll need more on it than just a lieutenant colonel is being beaten. Strangely I don't have a mental list of Things That Always Make Me Happy, although the answer to that one might be "due South." Hm.)

Comments

[sentientcitizen]

I feel like all I ever do is post on your journal saying THANK YOU FOR THAT LINK EH, but, uh, thank-you for the Doctor Who/Vienna Teng link! They are two awesome things that go together very well. You've seen Stray Italian Greyhound, right? (What am I saying, I probably found it through a link in one of your posts. Life's like that.) Also, if you like Torchwood, Kan is another excellent Vienna Teng/Whoniverse vid.

In the interest of responding to the actual topic of your post, I also track things that make me cry. Although at the moment it's a pretty short list:

1) Bridge to Terrebithia, book or movie. (Heck, the movie made my Dad cry too, and the last time I'd seen anything do THAT was when Grandma died, so, you know. Very sad story.)
2) Buffy the Vampire Slayer's "The Body", which may be the saddest piece of television I've ever seen in my life. (Although SG1's "Heros" and Torchwood's "Exit Wounds" are also serious contenders; I just havn't tried re-watching them enough to know if they're reliable criers or not.)

I cry at lots of things, but those are the only two that are guarenteed to set me off. Sometimes a piece of music will make me cry; sometimes, it does nothing. On one viewing I'll laugh off a movie; on another, I'll bawl my eyes out. Heck, I just watched the Eleventh Hour again, and got all teary when the new sonic screwdriver pops up and the Doctor whispers "thanks, dear" to the TARDIS, which was definitly not a moment that I thought was a misty-eyes moment the first time through.

[aria]

Ahaha, no problem! I would link EVERYONE to that Doctor Who/Vienna Teng vid ALL THE TIME if I thought that would actually make the whole world watch it. :D And yes, I have seen Stray Italian Greyhound! I'm fairly sure I liked it enough to download and keep it, too.

I think my mother read me Bridge to Terrebithia when I was very young, so I only have vague memories of it, involving my ABJECT HORROR that one of the main characters died. I suspect if I could get over that I might be able to have a good cry at it, though.

Oh god, The Body. I think I usually start crying when Anya does.

On one viewing I'll laugh off a movie; on another, I'll bawl my eyes out.

Yes, this! I am that way with many things. The fact that Lullaby for a Stormy Night and bits of Star Trek reboot consistently make me cry is kind of amazing, because of that.

[sentientcitizen]

Weirdly I do not cry in Bridge to Terrebithia when she dies, although I do mist up - book or movie, the scene that sets me bawling uncontrollably is when the previously-antagonistic-teacher tells the boy that she understands how he feels, because she lost her husband.

I usually start crying when Buffy tells Giles not to move the body... and then get myself under control just in time to start crying again when Anya does. Oh, god, that speech.