The Philippine Online Chronicles

The social networking sites were abuzz last week with confessions from kids, teenagers, and kids-at-heart sniffling and crying while watching Disney Pixar’s latest offering, Toy Story 3. After reading the Facebook status messages of my students and friends, I prepared myself to watch Toy Story 3. I considered myself warned.

I was apprehensive; I did not want to make a scene inside the movie house. I knew the cinemas are packed on weekends, so I wisely planned to go on a regular day.  So, emotionally prepared, I trooped to Trinoma on a Monday. Before going inside the theater, I repeatedly told myself, “Don’t cry, don’t cry.” I even asked my partner to give me a happy mental image I could think of during the movie. Throughout the movie I kept reminding myself not to cry.

Of course, I failed miserably.

It was not a cry-out-loud moment, just some quiet teardrops. It’s a heart-wrenching movie about growing up, letting go, and trying to hold on to the child inside. It is also about loyalty, friendship, family, sticking up for each other, and more importantly - do not trust a teddy bear that smells like strawberry.  The last scene was a tear-jerker, but the scene where Woody, Buzz (El Buzzo!), and the other toys held on to each other in the landfill also brought me to tears. Thank God the 3-D glasses helped hide my tears.

What’s with films that make people cry? Maybe it’s the empathy. Maybe it’s identification. Or maybe watching a romantic movie is just too much after a recent break-up. Old feelings are stirred. Old memories flood your thoughts. Or maybe the acting is so bad you want to cry.  Or maybe you are just a crybaby like me - it is not hard to make me cry. There have been a lot of memorable movies that made me cry – An Affair to Remember, Somewhere in Time, and most recently, The Notebook. Melodrama films are filled with scenes guaranteed to put a lump in your throat and tug on your heart strings, but even action movies and Western films such as The Diry Dozen can make grown-ups cry.

Even animated kids’ movies make me cry. Checking out this list at TIME magazine of Top 10 Saddest Kids’ Movies brings back weepy teary memories. I admit, I cried my eyes out while watching Bambi (when his mother died), Dumbo (named my baby dog after him), E.T.: The Extra-Terrestial (“I’ll be right here”), UP (I can’t imagine losing the love of my life), My Girl (such a sad and tragic end), An American Tail, and Where the Red Fern Grows.

I vividly remember watching Where the Red Fern Grows (1964) when I was young – I was alone in the house and I remember bawling my eyes out when the dogs died – one fought with a mountain lion and the other one died of loneliness. I’ve always loved dogs and I grew up surrounded by dogs and watching the young boy lose Old Dan and Little Ann, two of his beloved dogs, just tore my heart.  I did not even try to watch the 2003 remake of the film; I know I cannot handle it. I cried buckets watching Eight Below and I would not even dare watch Old Yeller.

The most embarrassing movie in my life involves a major cry-fest – it happened while watching Marley and Me.  One of the UP Fighting Maroons basketball players, Mark Lopez, kept on telling me to watch Marley and Me because the dog, Marley, is so cute and funny and is such a troublemaker. So I thought I would be watching a cute and funny film about the world’s worst dog. At first it was cute and funny how Marley, the neurotic dog, wreaked havoc wherever he went - he destroyed the garage and living room; even the dog trainer gave up on him. Through all the troubles he caused, Marley, the world’s worst dog, became part of a family.

I was not prepared for what followed. Little did I know that (spoiler alert) Marley would die. Little by little, as Marley grew older and thinner, tears started to roll down my cheeks. By the time he was in the hospital, I was already sobbing uncontrollably. When Marley died, I was already choking on my tears.  It was as if floodgates of tears were unlocked and this salty fluid gushed out of my tear ducts coupled with shuddering of the shoulders and loud sobbing sounds.  There were only a few other people inside the movie house and it became quite obvious that I was the only one crying out loud.  So, my partner asked me if I would rather step out of the movie house since I was on the verge of making a scene. I wanted to but I simply could not abandon Marley. Long after the movie had ended and the lights were back on, I was still crying in my seat. I was so embarrassed to walk out of the movie house that I had to conceal my face with my handkerchief as I walked out. It was certainly one of the most unforgettable (albeit, embarrassing) movie moments in my life.