I’m asking as I’m trying to understand empathy and whether it’s normal to get so invested in fake characters, I mean it’s probably a testament to the writers but I overthink… a lot.

This question was bright on as I’ve been catching up on The Blacklist and at lunch today watching Season 8 Episode name “Anne “ and it wrecked me.

Tap for spoiler

Basically the main character Red has to live a guarded life and for once he let it form and got close to Anne and you could tell shit was going to go downhill and it destroyed me when you think about it from his or her perspective.

For reference I’m 41 year old dude, not that it matters.

Edit: Bedtime for me but back tomorrow to reply to all.

Edit 2: I’ve got 41 comments to respond to. Currently working but I’ll be back y’all.

  • octobob@lemmy.ml
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    36 minutes ago

    Very rarely, but I have a few times.

    C’mon C’mon starring Joaquin Phoenix and a 12 year old kid made my ball my eyes out.

  • A Wild Mimic appears!@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    3 hours ago

    Yup, i do this too - my personal highlight was crying at … Wall-e, when he thinks that Eve died.

    I’m over 40, and this started 10 or 15 years ago, when i started to go to therapy a lot more.

    But i think it’s great to be able to live and feel with imaginary characters, and a sign of empathy.

  • Rob T Firefly@lemmy.world
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    8 hours ago

    Yep. I’m a reasonably masculine-presenting guy and most good movies or shows will make me tear up at some point, it’s a standard occurrence if the story has grabbed me in any satisfying way and brought me on the resulting emotional highs and/or lows.

    We joke around about it in my household because my wife is a mostly femme-presenting woman, but she generally doesn’t tear up at films or shows while I’m next to her having what old stereotypes would say is the girly reaction. It’s not that she isn’t experiencing the story as fully or anything, she can be enjoying something just as much as I and the emotional reaction just affects us differently because (gasp!) we’re two different people.

  • UniversalBasicJustice@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    11 hours ago

    I cried reading about Opportunity. Not losing one or the lack thereof.

    The Mars Rover.

    Also the Wikipedia article on the Miracle on the Hudson. No I haven’t seen the Tom Hanks movie nor do I plan to unless I really need an ugly cry.

  • ThisIsNotHim@sopuli.xyz
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    17 hours ago

    I tear up at most movies. It’s not a sad movie, but Everything Everywhere All at Once holds the current record for most cries.

    Generally if a movie doesn’t make me tear up at least once that’s a bad sign. At the same time I don’t gravitate towards tearjerkers, they can feel emotionally manipulative and heavy handed.

    I almost never cry for TV shows or books.

  • daggermoon@lemmy.world
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    14 hours ago

    Me, alot actually. If your movie made me feel nothing it probably sucked. If it actually managed to make me cry it’s probably a pretty good movie.

  • Monzcarro@feddit.uk
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    13 hours ago

    Yup, all the time. To give an example, yesterday I watched DC League of Super Pets with my child and cried quite a lot at one bit (if you’ve seen it, you probably know which bit). It’s a solid movie overall too - great voice cast.

    It’s not unusual for me to cry when reading or listening to the news.

    I’m 41 too, but a woman.

  • embed_me@programming.dev
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    13 hours ago

    I don’t usually cry during movies. But sometimes later when I’m thinking about it I let out a tear or two. Also I cried during a voyager documentary

  • nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    17 hours ago

    if i get triggered i will have a full body cry that lasts an hour and ill just be sitting there in the seat after the lights come on soaked in tears unable to move it’s really embarrassing thanks pixar you fucking asshole

  • Juvyn00b@lemmy.world
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    24 hours ago

    The older I get, the more I don’t give a fuck and just let go. Interstellar - when Cooper is watching messages from his son… Gets me every damn time.

  • OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml
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    18 hours ago

    Anyone here watch K Dramas? Crash Landing on You emotionally broke me. I knew they couldn’t keep portraying North Korea as good, but they didn’t have to do all that…

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    And books.

    If the story and characters are well written and/or acted well enough to pull you in to the story you can certainly feel empathy and other feelings vicariously.

    There is plenty of entertainment that does not pull the viewer/reader in, and you don’t particularly get “involved” with them.

    I’d be curious what the line is for most people, what draws them in to a story emotionally to make that investment in a fictional character.

  • Binturong@lemmy.ca
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    1 day ago

    Hey fellow 41 year old dude, I also cry at this stuff. It seems especially pronounced when rewatching nostalgic productions with well written characters and conflict (I will not apologize for crying all the time during Avatar the last Airbender, as an adult man). No, I do not know what this means in regard to healthy emotional processing, it just is what it is. Mind you I also get unjustifiably angry or emotional in other contexts when I feel connected to the fate of a character and they experience injustice. So this might be a general marker for some level of empathy or maybe just emotional mimicry. Thanks for posting, I think this is something people should be okay talking about more.

    Edit: I wanted to add this also occurs in other mediums, like video games. Cyberpunk 2077 was like a revolution in awareness for me, but largely because I experience DID to a degree in my life, and it really flipped the table of my understanding of myself seeing what I experience through the eyes of others.

    • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.deOP
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      2 days ago

      I guess I grew up with people without feelings as when I raised with this my closest friends (5), none of them admitted to it. I know they could lie but I also don’t know how invested they get in to media.

      • three@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        They might be, they might not be. It’s entirely possible that they don’t interact with any media that contains emotions past shooting a gun. I’ve cried to music, movies, and books. Art (paintings, sculptures, etc) I’ve never had that reaction.

        • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.deOP
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          2 days ago

          I think you’re on to something about them not really focusing on the same kind of media I gravitate towards, complex characters with a moral grey area.

          Trying to think if I’ve cried over a book, the most emotional I can recall is the Steig Larsson millennium trilogy, but not sure if I cried was more psyched up for the story.

          Art. Never, music lyrics yes but not musical pieces like classical which I listen to a lot. Going to try opera soon so maybe there. I can see people crying at art but I don’t think I understand art enough to even get to that level of emotional connection.