Empathy and (Film) Fiction, by Alex Neill

1015 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: narrative about identity

Relations between sympathy-empathy expressiveness and fiction have become a significant issue in the debate on the emotional responses to the film fiction. Due to their complexity many scholars found it useful to diagram them. With his essay, “Empathy and (Film) Fiction”, Alex Neill tries to develop new theory for analyzing the fiction and, especially, the emotional responses from the audience on it. The project of this essay is represented with an aim to show the audience the significant value of the emotional responses to the film fiction. From my point of view in the thesis of his project he asks a simple question: “Why does the (film) fiction evoke any emotions in the audience?”, further building the project in a very plain and clever way. Tracing the origins of this issue, he distinguishes between two types of emotional responses, sympathy and empathy, as separate concepts in order to understand the influence of both types of emotional responses to fiction. However, relying mostly on this unsupported discrepancy between two concepts and the influence of the “identification” concept, Neill finds himself unable to trace sympathy as a valuable response to fiction. This difficulty makes Neill argue throughout the better part of the text that empathy is the key emotional factor in the reaction to (film) fiction and that it is a more valuable type of emotional response for the audience. In order to support his point of view Neill explains the possible reasons why people respond either sympathetically or empathetically to the fiction and how these responses are related to each other. He splits his research in three parts. For obvious reasons the first part clarifies the terms empathy and sympathy. He states that “with sympathetic ... ... middle of paper ... ...d areas, including sympathy/empathy unresponsiveness and its negative outcomes, are the topics for future researches that can help us develop our understanding of emotional responses to fiction and emotional education. The fact that most of the concepts related to the issue raised in the text can refer to numerous types of processes implies on needing and developing other theories and researches. Therefore, in my opinion, in his essay “Empathy and (Film) Fiction” Alex Neill well-studied the concept of identification, empathy and emotional response to the film and, moreover, visualized the new “fresh” understanding of the significant value of the empathetic responses. Works Cited Neill, Alex. “Empathy and (Film) Fiction.” Philosophy of film and motion pictures : an anthology. Ed. Noel Carrol and Jinhee Choi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. 247-259. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Empathy And Self-Interest In Too Much Happiness, By Alice Munro

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    Both texts of literature begin with descriptions of how comfortable, and secure both characters feel in action. In Empathy, Stephen Dunn who is about to fight in the war. The biggest influence was that he realises that it was the feeling of empathy, learning to be able to imagine himself in different other beings’ perspectives. When Stephen went back to Fort Jackson, he finally comprehends that only the sergeants and a few rawboned farm boys took

    Read More

  • Empathy: What We Need Now: Article Analysis

    425 Words  | 1 Pages

    Furthermore, Jeremy Rifkin writes “The Age of Reason is being eclipsed by the Age of Empathy,”(qtd. in Huffington 551). As the years go by, the sign of empathy within humans increase. The increase of empathy is valuable but, there is not reason behind the empathy. Rifkin makes the case that

    Read More

  • Critique of Barbara Huttman’s A Crime of Compassion

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    Anybody who reads “A Crime of Compassion” can easily find it very emotional. I believe the pathos plays a very important...

    Read More

  • The Relationship Between Empathy and Held Stereotypes of the Homeless

    1010 Words  | 3 Pages

    Empathy, is a self-conscious characteristic human beings hold that allows them to understand another individual’s situation and feelings (Segal, Cimino, Gerdes &Wagaman, 2013). In regard to ho...

    Read More

  • The Effectiveness of Humor and Emotions, Specifically in the Works of Noem Carroll and Carl Plantinga

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    To begin, I will give a brief overview on the effect emotions have on our media viewing experience. In particular, I will be examining the work of Noem Carroll and Carl Plantinga. Second, I will give a brief overview of the research that connects political humor viewing to positive outcomes including increased political knowledge, and the ability to learn various view points as well as greater understanding of one’s own viewpoint. Though, I understand that their is a raging debate between cognitivist and non-cognitivist. My goal is not to take a position on the debate, but I am merely going to give a brief overview of the literature on film and emotion. On one hand, Carl Plantinga argues that emotions can be defined as "Concern Based Construals.” To highlight this meaning, let us imagine that as I am writing this paper, I hear loud noises, as this is going on, unconsciously, my heart rate increases and respiration increase and I begin to develop the emotion of fear. This is similar to Noel Carroll’s theory of emotion, if not complimentary to Plantinga’s view. Carroll would say that emotions act as searchlights to help us focus on the perceptions necessary to deal with the current experience. Plantinga would concede that many of the affects associated with emotions occur in the cognitive unconscious. So, Plantinga is not saying that, “Emotions are mere judgements,” As Robert Solomon would claim, but emotions are driven by experience based on one’s personal perception. In other words, Plantinga is saying the these construals are based on one’s personal experiences, whether conscious or not. However, something should be said about Construals in of itself, th...

