I believe I underwent so much embarrassment as a child that I’ve simply become immune to shame. Due to this, I was quite alarmed after receiving a text from my mother and realized a public service announcement was in order concerning Oscar movie season.
The text from Nancy read: “Have you been to the movies lately? ‘Wonder’ is out but I don’t think I can see it in the theater.”
In other words, my mom was willing to forego the possibility of seeing a potentially wondrous piece of cinema simply because she doesn’t want to be seen sobbing in front of others, dark room aside. I think this is pure rubbish, hence why I’m addressing this concern in an entirely spur-of-the-moment article.
Are you nervous about going to a movie and laughing too hard? No, that sounds ludicrous. How about loudly whooping and hollering at the ending to show your enthusiasm for the flick? Nope, that’s equally preposterous. So what makes crying any different?
Vulnerability is beautiful and exemplifies humanity at its core. It’s an emotion and reaction as pure as laughter or excitement. The negative stigma around crying in public, movie theaters or otherwise, needs to end now.
When I finally get to see the mother-daughter dichotomy between Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf in “Lady Bird,” I fully intend on shedding some tears. In fact, I will purposefully wear excessive amounts of mascara and ugly cry my way into the lobby to proudly showcase how moving and special this piece of art was.
I dream of the day I conjure up such a reaction from strangers from something I produced because that’s when I’ll know I made it.
