The Beautifully Superlative Importance of Empathy in Cinema

 


As cinephiles, we should always be able to understand that empathy is one of the most important things in our pallets in that it instigates us to express different types of emotions in ways that allow us to be emotionally connected with cinema. No matter what the emotion is, we should constantly express it whenever we watch movies among other forms of storytelling only to really interact to any storytelling form due to empathy. Empathy means to connect to others in a relatable way by putting yourself in other people's shoes as a way to go through what someone else is going through in the process. Empathy is something that should never be taken for granted in cinema and storytelling in general considering that it makes us embrace our humanity without coming across as submissive along with overtly feel-goody whatsoever. Being a cinephile along with having empathy go hand in hand and us as cinephiles should never take it for granted at all.

By the time that I began to start developing as a cinephile in my teenage years, I started to read and watch the reviews of my favorite critic of all time, Roger Ebert. Ebert was truly disparate and different in film criticism because he was one of those critics who believed in being diverse and consistent in his pallet. For example, he would watch and recommend something from Ingmar Bergman and at the same time, would watch and support Star Wars due to the fact that he believed in going broad in film as a way to be aware of the many layers that storytelling has to offer at all times. Ebert's style of being well-rounded while still being consistent still inspires me to this day considering that if was not for Ebert, then I will not be the diverse but still congruent cinephile that I will always be until I die. In addition, Ebert's empathy for cinema is another reason why I adore him to where I really do agree with him about how movies are truly a machine that generates empathy. Ebert was saying that in cinema, empathy instigates us to see cinema in a relatable way so that we can consistently see stories and characters as us for the sake of putting ourselves in the shoes of stories and characters for the better.

As for me, I am truly an empathetic person who really believes that cinema is truly an outlet for cinephiles like myself who want empathy and real-life in any form of storytelling while also wanting imagination too. It is imperative that we cinephiles look for a combination of empathy and imagination in storytelling in general because storytelling should be relatable without sacrificing fun and entertainment and it should also be imaginative without being phony and inhumane. Also, I believe that in storytelling, empathy should be presented and executed in a subtle way considering that subtlety is what keeps empathy and emotion from being cringey and overwrought so that audiences can get empathetic and emotionally invested in a clear and subtle way in the process.

Great storytelling, whether it is literature, film, television among others, definitely brings us together because of the empathy and quality of it for real. I say that because we as cinephiles should always find stories that are rich in quality along with empathy as a way to gather together in order to talk with one another about how storytelling has enhanced our knowledge of film and other forms of storytelling as well as our empathy of the artform too. The more that we contagiously communicate with each other about the empathy and quality of great storytelling, the more that we thrive as a community of cinephiles at all times. 

By the way, having empathy and knowledge as a cinephile is truly imperative because empathy combined with knowledge along with other qualifications is what makes a cinephile a cinephile. It is important for empathy and knowledge to be combined together considering that empathy without knowledge can be a disqualification to where it can give way to mediocrity in film criticism that can ruin the image of a cinephile for the worse. On the flip side, knowledge without empathy can also be a disqualification in that it can cause people to be knowledgeable without the empathy and love of the artform only to unfortunately treat the artform as nothing but a lifeless mental exercise. Cinephiles should be determined to always understand that love and empathy along with knowledge go together so that the image of the cinephile will continue to be respected and well reputed.

We as cinephiles need to realize that empathy is not just one of the cornerstones of cinema but also one of the cornerstones in life itself. Empathy is the lifeforce that allows us to connect with one another because it allows us to go through what others are going through for the sake of building community for the better. Empathy is much needed in this corrupt world considering that there are far too many people who are lacking in empathy only to hurt people's feelings instead of caring about them. As for cinema, empathy should make us cinephiles understand that we should constantly see ourselves in stories and characters in order to always connect and interact with any form of storytelling as long as the artform is loved and studied. After all, Roger Ebert did say that cinema is a machine that generates empathy and that is something that us cinephiles should take to heart forever as we not only continue to love storytelling in general but also know and gain knowledge of it too. God bless.




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