In class, we mentioned that documentaries are one of the best ways in our new media world to generate empathy. I agree that in this form we can show both sides to a story and reveal our underlying intentions. Ultimately, I believe everyone is seeking happiness, freedom and security. A documentary would reveal both sides to particular scenarios and express initially contradictory causes of each side’s behavior. Eventually, the root causes overlap, creating a flip-flop effect for the viewer of the documentary, switching between empathy towards alternating sides of the scenario.
http://itp.nyu.edu/~ig537/empathy.gif
