Question of the evening

Why do we (or at least I) love movies that make us cry?

How strange, the release we gain when vicariously living through other’s emotions. Do we just respond when we identify with the struggles and journey of a kindred spirit character? Is it simply a way to vent the pent-up frustrations and heart-cries that otherwise cannot find their way to the surface, probably for lack of a good excuse? Or is there something deeper?

(Inspiration for post: Dear Frankie. I highly recommend. Movies from the British Isles have several advantages over our Yankee fare – amazing accents, great classically-inspired soundtracks that tend more toward the simple than the nauseatingly melodramatic, touching without being a romantic comedy. Behold the ultimate genre!)