Hello all. I'm working on a paper in which I will be examining the film
Philadelphia and its impact on the state of mass empathy. I'll be
discussing the ways in which the film re-humanizes the homosexual, as well
as individuals living with AIDS. Additionally I will be examining the ways
in which the film tends to undermine the strides it takes in this direction
by dehumanizing the white males Andy fights against, as well as the
troubling fact that the only heterosexual individual to empathize and help
Andy is another marginalized person (African American lawyer)--that is, with
the exception of Andy's family. To make a long story even longer, I'm not
sure where to look as far as texts that discuss morality--more specifically
morality and moral action in Zygmunt Bauman's terms--and film. Martha
Nussbaum's Poetic Justice is helpful here, but she limits empathy via moral
imagination to Realist Novels. I'd like to check out any research,
philosophical or otherwise that actually includes film as a means of
stimulating the moral imagination, etc. Does anyone know of any good books
I can check out that discuss this kind of thing? I would appreciate any
help you can give.
Best,
Rebecca
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