Stories with sad moments are nothing new. The best stories will usually have a touching scene reflecting on some type of gain or loss for a character. Moments such as these can possibly force a tear from the reader or filmgoer. But what constitutes a tearjerker? A tearjerker is a story that is in a class of its own. For this article, I will be discussing what makes a scene so powerful that it forces major sadness and I will be talking about the importance of a tearjerker’s effects on the audience.
What is a tearjerker?
Dictionary.com simply defines a tearjerker as “a sentimental story, movie, or song, calculated to evoke sadness or sympathy.” These tearjerker moments commonly happen when something has been taken away from a character. This usually results in the character being worse off than before, but perhaps only superficially. Their lives or the lives of others are likely improved from the unhappy scene, but the story usually doesn’t progress further afterward because these moments mostly occur at the end, leaving the audience in a state of catharsis to dwell and ruminate. It’s a very smart way of storytelling and message sending.
A real tearjerker works only when the character yearns to achieve something, finally gets it, and loses it. Regardless of what is actually achieved, the point is that it goes away from the character afterward forever. Because the audience is in the perspective of the character enduring his or her pain, it forces a sense of loss for the audience member, too. Thus, causing major sadness to ourselves because since we had ventured on the journey with the character we want to see them happy with their achieved goal. But a tearjerker story rips that achievement away, leaving the character unfulfilled wholly or sometimes only partially fulfilled.
Examples of Tearjerkers
I believe the best way for aspiring writers like yourselves to learn how to write a tearjerker scene is to study the greats. Discussing a few of my personal favorite films that have classic tearjerker scenes is a good start. Watch these movies in full when you get a chance.
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
This ending is perhaps the saddest I ever have seen. It is imperative that we discuss the events before it. The Clint Eastwood character has a non-existent relationship with his daughter. She sends back his letters. She hates him for whatever reason. He has a guilty conscience because of it but meets a young girl who wants to be a boxer. He reluctantly takes her under his wing and develops a genuine likeness for her. She reminds him of his daughter. Well, the boxer-daughter suffers a terrible tragedy crippling her forever. And as an act of kindness, he kills her at her own request. It is a very difficult decision to make after the strong bond they made throughout the entire movie, especially since she represents a second chance to reconcile with his daughter. And he professes a secret nickname he has been calling her throughout the movie, which solidifies their familial bond just before she dies. That’s why the tearjerker scene at the end works so well.
Ghost (1990)
This film has another tearjerker ending. But the key is the build-up to it. A couple clearly in love, although he (Patrick Swayze) never says the actual “I love you” to her (Demi Moore). He just answers back with “Ditto” as a cheap response. He is later murdered and becomes the ghost, solving the mystery of his death. When he saves the day and the murderers are taken away by shadow demons, his girlfriend can see him now and he announces his love for her the way she always wanted to say it. She replies with “Ditto.” It’s a very sad scene, but again the key is the build-up early on. By never saying “I love you” it creates a problem they must overcome to show their true love for one another. With him getting murdered, this ruined that chance until the end when he is given a second chance.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
An all-time classic. James Cameron’s masterpiece, in my opinion. When fans of this movie discuss it, they always talk about the sad ending. But why? What makes the ending of T2 so powerful? Easy. It’s a tearjerker. The young John Connor doesn’t have a father figure in his life. But he finds one in the reprogrammed T-800. They build a close father/son bond throughout the film. But the terminator must sacrifice himself at the end to destroy all evidence. Again, it’s the gaining of something the character wants, only to have it taken away. When John orders the Terminator not to go and it replies with “I know now why you cry but it is something I can never do” it symbolizes that as human-like as the robot is, it realizes it can never be truly as human as young John needs it to be for a legitimate father figure.
Tearjerker Effects on the Audience
This is where the real importance of a tearjerker happens. To understand the tearjerker you should know why it is there. It exists simply more than for you to experience sadness. It is there because the writers want you to feel empathy or sympathy and to have a personal reflection of your own life. In other words, the writers of a tearjerker want you to improve yourself or the relationships already in your life or the relationships you will have in your life. The tearjerker scene exists to help you become a better person by appreciating bonds with others.
By seeing a sad moment happen to a character you have been following, you feel the sadness as if it is happening to you. It is all very meta. Its sole purpose in the story is not to bring you down, but to lift you up. By seeing the bond being built up between characters only to see it fail, if written well, will make you realize the importance of bonds in your own life. The more personal the loss in the movie or in literature, the better because the bond breaking is more painful to experience but will leave a powerful and positive mark on you.
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