Crying at the Movies: A Physiological and Emotional Connection

This essay explores assumptions about why humans cry in response to films or film sequences dubbed as “emotional.” Physiological reasoning for crying is supported in this essay using information published by Tom Lutz’s Crying. His text explores the physiological assumptions about human crying using the work of Charles Darwin and other scientists. The emotional connections between film viewing and crying are discussed in this essay citing research into infant communication, personality and individual differences, and moving image theory supported by contemporary scientists. In conclusion, the thesis of this essay supports the notion that humans have the ability to cry at birth, which then develops into a communication tool between infant and mother/caregiver. As they develop, crying mechanisms are therefore strengthened and triggered by film viewing. Most people have felt the rising of tears as their body responds to a sad or triumphant moment during the plot of a movie. In the traditional Hollywood narrative, the momentous climax or sad moment concerning a character is, at times, predictable. Males and females can usually tell you what type of specific movie moments make them cry or exhibit what is called “public displays of empathy” or PDE. However, shedding tears or feeling the “lump” in one’s throat because a character possess or exhibits traits or attributes that “reach” the audience or give them something to “relate to” does not actually explain what triggers the crying mechanism. Ophthalmic surgeon Abraham Webb called tears a “fluid sandwich, with an inner layer of mucin against the eye surface, a middle aqueous layer, and an outer layer of oils that keeps the tears from evaporating too quickly.” (Lutz 67). Cathartic experiences associated with films are rarely described in such scientific terms. Most often the term “emotion” is used. But simple research concerning why people cry at films often leads to discussions of emotional matters concerning cultural and constructive assumptions. The intention here is to take an ecological rather than cultural perspective and attempt to offer answers to the following question. Why are crying behaviors, designed physically to protect the eyes, triggered by film viewing and perceived by audience members as a relationship with a character’s triumphs and failures, labeled as emotional tears? Beginning with a look at the chemical compound of tears and finishing with a discussion about emotional ties to neurological processes, there is hope of finding ecological relationships between crying and film viewing. Physiology of tears “Physiologists have studied the chemical content of emotional tears and shown that they differ from the tears, called basal or continuous tears, that lubricate our eyes when we are not crying.” (Lutz 18). Without this lubrication we would not be able to move our eyes and would risk infection. This protective membrane shields our eyes from