Crying Lovers » General Popularity of Male Crying Scenes Today?

White Tulip · July 8, 2016 5:58 am

A question for those of you with long memories, or who are fans of old movies: do you feel that male crying scenes in movies and TV shows are more common currently than they were in the past?

My impression is that, whereas in the 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's it was relatively rare to get a crying scene from a man (female crying scenes were much more common), today those kinds of scenes are not only less rare, they're almost expected. Taking a moment to consider all the new movies I've seen since the 1990's, I realize that most of these have included some sort of tearful scene involving a male character. By contrast, I think I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of tearful scenes involving men I've encountered in 1940's/1950's/1960's films and shows (of which I've watched many).

If crying scenes have become more common over the years, then surely it's because the idea of a grown man crying has become more and more socially acceptable.

I'd be interested to read any opinions people have on this topic.

Last edited by White Tulip (July 9, 2016 12:07 am)

caircair · July 8, 2016 8:20 am

I suspect it may be mostly due to the cultural shift in the acceptability of male crying, however, I also suspect it may be in part because actors are looking for more varied roles/experiences than were available before. Nowadays you're pretty much guaranteed an Oscar nom if you're male and you have a good cry scene.

Tristana · July 8, 2016 9:46 pm

Great topic.
I completely agree with all that's been said so far.

I feel like it's not only that there are more male crying scenes, but that those scenes have becom increasingly realistic. (Ed.: This seems to be true of female crying scenes as well.) Recently, especially in the last few decades, it seems like actors in films and TV shows are able to actually cry -- which, at least for me, makes their scenes more satisfying -- rather than simulating crying or pretending to cry. (Ed.: I wonder if the availability of HD technology has had anything to do with this? At the very least, I think makes the absence of tears more noticible.)

I found an article on the history of male movie tears, which also includes some earlier examples that I wasn't aware of: http://www.neatorama.com/2013/10/09/Dont-Make-a-Grown-Man-Cry-Men-Who-Have-Cried-in-Their-Movies/

Interestingly, it traces the rise of the modern male-crying scene to Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), which also corresponds to the heyday of method acting and its emphasis on truthful, emotionally engaged performances. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1A0p0F_iH8

I also think that the increase can partially be linked to male audience members' growing willingness to movies that make them cry. The rise of male crying scenes corresponds to the growing popularity of male melodramas like Shawshank Redemption (1994), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Goodwill Hunting (1997) etc.

Last edited by Tristana (July 8, 2016 11:32 pm)

White Tulip · July 8, 2016 11:52 pm

Caircair, I'd never considered your second observation before, but I feel you're likely correct that a well-acted crying scene could tip the scales in favor of a "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar.

Tristana, I did know that before about Brando's crying in Streetcar; I just forgot I knew it (which is odd, because I studied 20th century American drama for a long time and wrote my Master's Thesis on it!). Thanks for taking the time to paste the links.

What inspired this topic was watching the 1954 movie The Blackboard Jungle for the first time recently. In it there's a scene in which Glenn Ford's character looks as if he's about to cry (from joy) -- but he never actually does; the scene ends before anything like tears form. I can't help thinking this was the result of the director thinking to himself, "We can't show him crying because men don't do that." As I suggested before, I can think of several genuine male crying scenes from '50's/early '60's films, but these are far outnumbered by male crying scenes from films made between the '90's and the present day.

Edited to add: One of the best "older" male crying scenes I know of comes from the 1957 movie 12 Angry Men. Go to Crying Videos to watch it.

Last edited by White Tulip (July 9, 2016 12:00 am)

caircair · July 9, 2016 2:07 am

I'd read an article a couple years back that basically said the surest way for a guy to get an Oscar was to either get naked or to cry. Nothing said about what would happen if he did both at the same time.

PhoebeOnThePhone · July 9, 2016 3:32 pm

Caircair, that must be why The Normal Heart was so critically acclaimed. There WAS a nude crying scene, and it looks heartbreaking.

caircair · July 9, 2016 4:54 pm

Never saw it, now I'm going to check it out.

Squonk · July 14, 2016 11:43 pm

White Tulip, your observations are spot-on. You could probably count on two hands the number of male crying scenes with actual tears up until, Lord, even the 70s. (Ooh, there's a project). I know as a kid in the 80s, if I saw real male tears, I felt like I'd spotted a unicorn. Even the 90s were a fairly, ahem, dry period.
We are definitely living in the golden age of crying.

White Tulip · July 15, 2016 1:32 am

Squonk, one of the rare examples of an actor from the distant past having an all-out, tearful crying scene is George Maharis in the early-1960's TV series Route 66. The episode was called "Even Stones Have Eyes," and I believe there's a video of it in the "Videos" section of this site.

Edited to add: Yes, there's a video of the whole episode in "Crying Videos." The scene I'm referring to occurs near the end of the episode, though there are other crying/tearful moments involving Maharis earlier on.

Last edited by White Tulip (July 15, 2016 1:35 am)

Squonk · July 15, 2016 1:34 am

"Statistical Analysis of Male Crying Scenes, 1930s-Present" (aka "I'm Really Bored Tonight ")
A quick study of 314 movies and 83 TV shows produced the following statistics on the presence of male tears by decade. (Source: my database of crying scenes used for my Pinterest board).
Movies (out of 314 films):
1930s: 2 - .63%
1940s: 4 - 1.27%
1950s: 4 - 1.27% (Brando, Clift and Dean) 1960s: 3 - .95%
1970s: 13 - 4.14%
1980s: 39 - 12.42%
1990s: 72 - 22.92%
2000s: 98 - 31.21%
2010s (not done yet!): 79 - 25.15%

TV Shows (out of 83):
1960s: 1 - 1.20%
1970s: 1 - 1.20%
1980s: 6 - 7.20%
1990s: 3 - 3.61%
2000s: 16 - 19.27%
2010s: 56 - 67.46%

The numbers definitely bear out our observations. Crying took off in the movies in the 80s and grew steadily from there.
Male crying was pretty rare on TV until the 2000s and has exploded in the 2010s.

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July 8, 2016 5:58 am #1

General Popularity of Male Crying Scenes Today?

July 8, 2016 8:20 am #2

Re: General Popularity of Male Crying Scenes Today?

July 8, 2016 9:46 pm #3

Re: General Popularity of Male Crying Scenes Today?

July 8, 2016 11:52 pm #4

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July 9, 2016 2:07 am #5

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July 9, 2016 3:32 pm #6

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July 9, 2016 4:54 pm #7

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July 14, 2016 11:43 pm #8

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July 15, 2016 1:32 am #9

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July 15, 2016 1:34 am #10

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