Tear Jerker / Midnight Cowboy

• The implication that Joe was raped and sexually abused during his youth, all of which culminated in him being separated from his girlfriend, not to mention his emotional and social problems later in life..
• The seemingly cheerful and lighthearted opening sequence can be viewed in an entirely different light once Joe arrives in New York and realizes just how rough and cold it is there.
• Somewhat with Cass: she apparently didn't know that Joe was for hire. She thought that it was a young stud who wanted to bang her because he thought she was sexy: when Joe brings it to her attention he wants payment, her vanity fantasy evaporates and she feels old and unattractive.
• Joe, when he pawns his beloved transistor radio, because he needs to buy food. It obviously breaks his heart.
  • Similarly, Joe ditching his cowboy outfit can also come off as upsetting.
• New York corrupts Joe from an amiable dude to a cold, selfish prick. For example, in the beginning, he doesn't rob or beat up the kid who stiffs him on the blowjob. By the end, he beats a man almost (or fully) to death in order to rob him, despite the man not engaging his services and giving him $10 as a gift.
  • Which brings us to Towny. He clings pathetically to the end table, despite being beaten bloody, to protect his wallet. Joe, 30 years younger and 50 pounds heavier, beats him viciously for this resistance, feeble as it may be.
• Ratso... where to even begin with him?
  • Most people view him as trash because of his crippled state, and it is heavily implied that this is one of the main reasons for his poverty.
  • Speaking of poor, he lives in a room of a condemned apartment building that can hardly fit more than two people, he wears rags for socks, and he has to con and steal to survive.
  • Aside from Joe, absolutely nobody cares about Enrico Rizzo. The few people that know him treat him with contempt. It's also implied he's never had any real friends in his life and is probably a lifelong virgin. Furthermore, he has to steal and scam just to get enough money for the week. His life is pretty pathetic.
  • The scene where Ratso visits his father's grave and tells Joe that the man lived and died an impoverished nobody is especially poignant, because Ratso is talking about himself as much as he's talking about his father.
  • "I'm fallin' apart here!" As horrible as his life is, Ratso is still afraid to die. He briefly drops his apathetic, snarky demeanor and shows just how scared he really is.
  • Throughout the movie, his health constantly grows worse and worse, and when he finally gets a chance to move to Florida (which was his lifelong dream), he dies in the middle of the bus ride.
    • This may have been a bit of a mercy. Despite his dreams, Florida wouldn't have been any different for Ratso. He'd still have the same hardscrabble miserable life, only now without the dream to buoy him.
• With that said, how will Joe even survive in Florida without Ratso? He is basically a child in a grown man’s body, and he never even had any proper education. Unless he miraculously manages to find a decent job, chances are, he’ll end up like Ratso.
  • The cherry on the top is that Joe was alone for most of his life, and when he finally found a friend, his friend was taken from him. Cue the tissue boxes...