1. When Fleur tends to Bill at the end of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
2. Anya’s last scene in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
3. When Jessica Lange overturns the hospital cart near the end of Big Fish.
4. Madonna’s end-of-tour prayer in I’m Going to Tell You a Secret.
5. When Eowyn defeats the Witch King in Return of the King.
Surely you have noticed that all five moments involve strong or outspoken female characters. The interesting question is, how many of those moment make me cry because they are sad/touching, as opposed to the ones that make me cry because I am a feminist?
At first blush it would seem to be 4 to 1, but not all is what meets the eye.