I confess. I’m an emotional slob and did I prove it this weekend!
First I took my kids to see the new version of CHARLOTTE’S WEB. When I first read this book as a child, I cried at the end. I apparently still haven’t grown up because I had to surreptitiously wipe away a few tears in the movie theatre. The movie was pretty well done, the celebrity voices only occasionally distracting (and Julia Roberts was great as Charlotte). The special effects used to show Charlotte spinning her web were lovely. But it was the ending, of course, that got me, when Wilbur says “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.” May we all deserve such a eulogy!
Apparently this wasn’t enough exercise for the tear ducts. I also happened to finish THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE (a New Year’s resolution of sorts) this weekend. It’s a polarizing book. Some people are put off by the nonlinear storytelling, some people are disappointed because they were expecting science fiction, not a love story, others complain it’s not a love story because Harry and Clare have too much sex (we Riskies have never heard that complaint, have we????) But there are many who love the book, including my friends at Writer Unboxed, who did an interview with the author, Audrey Niffenegger. One of my friends commented how she cried over Henry. Well, slushbucket here cried too, not just over Henry, but over Clare, too (and maybe a little for myself because I may never write anything half as powerful).
Of course I had to think about why these stories affect me so much. I think it’s because by taking a different view at life (through a friendship between a pig and a spider, through a love relationship whose ordinary events unfold in an extraordinary way) they remind me to live in the moment more, to cherish love and beauty whenever and however they come into my life, and to be willing to risk the pain of losing what I love.
I try to get some of that into my stories, though it’s harder in romance where the reader is primed to expect a happy ending. The thing is the characters don’t know it’s going to be OK and one has to get the reader to feel that. One can also plumb wounds from the past or sacrifice secondary characters, though these things can’t be contrived or they feel like cheap ploys. And rosy as we might make those final scenes, the bittersweet is there in the vows “til death do us part”. Maybe that’s why people cry at weddings. (Of course this whole issue is moot if it’s a paranormal and h/h are immortal, I suppose!)
So do you like tear-jerkers? What are your favorites? Any favorite romances that get you going? What do you think makes them work? Are we authors evil for doing such terrible things to our characters?
And lastly, could you imagine anyone ever having wiped a tear (let alone do anything so unladylike as to blow her nose) into this antique hanky c.1850? (Image from Karen Augusta Antique Lace & Fashion.)
Elena, resident Risky Regency Watering Pot
www.elenagreene.com
I’ve rarely sought out tear-jerkers specifically for their tear-jerking quality — I do like happy endings. But certainly as a kid, I cried when Beth died in Little Women, and when Jack the dog died in the Little House books…
I suspect part of the reason why people cry at weddings is the whole “time passing” thing. They were babies, and now they’re getting married — that has to mean that death isn’t far behind for any of us…
Well, those are my morbid thoughts for the day! 🙂
Cara
Oh, Cara, I think people cry at weddings because two people found their “Happy Ending” (never mind that 50% of them divorce)
There’s nothing like a good cry at the movies or while reading a book. I love to be moved to tears. I cried when I read Charlotte’s Web and when Beth died in Little Women. I remember crying all the way through the movie Sound of Music.
If someone tells me something I wrote made them cry, wow! I can’t think of anything better!
I probably couldn’t handle Charlotte’s Web, Elena! When I was in elementary school, my teacher showed us “Old Yeller” for a so-called treat. I had no idea what was coming, and had a sort of breakdown when Old Yeller died. They had to call my mom to come get me. I still don’t like movies where bad things happen to animals (or books, either).
But I do like crying over human movies! One of my Valentine’s Day rituals is to watch “Romeo and Juliet” 🙂
Elena, you’re in good company. Cleansing the eyes on a regular basis is a genetic trait in our family.
On my grandmother’s visits, my dad would run out of hands to hand his handkerchief around to dry eyes.
Amanda, your Valentine’s Day ritual is to let the twin rivers flow?! Hm. Perhaps you need more chocolate than you’re currently receiving. 🙂
Diane, I vow to shed buckets in March when I read your newest book.
My take on why people cry at weddings is because their children are no longer theirs; they belong to another person. While on one hand they’re happy that their children have found another to be happy with, the fact that another person will now come first in their lives is hard for parents.
others complain it’s not a love story because Harry and Clare have too much sex
My jaw literally dropped at that. This is one of the funniest criticisms I’ve read!
Amanda,
Your teacher showed you “Old Yeller” FOR A TREAT??!!!!!!!! I think that kind of sadism should be an automatic disqualification from any profession dealing with children!!
Todd-who-is-aghast
I cried every time I read Charlotte’s Web. And I believe I sobbed when I read the Time Traveler’s Wife.
I cried at Little Women, too.
And sometimes I cry at phone commercials.
I can definitely challenge you for the watering pot title, Elena.
Todd, I think that’s what my mother said when she had to pick me up from school and listen to me sobbing “Are we going to have to shoot Pucci???” (our dog at the time). It scarred me for life. 🙂
Keira, I think your prescription for more chocolate is a very sound one. I’m going to follow it immediately.
Keira, Janet and I have both heard the “too much sex” complaint from a few readers. As if love and sex were some sort of either/or proposition!
You know, when I thought of tear jerkers I thought of Old Yeller, too.
Poor Amanda!
Diane
What next? Show the kids the out-takes from “Bambi?”
Todd-who-shudders-at-the-thought