I don’t know if this has been established in one of the HAWPcasts before, but Doctor Who makes me cry like a little bitch. There are some episodes that literally make me bawl, as if something important had happened that legitimately warranted that degree of emotion. Doomsday, of course, is one of big ones. If I ever need “a good cry,” instead of turning on “Philadelphia” or “Step Mom” or whatever the fuck movies normal people cry at, I will sit down with some ice cream, watch Rose fall into a parallel dimension and sob like that girl in the audience of American Idol who really loved Sanjaya. Of course, when David Tennant regenerated, I completely lost my goddamn mind. I thought Doomsday was bad; I had no idea I could cry that hard for a goddamn fictional character.
As upset as this scene makes me, for some unconscionable reason, I always want to watch it. Anthony told me he had the same problem. For some reason, we both have a really strange, inexplicable urge to watch a character that we love dearly vanish before our eyes in a burst of fiery passion and sadness and horror over and over again. I actually literally just watched it, which prompted me to write this post. I knew it was going to happen. I saw him stumbling into the TARDIS, I knew exactly what was coming, and of course I cried my eyes out alone in my dorm room like a crazy person. I just have absolutely no idea why I would do that to myself. What about that scene, which obviously makes me so noticeably upset, compels me to review it again and again? Am I just masochistic? Or is there some degree of enjoyment that can be derived in the acknowledgment that a fictional character has endeared himself to you to such an extent that you bawl until your eyes burn? Or should I just stop writing this post because I sound increasingly crazier as it goes on?
Hey! I want to get into Dr. Who, but without going through 20 seasons, where should I start? What would be some good stand alone episodes? And what episodes would just introduce me to the main ideas and concepts?
Thankees!
Also, I can’t really imagine you crying… it may seem sadistic but could you film and post a video of yourself during or after watching that episode?
Please and Thankees!
Assuming your going to torrent it, it’s easiest to just look up Seasons 1-5, starting with Christopher Eccleston
What he said. The section of the show from 2005-onward stands entirely on its own, even though it’s a part of the canon. That’s how Ash and I got into it. Neither of us have even seen more than four or five of the classic stories, actually.
Whoops. I seem to be logged in as Ashly.
Anthony: Does this mean you also posted this entry?
get a life moran
that goes to ashly
“Crying communicates deep feeling which allows others to bond with you more intensely and hence are a very important and nuanced form of communication.”
“Strong emotions, such as sorrow or elation, may lead to crying.”
As far as I can tell, crying happens when intense emotions of attachment are present… and most humans wish to express this level of attachment to others… even if no others are present. Perhaps you subconsciously want the fictional character to know that you care about them?
I couldn’t find any references to the theory that crying releases chemicals in your brain that actually induce happiness… but I have heard that a lot.
Also from personal experience and from accounts of my friends and family, I have noticed that crying in such a fashion as you have actually makes you feel better afterwards.
(sites I quoted)
http://gailsaltz.ivillage.com/love/archives/2007/01/the-science-of-crying.html
http://www.oxblog.com/article/152/what-are-tears-and-why-do-we-cry-.html
awww
Christopher Ecclestone was aweosme.
David Tennant was annoying.
New guy Matt Smith…I dunno. Hopefully less annoying than David Tennant.
I doubt any of them can beat Tom Baker or Jon Pertwee though.
@Interwebs
I agree with you 100%, though I’m hopeful that Matt Smith might be good seeing as he’ll be under the direction of Stephen Moffat instead of RTD.
Lets hope the stories stay just as terrifying, I was a fan of Stephen Moffat since The Hollow Child. I’m just saying, this was the show that made my parents hide behind the TV in terror and not sleep for days after for fear of the cybermen. (we have that now, but less indoctrination and more perverts).
I want that sort of experience. And Moffat does it OH so well.
That’s cool, I do the same thing at the end of Bioshock. More so at the end of the new one.
