
Movies are made to touch us deeply, as they mirror our human experiences back at us.
Movies that have that kind of impact are not to be taken lightly. They often deal with heavy subject matter that there is no sugarcoating: for example, the film Grave Of The Fireflies deals with some extremely harsh realities of what it was like to live in Japan during WWII, as we see the suffering brought on two innocent children.
These movies are made to do something to you--not just for you to view.
Redditor ayebrando asked:
"What movie genuinely made you cry?"
Here were some of those answers.
Why We Don't Spread Rumors
"Jagten, a Danish movie about a kindergarten teacher falsely accused of molesting his best friends daughter. At one point someone kills his dog, and the scene where he digs a hole in the rain to bury his dog is hartbreaking."-Cashewkaas
The Most Famous Bit Of A Long And Famous Film
"Dear Fellas. I can't believe how fast things move on the outside. I saw an automobile once when I was a kid, but now they're everywhere. The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry."
"The parole board got me into this halfway house called the Brewer, and a job bagging groceries at the Food-Way. It's hard work. I try to keep up, but my hands hurt most of the time. I don't think the store manager likes me very much."
"Sometimes after work I go to the park and feed the birds. I keep thinking Jake might just show up and say hello. But he never does. I hope wherever he is, he's doing okay and making new friends. I have trouble sleeping at night."
"I have -- bad dreams, like I'm falling. I wake up scared. Sometimes it takes me a while to remember where I am. Maybe I should get me a gun and rob the Food-Way, so they'd send me home. I could shoot the manager while I was at it, sort of like a bonus."
"I guess I'm too old for that sort of nonsense anymore. I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time. I've decided not to stay. I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me."-Artegor2
When You're The Best Of Friends
"Oh my god, the fox and the hound is way too low on this list. When Todd gets taken to the forest.... I can't..."
"Aaaaand I just realized this may be why I'm so adamant about pets being pets for life. I literally lost it when my husband suggested we may need to rehome one of our cats because she doesn't like our other 2 and was peeing on all our beds. We haven't."-ladydemeter88
Not one of these films has left eyes dry as it played for an audience.
And Have We Learned A Thing?
"The Green Mile--the 'I'm afraid of the dark' scene. The acting performance in that scene, and in the film in general, are incredible."
"You can see the dance of emotions playing across Tom Hanks' face when he shakes John Coffey's hand. Watching Brutal, the big man of the prison, with eyes welling and jaw clenching, pains you."
"The knowledge that they've witnessed miracles from this good and kind man, who faces a painful and unjust death, is heartbreaking. It's a tragic, devastating and yet beautiful scene. I cry every time."-Boorish_Bear
Viel Späß
"Jojo Rabbit. I still think about that movie. There's a lot of subtlety and depth considering it's such a controversial topic to satirize. The fact that Hitler is so kind and silly at first passes over you, or you think it's just for comic relief."
"You realize that JoJo has never actually met Hitler and he's just a naive kid. This Hitler is somebody entirely of his own creation and is actually a better reflection of who HE is on the inside."
"It's easy to understand how such young children were influenced and taught to 'hate,' many without really hating."-Universal_Vitality
Take Her To The Moon For Me
"I haven't seen the entirety of Inside Out, and frankly I refuse to. We would have movie days with the kids at my work and this movie usually won the vote."
"I'm the senior lead of my group, so during the movies I would step out and take care of other things or prepare for the next activity, only peeking through the door every so often to make sure my other leaders are on task or that my kids aren't being disruptive."
"I made the mistake of coming in to watch for a bit during the Bing Bong scene. I walked in, couldn't take my eyes off the screen, and then immediately had to leave because I started crying."
"I sat in the bathroom for like 10 minutes after that because I was crying so much. I refuse to watch the rest of the movie because of that. I know the movie is really good, I've heard amazing things and I've seen a few clips of it, but this scene just wrecked me enough that I couldn't."-duuckyy
These Actors Were Perfectly Cast In Their Roles | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Sometimes an actor comes along that is able to reach the audience on a deeper level. The actor that immediately comes to mind is Robin Williams. Although it ...War Never Changes
"Saving Private Ryan. Both grandpas were in WWll. It made me realize what they went through and how easily I could have ended up never existing. Really shows what war is and Doesnt dress it up to make it look cool or heroic."-Notesandstuff
It's because we crave these moments of catharsis, understanding, and loving tin our own lives that we gravitate so deeply to these films.
