Roger Ebert Quotes About Empathy
-
In the vast majority of movies, everything is done for the audience. We are cued to laugh or cry, be frightened or relieved; Hitchcock called the movies a machine for causing emotions in the audience. Bresson (and Ozu) take a different approach. They regard, and ask us to regard along with them, and to arrive at conclusions about their characters that are our own. This is the cinema of empathy.
→ -
We all are born with a certain package. We are who we are: where we were born, who we were born as, how we were raised. We're kind of stuck inside that person, and the purpose of civilization and growth is to be able to reach out and empathize a little bit with other people. And for me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy. It lets you understand a little bit more about different hopes, aspirations, dreams and fears. It helps us to identify with the people who are sharing this journey with us.
→ -
Films to the degree that they glorify mindlessness and short attention span they are bad, to the degree that they encourage empathy with people not like ourselves and encourage us to think about life, they are good.
→ -
Movies that encourage empathy are more effective than those that objectify problems.
→ -
Of all the arts, movies are the most powerful aid to empathy, and good ones make us into better people.
→ -
Movies are like a machine that generates empathy.
→ -
I believe empathy is the most essential quality of civilization.
→ -
The purpose of civilization and growth is to be able to reach out and empathize with other people... For me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy.
→
Related Authors
-
James Berardinelli Film critic -
Gene Siskel Film critic -
George Lucas Film director -
Armond White Film critic -
Harry Knowles Film critic -
Richard Roeper Columnist -
Pauline Kael Film critic -
Malcolm Mclaren Musician -
Michael Bay Film director -
Martin Scorsese Film director -
Oprah Winfrey Media proprietor -
Holly Hunter Actress -
Russ Meyer Film director -
Ryan Dunn Television Personality -
Peter Travers Film critic -
A. O. Scott Journalist -
Ava DuVernay Filmmaker -
Leonard Maltin Film critic -
Werner Herzog Film director -
Paul Thomas Anderson Film director