I can see why anybody can cry at that scene. Here is a character that, over the years, people have grown to love even though this his is 10th incarnation. You watched over the years of him and his companions going through time and space, from one adventure to the next, saving the universe numerous times. He is compassionate, funny, witty and sometimes a little brutal and we can all relate to that. The Doctor is a character that we love to watch and so it is alright to cry at emotional scene like that. It’s like losing a friend! Also, he taught all of us that space is one big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff!
Well, from a non-linear, non-subjective standpoint, anyways.
Also, I’d like to have his timey-wimey detector. Sure, it goes ding when there’s stuff, but it also boils an egg at 30 paces and that would come in handy during a camping trip.
I can’t ever stop referencing this show now. It’s embedded itself in my psyche permanently.
Thank you ReverendAnthony and ThatGoofKidAintThere.
I watch that scene every god damn day. It really is that powerful.
Are you looking foward to next saturday? I can barely contain my anxiety.
Just think. Since this show is all about time travel, Ten can come back for a special. And the fact that you are crying just proves how damn good a job David Tennant did as the Doctor.
Because it’s human nature, we need to have these moments to utterly fall to pieces or we will when we don’t want to. You keep your mind in complete control all the time, lock away all emotions and smother everything in censors and you’ll eventually lose control without meaning to, with catasrophic effects. (see Psychonaughts for ref.)
You do this to yourself because it relieves stress, crying introduces a chemical into your brain that acts as a little… “happy pill” almost.Yes I know it sounds insane, but you’re crying to become happy and less stressed. Plato called it a purging of the emotions, in the theatre watching comedies and tradjedies so one would not be prone to sudden uncontrolled bursts of the emotions. And you’re doing it with something familiar and safe with you, something you like, and something that is clearly FICTIONAL.
At least that’s why I think you do this to yourself. I don’t really know, I’m not a psychiatrist, I’m just riding one.
Naw,
It’s a cathartic process. I whimper like a sook ever time I read or see Atticus Finch leave the courtroom with the guilty verdict. I tear up when Scarlett Johannson and Bill Murray leave at the end of Lost in Translation (I can’t remember the names of their characters). Hell, I even get blubbery when Uncle Ben dies at the start of the first Spiderman movie.
It’s good to feel that a film or novel can have such an emotional impact, I can’t wait until a vidja game reduces me to tears (Eli Vance at the end of HL2 Ep 2 has been the closest I’ve got so far).
It’s understandable. 10 was everyone’s buddy.
…was.
http://bit.ly/adJyjW
Goddammit. Don’t click the bit.ly link. It got stuck with some rickroll. Sorry
Is this really any different to watching a scary film to frighten yourself? Or playing a game for the same effect, for that matter.
After reading Brilliam’s comment I was all ready to leap into the games that have managed to make me blubber – but, irritatingly, I can’t remember any of them now. Except Homeworld (not the bit you’d think – the part where the Bentusi explain what is going on) and Planescape Torment.
I also cried when I clicked on the rickroll link above. Damn you.
Let it out, big fella, just let it all out.
But yeah, I agree the comparison of watching a horror film, or listening to an upbeat song, or any other time when you’re pining for a certain emotional state/something complementary/contrary to what you’re feeling like… like discomfort food.
I had cried a little in Lost Odyssey when Kaim found his daughter.
Actually, the Destructoid piece on Why Cave Story is the best game ever has made me go back and play through again – I never managed to finish it, sadly.
But it has reminded me that getting the air bubble ability made me choke up a tiny bit.
You can save her! Sweet merciful jee-bus, you can save her! I am so glad I found out.
You can also steal her underwear. Not so sure I am glad I found that out.
I wind up teary eyed all the time watching al kinds of different things. That fucking commercial that shows the animals that are injured or dying being rescued with the subtitles that say things like “will I die today?” and the like make me sob like a small child. Maybe I have some sort of chemical imbalance or something. The part in the royal tennenbaums where Chaz tells royal that he’s had a rough year gets me everytime as well.
