By AJ Mun
Staff Writer
Recently, I watched “Perks of Being a Wallflower” for the first time and I cried rivers all throughout and after the film. The story itself is about a freshman in high school, Charlie, who finds the most unlikely of friends and is forced to deal with the ghosts of his past. Even though the movie put me in a heartbroken state for a few hours, it truly felt so freeing to cry so hard at a movie so beautifully done.
Crying during a sad movie is like factory resetting your emotional systems. If you’re like me and have a hard time crying at things in the present, sad movies force you to reconnect with those feelings deep inside. For example, I had a stressful experience traveling on my own for the first time out of the country. Though many things had not gone according to plan, when I watched “The Notebook” on the flight home, I wept right there in my economy seat next to a girl my age who side-eyed me with as much judgement as she could manage.
Now I’ll admit, the judgement was most likely mixed with a bit of concern, but to cry in that way was a huge release of all the stress I had felt in my solo travel abroad. The movie forced me to let go of my control and focus on somebody else's story for just two hours.
It should be noted that movies like “Perks of Being a Wallflower” and “The Notebook” aren’t overtly sad throughout the entire film. It’s important to pay attention to all aspects of these films, as they have lessons and takeaways about more things other than hurt. Most of the time, the movies that we don’t watch because they are sad, actually have beautiful stories of complexity, love and thought.
Emotional films force the viewer to see into the minds of someone else for a moment. They boost empathy and challenge the perspectives of audiences. In turn, the reaction could be internal sadness or feelings of hurt as you are empathizing with the character that you have gotten to know over the span of just a few hours.
In real life, we often forget that we are not the only ones with pain, thoughts or complexity. Everyone goes through the same things at their own pace, but emotional films ground us in a way that's not readily available in the day to day. That’s the beauty of it. Then when you return to the real world, you may second-guess yourself on an initial judgement you make or offer those who have shown remorse a second chance.
Given the current state of our world, a place so divided and full of hate, kindness and empathy is more important now than ever. We must not shy away from art or media that we know will make us feel, because feeling is an essential part of living. To be alive is to feel; to know love and pain as equals. Face the emotional, gain the empathy, grow with love.