The Real Stakes Of Being A Parent
"Interstellar made me cry twice, once when he got back from the planet that made decades pass in minutes for him and he watched a bunch of videos from his kids that grew into adults, and then when he was yelling at himself to not leave."-uhokbutwhy
"When he watched the videos from his kids we had to stop the movie for like 10 minutes. I've cried in sad movies, but I've never lost my sh*t like that during a movie."-WizardofN0Z
Ten Million Fireflies
"Grave of the Fireflies. I cried, but even worse was the depressed/grief feeling that would hit me at odd times for like weeks after."
"I'd be fine and then some memory from it would return and it would feel like my heart got punched. Most haunting film I've ever seen."-gugalgirl
"This movie was emotionally brutal. Seen with Totoro in its original double bill must have been a complete heartf*ck."
"The saddest movie and the most heartwarming together, I hope Totoro was second because the other way round would send you off a cliff."-cagesound
Pixar Again
"I watched Up with my Grandpa six months after my Grandma died. It was incredibly therapeutic. Two grown a** men ugly cried during that montage."
"The rest of the movie where the old man learns that his wife would want him to keep living instead of being an old grump struck a chord with my Grandpa. And the fight scene between the old men had my Grandpa howling. 11/10 I recommend."-eddiewachowski
Not The Killer Jack
"Almost every Christmas/Holiday season I'd toon in or get a glimpse of 'Jack Frost,' the one with Michael Keaton in it (not the serial killer, lol)."
"Anyways, the main protagonist, Charlie, loses his dad in an car accident while driving throw a snowstorm for a show. A year later, he builds a snowman all by himself when traditionally he'd do it with his dad."
"But it's quite bittersweet now that Jack is gone and the snowman building is a memory of his dad that made him happy, and as a way to cope with his own grief."
"I've haven't had the experience of losing my dad, but the whole scene paired up with Fleetwood Mac's 'Landslide' always challenged me to not well up by the end of it, and I'd often lose."
"Another movie that was a tearjerker from when I saw it way back in theatres was the end of Inside Out."-JadedDesolation
The Aminals
"Homeward Bound, the newer version with Sally fields and Michael j Fox doing voice overs. When the old man dog comes limping over the hill i just can't help it. Also the Movie Lion. That one makes me tear up."-Daladain
"THERE'S A NEWER ONE?!"-SoccerGamerGuy7
It's An Art To Be Moved
"Coco is a tear-jerker, but it’s too much. I hate super sad movies because they leave me feeling drained. Coco is a prime example. I refuse to watch dog movies because they’re always sad because the dog always dies."
"My favorite tear-jerker is Onward because it’s sad, but it’s not so sad that I feel drained. I love the dynamic between the characters, too."-eksyte
Stay Gold
"I recently saw the directors cut of 'The Outsiders' in the cinema. I've seen the film and read the book I don't know how many times and I've cried. But this time was different."
"I bawled through the entire last half of the film. I lived a youth very close to the characters in the film and I lost a lot of friends. I have two older brothers who are just like Soda and Darry."
"Everything in that film just hits so close to home."-MrC99
It's A Metaphor
"The Fault in our Stars, and the book did too. I know it’s pretty much a standard YA romance flick but it’s pretty genuine. There’s no fantasy element to it like they’re not in a dystopian society, they’re not wizards, not vampires, not fighting demons, etc."
"Just two perfectly normal teenagers, even if their character archetypes were a little pretentious and melodramatic. (Cigarettes are a metaphor, really?)"
"There’s also no great drama or love triangle. They’re just honestly and earnestly in love with each other. But they’re fighting a monster that’s just all to real and causes so much heartbreak and suffering in this world - cancer."
"The scene where Grace/Hazel or whatever finds out (movie) and narrates (book) his death really got me. No one deserves that slow death by sickness. That suffering and humiliation."
"And even though teen love is romanticized and dramatized it really was portrayed in an honest way that had meaning and realness. Such sadness and a tragedy for something so good between two good people to be ripped away like that."-TheVapingPug
The Artists Know
"Disney’s : Soul. This will contain SPOILERS. I guess the reason it made me cry was because when I watched the trailer about a guy stuck teaching the piano to kids instead of playing on stage professionally suddenly dying—my initial thought was this will have a very predictable plot and ending."
"To my surprise, they touched a very different subject. I thought it would encourage us to finally pursue what we really want and that we shouldn’t put a hold on it because life is short and you’ll miss out."
"The movie however revealed that, sometimes these dreams are overrated and that we miss out on life because we think life only begins when we get to have what we always wanted."
"Life doesn’t begin in the future, life is happening RIGHT NOW, and so we must be fully here to live it. I don’t know that was just something that spoke so deeply to me."-sasameseed
Movies have the power to change us as people after experiencing them. One of the greatest human superpowers is empathy, and through our empathy we developed this art form to tell each other about....well, each other.
The next time you're crying at a film, remember-how beautiful it is that we can have such experiences at all.
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It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
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So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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