Comparing Schindler's List And The Pianist

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My parents and I have an ongoing battle about what we believe is the purpose of film. My parents believe that film is merely entertainment and that one should choose and watch films that fulfil this contract. While there is nothing inherently wrong with such a practice, I believe that films fulfil a much more important social purpose by allowing us to feel empathy for the characters on the screen. For example, most of us were never alive during the Holocaust however, in some small part we can feel empathy for those who experienced the horrors within the concentration camps by watching Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List or Roman Polanski’s The Pianist. In some way, this explains why I am willing to watch certain things in movies that other people deem as objectionable. …show more content…
Probably not. The violence is justified by the cultural context and is therefore necessary so that the audience can fully experience empathy for the characters and their situations. Just because something is objectionable does not mean that it is not important within the film. I believe that one of the main purposes of film is to transport audiences to situations that are difficult and sometimes uncomfortable. What kind of world would we live in if we saw and heard what we only chose to see and hear? Would we fully understand the world with its many complex social and cultural problems? Would we fully be equipped with the tools to join the conversation without sounding ignorant or one-sided? I believe that films, like great novels, can inform and inspire but only if they are experienced in their entirety. I am not saying that we should not be cautious, in fact we should be very cautious in what we choose to watch. However, what it means “to be cautious” is an individual
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