sentimentalism

noun sentimentalism

• heartbreaker — a person, event, or thing causing heartbreak.
• human interest — a quality of a story or report, as in a newspaper or on a newscast, that engages attention and sympathy by enabling one to identify readily with the people, problems, and situations described.
• mawkishness — characterized by sickly sentimentality; weakly emotional; maudlin.
• melodrama — a dramatic form that does not observe the laws of cause and effect and that exaggerates emotion and emphasizes plot or action at the expense of characterization.
• mush — a trip or journey, especially across snow and ice with a dog team.