Catharsis

Often, like right now, I feel like I need a good cry but I need a little help opening the floodgate. In such instances, I tend to do one of 3 things:
1. Start a stupid argument with my partner. Such arguments generally provide me with an opportunity to get really worked up.
2. Ignore the feeling and walk around feeling on the verge of tears until it subsides.
3. Watch a cathartic film.

Some movies are tear-jerkers, bringing tears to the eye at particularly emotional moments. Incidentally, the television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" which Jason watches on Sunday evenings while I am frantically preparing my lectures, is a television show that invariably leads to tears. This is NOT what I'm talking about when I talk about cathartic films.

Cathartic films are films that hit you where you live. You aren't weepy, you're sobbing when you watch them. In my case, I tend to cry for an hour or so afterward. My all-time top 5 cathartic films are:
1. Big Fish - people were turning around to stare at me because I was sobbing uncontrollably. Afterwards, I stayed in my seat until the theater cleared so no one would see that I was still crying. I cried all the way home and most of the evening.
2. The Royal Tennenbaums - yeah, that's right. Everyone else was laughing away but I was overwhelmed by all the hurt and isolation in the Tennenbaum family. I was an absolute wreck for hours.
3. The Mission - it's just so overwhelmingly tragic plus the music just grabs you.
4. Cinema Paradiso - lost love, lost home. This one hit me hardest when I left home for college and realized that I could "never go back."
5. Empire of the Sun - the brutality of war, lost youth, a great score. It kills me every time.

Others that come to mind: Thelma & Louise, My Life as a Dog, Eternal Sunshine...