The Unexpected Cry

Have you ever watched a movie, a television show, or a commercial and unexpectedly cried like a baby? I don't mean like, you teared up a little and maybe nobody noticed. I mean an outpouring of tears that you can't control. Tears where someone has to hold your hand or give you a hug because they can't believe how incredibly moved you are. (Erhan knows a lot about this)
I am always shocked at how deeply I react to certain things that many people may not be moved by. I love it even more when I'm caught off guard by it. When my brain and heart surprise me and teach me something I wasn't expecting (or even ready for). Then, that thing that made you cry so hard, stays with you.....forever. That's my favorite part.
I'm not ashamed of what makes me cry. I love that it can be so many random things and I always wonder if I watched said thing again, would it have the same effect time and time again?

Each night Erhan and I watch a Star Trek Episode of some sort. For years we watched "Star Trek The Next Generation" and then we moved on to "Star Trek Voyager". It's always hard for me to get used to a new crew and a new Captain because I'm a creature of habit. I like the same routine over and over, but once I get into a new Star Trek show I end up falling in love with it and then hating when it all comes to an end. We just started Season Five of "Star Trek Deep Space Nine" and I must admit I wasn't into this show at all at first. Captain Sisko, played by actor Avery Brooks was hard for me to get used to. The way he spoke rubbed me the wrong way and the other characters in the series just weren't my cup of tea. I missed Data and Seven of Nine.

But somewhere in the middle of Season Four I was hit with an episode called "The Visitor".  I didn't think anything could be better than STNG's "Inner Light" episode but I was surely proven wrong. Captain Sisko is jolted by a bolt of energy after fixing an issue in the warp drive with his son Jake. Sisko vanishes into subspace and seems to be lost forever. They mourn him as dead but a year later Sisko reappears to his son for a brief amount of time. Jake and the rest of the crew are certain that his temporal signature is out of phase, but they cannot correct it. Jake spends his entire life waiting for his father to appear to him (he does several times over the course of Jakes life, Sisko always remaining the same age as Jake gets older) and he struggles to find a way to bring his dad back...... giving up everything in his life to make it happen. At the end of the episode, Jake is an old man and realizes that since his father and him were together when the energy passed between them, he believes that he is acting as a tether that is keeping his father frozen in time and needs to kill himself to set his dad free. Anyway, the LOVE shared between these two characters had me sobbing like a broken child up in bed that night. I was (and so was Erhan) so blown away by the acting and the story that it took me a while to calm down after it was over. I had to wash my face and I couldn't watch another show for a few minutes afterterwards. How in the world could I have cried my eyes out over a Star Trek episode? Really? Let me just say that THIS is what I'm talking about. I LOVED that I cried over this. Something I didn't expect. Something that maybe nobody has ever cried over. I must admit that I have DEEPLY (no pun intended) fallen in love with the show. I have fallen in love with Captain Sisko and I couldn't be happier .The Final Scene in "The Visitor"

Here are a few more things that have unexpectedly made me cry.

-The movie "Birth". Have you seen it?

I was truly not expecting to cry as hard as I did at the end of this movie. I remember wanting to go to the movies and there not being many choices out at the time. I was living on my own in the city and it was a cool fall day where I was bundled up and clutching my coffee as I walked to the Fox Tower from my NW apartment. I had read a review about this movie in the Willamette Week and I thought would give it a try. Holy Smokes. I LOVED it. It's a incredible story about a young boy who attempts to convince a woman that he is her dead husband reborn. You really want to believe in this one. The final scene had me thanking God I was alone in the theater and not with anyone else because I had to sit there for a long time after it was over. Nicole Kidman's character was so tortured. Her love ran so deep. What the screenplay did, quite beautifully, was convey silent emotions. I thought it was great.         The Trailer for "Birth"

-Does anyone remember the commercial "Embrace Life"? The brief commercial on television where the young father is pretending to drive a car in front of his daughter and wife and then realizes he's about to be in an accident. The daughter and his wife jump off the couch and clasp their hands around his arms and chest forming a seat belt and they save his life. Yes. I cried a lot at the end of that commercial. The touching detail of the entire thing being in slow motion, the looks of anguish on everyone's face.....killed me. I don't think I have ever in my life ridden in a car without wearing my seat belt. It seems completely foreign to me to be without one. I am in awe that there are commercials out there that have to remind people to even do so. Embrace Life Commercial

-Alright, I am NOT ashamed to admit this next one. I cried so hard at the end of "I am Legend". Yup. This one was a complete shocker. I loved the movie "Omega Man" with Charlton Heston so when they "remade" the movie staring Will Smith I was a little skeptical. I am not a fan of zombies (but I am a fan of Heston :p) so when Erhan wanted to take me to this I could have thought of a hundred other movies I would have rather snuggled up in the movie theater to. I was stunned at how affected I was by this one. The ending yanked the tears from my eyes so unpredictably that I was frozen. I'm sure Erhan looked at me like I was crazy but when Will Smith gave his life at the end I about lost it.
Okay, I kind of have a thing for Will Smith too, not just Heston). This movie really took the cake on sadness I wasn't expecting.  So sad in fact that I have been timid about visiting it again.I have only seen it one.

-Vanilla Sky
This movie rocked my world. So many people didn't like this one. I knew nothing about it when my boyfriend and his friends took me to see it. I was along for the ride that night, and when the movie began I had no expectations. The story is about a very successful publisher's who's life takes a turn for the surreal after a terrible accident......and it MOVED me. Say what you want about Tom Cruise, and how "crazy" he is in his personal life. I love him. I have always loved him. I love him in every movie I have ever seen him in and this one is truly my favorite. As always, the final scene is what had me practically sobbing into my popcorn napkin. When the character realizes that he is at the end and he see's the love of his life standing before him, and he says goodbye, and jumps, and the song in the background is Sigur ros's "The nothing song" and his life flashes before his eyes...... Holy Hell, I just got choked up writing about it. Director Cameron Crowe did such an awesome job with this remake (Penelope Cruz was also in the original movie). I remember running out the very next day to buy the soundtrack. Vanilla Sky Ending

*I also cried at the end of "The Professional". I can't really explain this one. Everyone is shocked when I tell them this. Erhan looked at me the other night when I confessed this deep down secret and he actually said he had a new found adoration for me he didn't think was possible. 

So in putting it out there, what's your "Unexpected Cry"? Have you watched something that made you downright sob and you were totally amazed by it? I personally look forward to this happening to me.  I WANT it to happen to me. Some people might say "Oh, your body needed to cry" or "Maybe what you watched was so sad because you have other things going on in your life". Go ahead and blame it on hormones, blame it on stress....but I know that when I cry over something unexpected I am forever changed. I have an appreciation for life afterwards that perhaps I needed. I can't wait to see what brings me to my knees next.