Hey there,

So, this has relatively nothing to do with the book, but i did have to make a post, so I thought i'd share an idea i had about a possible thesis topic. I liked the discussion we had in class on Friday about survival, false realities and literature, and it got me thinking about movies and their innate ability of mesmerizing and portraying an ideal and beautiful reality that, for 2 hours+, a viewer can believe is true. Books can provide a very accessible escape, but today, movies are vastly popular, the most they have ever been, and i'm curious as to why (beyond just short attention spans). It's apparent that visuals are aesthetically pleasing and easier for a viewer to follow, but it's difficult for simple visuals to convince a viewer to the point of empathy, and i think this moment is where music comes into play. I recently read about a study done where people were convinced of a terrible calamity about to happen to themselves, then separately convinced of this same calamity inflicted upon a close relative or friend, and finally convinced of the event inflicted upon a complete stranger. Obviously, the persons felt little for the complete stranger, but the interesting part is that these peoples' brain activities were monitored and it showed similar (visual) reactions when convinced of self injury or the same thing for a close relative or friend. This is basically a visual display of empathy. Yet, how then, do teenage girls cry during 'The Notebook' and boys feel the drama of 'Platoon'; such actions would be signs of empathy for complete strangers. I would like to prove that music is one of the main tools in which movies evoke empathy for complete strangers.