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It's true! Chick flicks trigger
curative tears
By Britta
Anderson
December 11, 2008 | At the close of a rather difficult
weekend, I decided I needed some girl time with Eurgelgrue,
the ancient, remote-less television at my apartment.
So I popped in P.S. I Love You and plopped down
on the couch with my blanket and a couple slices of
pizza.
Ten minutes into the movie I was a pathetic mess.
I had mascara streaks down my face and had already made
a nice puddle of tears on my pillow. Every time I thought
I had gained composure, the scene would change and the
tears would begin to pour over once more. I guess I'm
just sensitive to hot Irish men, who, when they pass
away, leave love letters and gifts for their widows
to be delivered randomly throughout the year.
The average woman, when in a time of strife, will
turn to a chick flick for support and an outlet for
tears. Many women have used the excuse, "I just needed
to cry." There is actually more truth to this than one
would first expect.
In a study done by Wendy Norlund of Gibbs Magazine,
she states that there are three types of tears, basal
tears, which keep our eyes from drying out, reflex tears
that make themselves known when our eyes get irritated,
and emotional tears, which are caused by, well, our
emotions. In her article titled, "Why We Laugh and Cry,"
she said, "Scientists have discovered that the emotional
tears contain higher levels of manganese and the hormone
prolactin, and this contributes in a reduction of both
of these in the body; thus helping to keep depression
away." This balancing of hormones is partly the reason
why people (women, mostly) have found that crying actually
calms them after being upset.
For some reason, many men don't understand this. Generally
speaking, rather than seeing chick flicks as a healthy
way for women to release pent up hormones and emotions,
men see this genre of movie as giving women false ideas
of romance and an unrealistic view on life. I've seen
many chick flicks in my day, and I can honestly say
that I don't believe that I will save a man who falls
into a coma after being pushed onto some train tracks,
and after posing as his fianceé, will fall in love with
his brother and live happily ever after.
I will admit, however, that these movies do have an
impact on how some women view romance. But rather than
changing the minds of women from being sensible to insensible,
these movies actually activate a latent predisposition
that is in some women to believe in the fairy tale ending.
If men want place blame for why some women have this
perspective, look to the parents who raised them. The
ones who taught them that they were princesses and would
one day find a knight in shining armor that would carry
them off into the sunset. Little girls are much more
impressionable than adult women.
Another reason most women watch chick flicks is they
see them as a way to escape for a time and be happy
for someone who finds love in the end, or to mourn for
the one who is left hurt. This is another thing a lot
of men don't entirely understand. While men operate
on a factual view on life, women operate on a relational
view. Because of this, when women feel like their romantic
life is a mess, they like to put in a romance movie
and watch two people get together under unbeatable odds,
so they can be happy for them. This does not mean they
think this will happen to them. It's almost like living
vicariously through another, except knowing that it's
a movie and that what's happening on the screen can
only take place in Hollywood.
Yes, many women are romantics, and yes, there are
many of us who, as much as we try to deny it, have that
very small part that will always wish that something
magical will happen to them on Valentine's Day, or that
some secret admirer will make himself known in a fantastic
way. But as I said, it's only in the back of our minds
and most women are logical enough to know better than
to actually believe that any of it would ever take place.
NW
MS
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