After reading Quin LaComb’s article on sophomores crying during films, I was genuinely surprised. How could someone become so emotional during films?
I’m not an emotional person and have never cried during any film, although I will admit that a couple movies have given me nightmares.
Perhaps I don’t cry during tragic scenes in a movie because I’m not invested in the characters to the point where they seem like a reality.
Or maybe it’s simply because I love action films with grit and blood. Realistic fiction to high fantasy – if a movie has good action, I will watch it.
Maybe it’s the adrenaline rush or the grim primeval satisfaction of watching people commit violent acts and living vicariously through the characters on screen.
One of my favorite TV shows is NBC’s “Hannibal,” which features many artfully gory scenes.
One episode includes a drugged man cutting off pieces of his own face then feeding his flesh to dogs. I could go on with many more similar examples, but they all fall under this general theme.
So why do people like the show? It’s not just the gore, as the plot is described as a psychological horror and thriller. But the gore is tolerated and even enjoyed for the same reason that people can’t take their eyes off horrible things.
As I’ve gotten older and as time has become more precious, I consider it a waste of time to watch films where no one gets killed or nothing is blown up.
Even if the plot is mediocre, I will sit through a film with good fighting and action. However, I have to gruelingly endure watching films without action.
Like high fantasy or sci-fi novels, these movies provide an escape from the real world that is obviously unrealistic; therefore, I have trouble understanding the empathy people feel toward the characters.
It is easier for me to understand how upsetting documentaries can be because they portray something that is real, so it is inevitable that someone would have suffered a similar situation.
But as someone who loves watching WWII documentaries in their free time, I will argue that the past is unchangeable, so there is no use in becoming overly emotionally invested. The best one can do with history is learn and educate others, but not fret over the unalterable.
Perhaps it’s just an ability to stay emotionally removed from a situation I know I can’t change that shields me from overwhelming feelings that I would have about the horrors of the past.
So I’ll continue watching my documentaries, bloody fight scenes and psychological horror shows, but I probably won’t be going to the cinema with certain sophomore students.
—By Nicole Wolkov
