The rise of cinema in the early 20th century saw the emergence of a new kind of masculine icon: the tearless hero. Beginning only in the 1970s, male tears slowly trickled back onto the silver screen, eventually becoming a crucial factor for commercial and critical success in films ranging from Midnight Cowboy and Rambo to Lord of the Rings. Around the same time, social scientists note a further decrease in male crying offscreen, with the cinema becoming the last resort for a good manly weep.

In our presentation, we invite the audience to take a historical look at sad movie scenes to encounter the world of male tears, those on the screen and in the cinema seat. Under what circumstances is a hard-boiled hero allowed to shed tears without spoiling the box office? How have filmmakers throughout history approached the problem of representing male emotions? And why are real men not crying at their own weddings but instead while watching Pixar or superhero movies?