Let me tell you… I first watched Dr. Who alone in my room… I have never cried at a movie or TV show before… EVER but then rose got sucked away and I lost it completely. (I’m a guy fyi) Then when we lost Donna…. and finally when David Tennants amazing role as the Doctor came to an end… and then the ending scene where he talks to Rose, oh god…. Then I managed to go online and accidently click my link to chasing cars… Man I feel… sigh…
Yeah, when I saw 10nant (I just thought of that! I must be the cleverest guy alive! I also barely skimmed the comments above mine, so maybe somebody else did it; I wouldn’t know) regenerate, I started tearing up, but then I smiled while the tears dropped because I was impressed that the show made me do that. Before Doctor Who, no entertainment media has ever drawn a tear from me. This show managed it 3 times. Damn, Doctor Who is amazing.
Character death brings meaning to even the most pointless of shows. So it makes sense that it has that effect here.
I legitimately thought anthony wrote that until the second paragraph. woops.
I cry at Fry’s Dog.
If the new episodes have another Fry’s Dog one. I probably won’t watch. I don’t want to cry like a little Ash.
I know right! “the devils hands are idle playthings” gets me everytime as well. Not because its the “end” but because its so touching and one of the best “endings” to a series I have ever seen. Fry really is a charismatic character even when he is being a goof.
[The last two times I posted a comment didn't seem to work, so hopefully this one does.]
This doesn’t sound crazy at all to me, since I acted (and still act) exactly the same way with Tennant’s regeneration. Oddly enough I can’t stop watching it either, and it gets me every time.
IT WASN’T TENNANT’S TIME GODDAMMIT
I am having a hard time accepting that he is gone. Tennant was just such a great doctor! He truly embodied the wanting to have fun and explore vs. the crushing despair that haunts his life from all the shit he’s had to deal with. Every time he got that look on his face I just wanted to hug him and make it better! Waters of Mars I alternated between wanting to hug him, being scared of him and wanting to slap him. Though the hugging was the end emotion. I look forward to the new season with a sense of trepidation, but I will go into it with an open mind. I just have to wait ’til Easter I suppose. Holy shit thats this weekend!!!
I was thinking about this last night too. I totally never cry at NORMAL sad movies, the ones that are made to make middle aged women cry (maybe cause I’m a 20 year old gay nerd?) But I watched Iron Giant the other day, and had a hard time SEEING near the end. I watched Tennant’s last episode with a friend of mine, and we both sat there trying not to let the other know we were crying, but we both know we were, heh.
I think the thing about wanting to watch it over and over is the simple fact of FEELING that emotion, feeling something so powerful and being so connected doesn’t happen all that often.
I cry at The Iron Giant every time too
I totally understand Ash, If I ever need a good cry and I play the end cinematic of Kingdom Hearts I or play the end game of Kingdom Hearts 358/2. I dont get why It makes me as emotional as it does. Its CGI images with no ties to real people or places or plot for that matter. But if i need to have some sort of emotion I do one of those two things and it works everytime. So im with you there.
I think it’s good to bawl now and then. Just cause Dr. Who isn’t some “normal” show (I prefer the good Doctor over the shit normal people watch) doesn’t mean you can’t cry over it. Also, it’s not like you cry over every single little thing and a half. It just shows that you have passion for the series, which is always good.
I, for one, have gotten choked up over “Lonely Rolling Star” when playing Katamari Damacy. Ridiculous, but it just shows I have passion for…rolling things up in…my balls…Waitlemmestartover…
Ah, thank you for linking to that, I keep forgetting to check it out.
Her capacity for emotion is remarkable.
I think it might be because the Doctor is a unique character when it comes to character death. Sure we cry when Bambi’s mom gets shot, or when Old Yeller has to be put down but (for me at least) I don’t feel the need to revisit those films or similar moments in other pieces of media. The emotions of those moments are clearly defined and as an audience member we don’t wish to revisit those scenes over and over again. However the character of the Doctor doesn’t necessarily “die” he regenerates. Sure the 10th doctor describes the process as a type of death but in reality we are watching a new life come into existence. It is a rebirth and a death at the same time. Therefore we, as the audience, can fulfill the need to cry but it doesn’t have the same consequences when other characters pass away because we know the Doctor will live on even if it is in a new form. It may also be how awesome the character is and how Tennant made us love the Doctor so much. My two cents at least.
