The July movie selection at Smart Bitches Trash Books is the 1995 adaptation of Sense And Sensibility. I rewatched this movie for the 15th or 16th time on Saturday.
This movie is my favorite reminder to limit a heroine’s tears. When I first started writing, I thought the more a character cried, the more a reader would feel. The reader would find the heroine more sympathetic, softer, likable.
The opposite usually happens. The more a character cries, the less sympathetic we are. We view the tears as meaning less to the heroine and that makes them mean less to us.
In Sense And Sensibility, Marianne (played by Kate Winslet) is extremely emotional. She cries and cries and cries. The first time she cries, I’m sympathetic. By the end of the movie, I feel irritation, not sympathy. Yes, she hurts but she hurt previously and recovered quickly. I assume she’ll recover quickly again.
Elinor (played by Emma Thompson), in contrast, tries to contain her feelings. She fights her agony, struggles to hide it, and when she finally breaks down and cries, I cry with her. I know the pain is deep and will likely last.
Because she doesn’t cry often.
That’s key. When a character does something…well…out of character (grins), that action is highlighted, circled in red, meaningful for the reader.
The struggle is important also. It shows us there is something at stake for the heroine if she ‘fails’ and cries. Elinor sees how people judge Marianne when she becomes emotional, how they pity her, how they think her sister is weak. She’s proud and doesn’t want people to judge her the same way.
This makes her failure to suppress her emotions even more powerful. She hurts so much; she has to cry, even though she knows the possible consequences.
I love Sense And Sensibility for many other reasons (Alan Rickman being one of them – grins). I definitely recommend watching it, especially if you love period pieces.
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
He wants one night. I want forever.
Hit it and quit it—that’s Smoke Sheridan’s relationship philosophy. The tall, dark, and dangerous club owner never spends more than one night with any woman. He seduces the broken-hearted, leaving them with smiles on their faces and a sexual confidence other men can’t resist.
I need his services.
My boyfriend of four years dumped me because I’m a lousy lay. Smoke can help me win him back, teach me how to make my man writhe in ecstasy. I’ll show him such bliss, he’ll bellow my name in the dark of the night, want me with an all-consuming desire.
This sounds like a great plan. Except I see the loneliness in Smoke’s eyes, feel the wistfulness in his touch, experience the wanting in his embrace. The player isn’t as shallow as he appears.
And I’ve never been good at letting go.
One And Done contains inappropriate humor, very bad pickup lines, a BBW heroine who doesn’t know what she’s doing and a player who thinks he does.
This is a standalone story.
Buy Now:
On Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/One-Done-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B01FOVMF70
On Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Done-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B01FOVMF70
On ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-oneanddone-2040641-340.html
On Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-and-done-cynthia-sax/1123809444
On Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/one-and-done-1
I agree, Cynthia. It becomes far more moving when tears are released rarely, and at great provocation. One of my strongest childhood memories is of the one (and only) time I recall seeing my mother cry. It was a day when bad weather had kept my brothers and me (rowdy brats, we were) indoors for far too long. There may have been more reasons than our mayhem – I wouldn’t know – but it was devastating to think we caused her to break down and cry!
It’s a great story, sense and sensibility. There is something special about those break down moments and the struggle. I concur
The same is true in real life. Someone who cries all the time gets less sympathy than someone who cries only rarely. Weepy heroines/people are not that likable.