    Read More

  • The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

    1785 Words  | 4 Pages

    Whether a person’s life is something experienced authentically, or factually written down as literature, there are more complexities faced then there are simplicities on a daily basis. This multifariousness causes constant bewilderment and hesitation before any sort of important decision a person must make in his or her life. When it comes to characters of the written words, as soon sensations of ambiguity, uncertainty, and paranoia form, the outlook and actions of these characters are what usually result in regrettable decisions and added anxiety for both that character as well as the reader. Examples of these themes affecting characters in the world of fiction are found in the novel The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon, and the play Glengarry Glen Ross written by David Mamet. Throughout both of these texts, characters such as Oedipa Maas who allows these emotions to guide her in her journey of self discovery, and Shelly Levene who is so overcome with these emotions that they become his downfall. For both of these characters, these constant emotional themes are what guide their most impulsive actions, which can generally also become regrettable decisions. Even though it is a distinguishing factor of human beings, when these characters are portrayed in print, it somehow seems to affect the reader more, because they are able to see the fictional repercussions, and also know how they could have been avoided.

    Read More

  • Leslie Jamison's The Empathy Exams

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    Empathy has been the subject of scrutiny for many philosophers and writers throughout the years. Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of these speculators and ended up writing an entire story to portray her understanding of what empathy is. She writes in Uncle Tom’s Cabin that if we were all to simply do what makes us feel right and feel strong about it, then we will naturally become more empathetic and thereby a benefactor of the human race. This notion, however, has been contested by many and Leslie Jamison is no exception. In The Empathy Exams, Jamison argues that to be empathetic requires more than a general feeling of rightness; it requires wisdom and energy.

    Read More

  • The Big Sleep: Movie vs. Novel

    1588 Words  | 4 Pages

    Film and literature are two media forms that are so closely related, that we often forget there is a distinction between them. We often just view the movie as an extension of the book because most movies are based on novels or short stories. Because we are accustomed to this sequence of production, first the novel, then the motion picture, we often find ourselves making value judgments about a movie, based upon our feelings on the novel. It is this overlapping of the creative processes that prevents us from seeing movies as distinct and separate art forms from the novels they are based on.

    Read More

  • The Reflection Of Empathy, By Stephen Dunn

    755 Words  | 2 Pages

    Empathy is imperative to teach kids from a young age in order to help them recognize mental states, such as thoughts and emotions, in themselves and others. Vital lessons, such as walking in another’s shoes or looking at a situation in their perspective, apprehends the significance of the feelings of another. Our point of view must continuously be altered, recognizing the emotions and background of the individual. We must not focus all of our attention on our self-interest. In the excerpt, Empathy, written by Stephen Dunn, we analyze the process of determining the sentiment of someone.

    Read More

  • Empathy

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    Empathy is the term used for emotional understanding. Empathy is a special skill that many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird possess or develop throughout the course of the story. Harper Lee shows the importance of empathy throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Atticus being empathetic, Atticus teaching the kids to empathize or them empathizing themselves in certain situations. Empathy is truly the great gift of humanity.

    Read More

  • Classical and Post-Classical Hollywood Cinema

    2472 Words  | 5 Pages

    Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...

    Read More

  • The Hobbit Empathy Themes

    1039 Words  | 3 Pages

    Empathy is one of the great mysteries of life. Why do people feel empathy? Do others deserve empathy? Is feeling empathy a strength or weakness? These questions may forever go unanswered, or they may not even have an answer. Even if they are answered, they may only be speculation. One author shows his take on the matter with one of his books. In The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien uses Gollum and Thorin to show that people do deserve empathy, no matter how horrible they may be.

    Read More

  • Character Sympathy in A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O´conner

    585 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many different types of characters in stories, and each has been described differently leaving different impression to readers. Reading some stories gives the readers the feeling of empathy for characters. Speaking about characteristic, it is great to know how a character feels in order to understand the story. Through this essay, I would like to show how stories make the readers feel empathy to other’s concerns, feelings, and troubles.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Robert Goold's Response To Macbeth

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many great authors to this date use sympathy to engage readers and, are able to create catharsis with the viewer, lamenting decisions and having a strong emotional attachment towards the ending. A well written play has the ability to captivate the audience controlling their emotions to commiserate with the protagonist. William Shakespeare, an author whose work is mainly recognized for their tragic endings, such as Macbeth, effectively creates an emotional response from the readers throughout the play. Rupert Goold's movie Macbeth attempts to emulate the original tragedy, regardless of the astounding performance the slight modifications in the plot, character development and themes suppresses the audience from experiencing a true tragedy.

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Film Narrative "Wendy and Lucy"

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lehman, Peter and Luhr, William. Thinking About Movies: Watching, Questioning, Enjoying. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003.

    Read More

More about Empathy and (Film) Fiction, by Alex Neill

Open Document