"If you did not cry, you have no soul."

Yeah, the last time I cried with a sob involved was basic training. Strangest fucking thing ever.

I'm not spiritual or religious. At all. As y'all know I have a bit of an axe to grind with religion even. But I went to the protestant service during boot camp because it was something to do and I could relax, that and I would skip bible study to roll out with my battle buddy and buy candy, which I would eat in the bathroom on the low down and cover the wrappers in toilet paper so they would flush since our Sergeant was a trash digger, but I digress.

There was a video we watched every sunday called "Letters From War". We would watch it in the big church on a huge projector screen, it was a music video, and it had nothing to do with religion. You have to understand that boot camp is a very strange time, where even the most stoic have all sorts of emotions and stress swirling around inside of them. I'd been called "Ice Man" in jest the first two or three weeks because I'd taken it all in stride, I was from a military family and had a "Pfft, this is some dumb bullshit, can't wait till its over" attitude. I still had it when I walked in the door of that church, I felt fine. We sang some songs, I quietly chatted with my buddy next to me while the Chaplain gave his sermon because I didn't give a shit about his zombie jew carpenter, and things went as normal.

Then Letters From War came on, I really liked the video, and as per usual I intently watched like everyone else and suddenly, tears started to flow. I didn't even know that they were coming, and I didn't realize it until my friend looked at me in shock, and I looked at him with the same expression. I was crying a river without being choked up, sobbing, or feeling any emotion whatsoever. All I could muster in my confusion was "Dude, what's going on? Why am I crying?" in a completely normal tone. Strangest shit ever, I think it might have been some physiological reaction to stress that my mental state just didn't care for. I felt like such a pussy, even though nobody judged me for it, about half the cavernous church was filled with crying or wet faces during that video.

Anyway, here's the video.

edited 2nd Feb '11 9:47:54 PM by Barkey

I'm very emotional but I don't really cry. At least I don't usually bawl. Do I tear up? Yup. But that's the extent of it. Strangely enough, Toy Story 3 didn't really get me like that.

Up on the other hand...now that had the tears streaming down my face. And the end of FMA:Brotherhood, I did bawl when Roy put the transit station in Ishbal territory, and of course Ed+Winry at the end. (I'm a doof. I know)

One thing that I get, is I get chills up and down my spine. I get that a LOT. That's my common reaction to emotional things. Sometimes I hate it sometimes I love it. When I love it I generally go watch the last hour of the 2nd TTGL movie. Gets me every time. (See my avatar. That moment makes those chills ASPLODE)

edited 2nd Feb '11 9:50:34 PM by Karmakin

Usually the only things that get me to choke up are heroic sacrifice-type things and war stuff.

And definitely the end of Braveheart, though that stems mostly from my Scottish descent.

I think one day I will start going through example lists and editing this phrase out.

Don't worry, it's different for everybody and it's different in every culture. And, you know, you might change. I didn't cry for several years and now I started crying more often during films etc. A bit annoying but nothing wrong with both appraochs.

I don't believe in souls, but if you didn't tear up just a little when Rock Lee couldn't be a ninja anymore because because of the wounds he got during the Gaara fight...

edited 3rd Feb '11 6:05:15 AM by Roman

I don't tend to get emotional over fiction. The last time I cried in a properly emotional way was in October, I think, and it was after having a screaming match with one of my friends, us both having had around two hours sleep and four cups of coffee, so we were both a little unstable. But even when I say that a film or something made me cry (every Supernatural season finale, like clockwork, except for Season 4, for some reason) I don't mean it reduced me to a bawling mess, I mean I just got a little teary, wiped them away and got over it.

edited 3rd Feb '11 7:37:10 AM by cityofmist

^^ Then maybe, god forbid, they just didnt find the scene sad? Or they didnt like the character? Or they didnt like the series?!! It does not mean the viewer is an unfeeling automaton because they didnt find that particular moment sad.

^I was gonna say, perhaps this phrase isn't just about displaying emotion, but being emotionally affected; it's saying, "If you're not emotionally affected by this scene at all, you have no soul."

Of course, what that guy needs to remember is that art is subjective, what's sad for one person can get no reaction from the next, and the second guy could have his own scenes that affect him but not the first.

So yeah, this phrase along with all forms of hyperbole on this wiki needs to be phased out. Sometimes I can see the tears that must have streamed down tropers' faces as they typed their examples.

It's an expression.

^^^

Yeah, I mean I hate Naruto, so I could give a shit.

But he probably wouldn't have the same effects of watching Restrepo that I did.

edited 3rd Feb '11 9:48:55 AM by Barkey

This statement and similar ones just kind of confuse me. When people talk about crying openly for stuff like Clannad I don't get it at all. They're good stories, but worth tears?

I can see why. It's sorta sad to see someone you grown attached to die. I only watched a few clips of Clannad and felt very close to crying soon after. This is nothing compared to what Negima! pulled.

edited 3rd Feb '11 11:48:20 AM by Psyga315

This line is a bit of a personal bother for me.

Nonetheless, the Tear Jerker pages are quite often hilarious and I would be loathe to see them go.

It's an expression.

Semi-relevant anecdote time: I was browsing through Tearjerker once and I see the offending phrase in an entry. Someone made an entry just below that saying that that phrase itself was a tearjerker for them because it reminded that person of how bullies would try to dehumanize him/her constantly.

I never thought much about it, but I guess I don't cry very often. Can't remember the last time I actually did, in fact. Weird.

... No, I tell a lie. I regularly make dishes involving onions, the last time being a little over a month ago. I can't say that was really due to being emotionally moved to tears though.

I cry quite a bit and I actually find it far easier to cry at fictional things than real life (catharsis probably), but that phrase nearly always takes me right out of the moment. I usually edit it out whenever I can.

I think it's just the same old appeal to emotion. People react to upsetting things in different ways and have different emotional triggers.

However, many men are socially conditioned not to show emotion. That does not make you some emotionless drone. Not crying = not displaying emotion. Not the same as not experiencing it in some form.

On the other hand, there is a word for people who have no emotional response and no empathy at all: Psychopaths. Hah, you don't fit that criteria for controlling your emotions.

Well, I have my triggers.

• Heroism and acts of self-sacrifice
• History, sometimes. I cry that the past is lost to us forever, and it will continue to fade away. Most people are forgotten, and one day even the greatest kings will face the same fate.
• The extremely distant future, and the eventual fate of the universe.

Nothing more ridiculous than someone telling you how to feel.

I can get turbulent inside now and again, but it rarely, if ever, spills out in tears. I probably come off as downright stoic (which I generally am). Maybe part of it's internalizing the whole Men Don't Cry thing (though I like how works like Fist Of The North Star avert such cliches).

I have to say, I do laugh at folk—male and female—who blubber at the drop of a hat on telly: soap characters and reality TV whores are always good for a chuckle.

All said, does anyone else ever shed tears without feeling even a slither of emotion? I'm not talking about putting on Water Works; nor am I on about getting dust/hair in the eyes; I'm talking about the physical act of involuntarily shedding tears for no apparent reason (like Barkley mentioned above).

edited 3rd Feb '11 5:44:20 PM by MRDA1981