You know them. In movies, television shows, and even in books. Scenes that make you do a complete double-take on what you just read or saw and completely change your perception of everything that’s going on.
Scenes that make you cry or exclaim in terror.
Courtesy of Nakaya de Jong. Her response to such a scene in Tales of The Forbidden.
Perhaps your favorite character died, or that one thing you’ve waited on for ages finally happened. There are so many situations that can elicit a strong reaction from readers or viewers.
As authors and creators, those are the scenes we strive to create. The scenes that break people’s’ hearts are what we create, no matter how much we hate them when we have to endure them ourselves. It’s a double-edged sword. I know I say that about a lot of things, but it’s also the truth! Most things have pros and cons to them. In the end, it’s a matter of finding the balance and figuring out which pros outweigh the cons, but that’s a topic for another day.
Why don’t you share some of the scenes that break your heart, or make you look at things from a different angle? I’m excited to hear your stories of the first time you read or saw those scenes!
Personally, I always have issues with scenes in which characters I’m fond of die. The last Harry Potter book was killer, to name an example. I had to read in small spurts, because otherwise I couldn’t see the pages!
What about you?
Share in the comments!
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May 27, 2012 at 10:59 pm
I think my feelings on the subject are fairly well represented already.
May 27, 2012 at 11:00 pm
Yes. Indeed, they are!
May 28, 2012 at 1:33 am
I don’t have a problem with character that I like dying (okay, I do have a problem with it, but not so much), as much as I do with characters dying pointlessly, or dying without really having the chance to achieve anything. You know, the characters that feel as if they’re headed for SOMETHING, and you can tell it’s about to happen, and you get excited… but then… but then, before they manage to do anything… they’re killed. *pulls hair out* GRR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire is just full of this. It just feels so WRONG when character die before they even managed to live. :C
May 28, 2012 at 9:29 am
Yeah, I know what you mean! It’s a horrible feeling. Or when it’s a side character who is so important to the main character and then they die. Things like that are just heart-wrenching. Granted, I’m quite a sensitive person, even when I try not to be.
June 4, 2012 at 12:07 am
Well, um. I rarely like the main character, so I don’t often have this problem. *chuckles* I tend to like the secondary characters – and they tend to be the ones that die. 8C
June 4, 2012 at 4:35 pm
I do often like the main characters, but at the same time, it is very possible that I like the secondary characters more. Take the Harry Potter books, for example; there are so many amazing secondary characters! And let’s not even talk about them dying.
June 5, 2012 at 11:15 pm
(in reply to your reply to which I can’t reply because I think there’s a limit to how many replies one can reply to)
Oh, Harry Potter. I hated Harry Potter himself. Such a brat! 😀 Good thing there were lots of great secondary characters!
May 28, 2012 at 3:34 am
The story that broke my heart? Fred’s death. He shouldnt have died.
May 28, 2012 at 9:27 am
That was one that got me, too. Fred, Dobby, and Snape.
May 28, 2012 at 4:03 am
There is a scene in The Fountain that always gets me; as it is just heartwrenching. I also always tear up in The Fellowship of the Ring when Sam says, “I made a promise, Mr. Frodo. A promise. ‘Don’t you lose him, Samwise Gamgee,’ and I don’t mean to. I don’t mean to.
May 28, 2012 at 9:29 am
That’s an emotional scene, as well. Sometimes it’s the most unexpected of scenes that make you emotional.
June 2, 2012 at 4:43 pm
I had to read it once quickly, then a second time.
June 2, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Yeah, exactly. It was hard to read it in one go!