Utilizing Film to Increase Empathy

Written by: Jericho Samatra

Empathy is an important ability to acquire in life. Through the understanding of one another, civilizations are able to be formed and societies are able to prosper and maintain. By being able to understand another person, humans are able to stay in communities and uplift each other.

Film could be utilized as a tool to increase empathy. Reddan et al. (2024) demonstrated that after watching a documentary about a wrongly convicted prisoner, people became more empathic towards formerly incarcerated people. This illustrates the potentiality film has when it comes to increasing empathy. By utilizing this form of media, we can increase our own sense of empathy, which would then influence the way we stay in communities and relationships.

Similarly to the study, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent protests were being televised, and people were witnessing the violence being met, empathy was being increased nationwide. People started to come together and significant change was created for the Civil Rights movement. This shows how utilizing film can create humanizing change within society and drive life to a more welcoming and kinder world.

When watching a film, we are experiencing a narrative. This opens our hearts and minds to the people who have lived these narratives. Film has the ability to increase the capacity in which we can empathize with someone, and when we take this impact and apply it to our life, our relationships on a personal, communal, and societal level will grow.