Im kindof the same way.. when my dorm roommate is gone I go nuts watching movies and lately ive hit this unexplainable mob phase..Im always worried she’ll come in the res room and find me taking a bubble bath laughing at Goodfellas or Scarface. Sometimes it turns into a bit of “DONT GO IN THURR HE GOT GUN!” comments.. which are equally embarrassing if you THINK youre alone..
I gotta admit though, back in the day I almost cried a couple times with greys anatomy.. reading this post made me realize this.. I almost wish I didnt haha.
Didnt watch that show for very long anyways, so I guess it hardly compares with your doctor who dilemma :T
now im starting to sound a little coconuts.. or maybe ive already crossed that line..
I feel the same as you. Except for crying like a little bitch. That part I didn’t do. Which maybe because I have no feelings. Which I was wondering why I wasn’t at least tearing up when he regenerated. But whatever. I watched it over and over again on youtube because I just thought it looked epic. For me it was a good way to go for a character I so loved.
I am a guy, and I can say that only two movies have ever brought me close to crying. Up and A.I.
Up because I can emphasize how Carl felt when he lost Ellie, and how much he loved her despite how different they are. And the part when he looks at their adventure book for the last time always gets me.
I also nearly cried at A.I., probrably because the boy is the biggest Woobie (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWoobie) in film history. But I always finish before the end so that the ending does not spoil the movie. But for some reason I don’t know why it affects me as it does.
Other than those two examples, I have never cried or felt any kind of sadness towards loss in a movie/TV show.
gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy
I think rewatching those sorts of cry scenes is, in part, the growing scarcity of entertainment that is particularly moving. When so much out there is produced to be widely consumed and make money, the really touching stuff stands out that much more. Desensitization walking hand in hand with oversensitization? I dunno where I’m going with this.
That, and I agree with the earlier points about character attachment being a big factor. The ending of Legend Of Zelda: Link To The Past gets me a little teary every time, and it’s the only Zelda that does it, because somehow that’s always been my favorite rendition of Link and the world of Hyrule.
Granted, I also teared up when the first lady died in Independence Day, so maybe I’m just a huge doucher.
anyone here ever watch paulie?
that is among the saddest fucking movies of all time, it has layers of sadness thicker than…….something thick
My husband Kirk would always catch me watching the 9th Doctor’s regeneration over and over. I have a harder time finding the clip online anymore. I own the dvd but it’s much more work to load the disc to just skip to that one scene. I know I am more attached the 10th, but I’m never going to forget my first Doctor, the 9th.
I’m in denial about the 10th but will give 11 a chance. I have only watched 10′s regeneration a few times. It’s like I still can’t believe it or maybe I just don’t.
I don’t think your crazy. if you were shows like kanon (an anime) probally wouldn’t exist. i say this because it is one of the saddest things ive ever seen. great though. it nearly drove me tears at least 6-7 times (which is not an easy thing to do if were talking about fiction) and i still want to watch it again
I always at least tear up when I watch Grave of the Fireflies.
All of my replies on your blog are just me talking about how I cried like a bitch.
David Tennant was my favorite Doctor so far (when I got into the show I went back and watched all the old doctors… so much viewing…) and I’m the exact same way with The End of Time. I wanted to get some more friends into the show so I’d have more people to talk about it with, so I picked up the DVD of the Dr Who specials, and now I just keep wanting to watch him regenerate, even tho it makes me ridiculously sad. And the part that makes it the absolute worst is hearing him say “I don’t want to go”. Yeah, David. Neither did we.
Love the Ice Age movies, awesome animation.
This happens to me too I did cry the most thought when david regenerated,Then he regenerates into eleven and just like really cheered me up.:D
So, uhhhh, I just found this, and uh…. yeah… I can 100% relate to what you said about rewatching it… I do the same. exact. thing. I know I’m a little late to the party, but damn. I didn’t think I could cry harder than when watching the finale of Lost, but I sure did for this episode..
Vale decem…
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