I was thinking about how movies that are meant to move you work. I’m thinking of theatrical movies, not documentaries or the like. A good example would be Crash, which deals with racism in America through fictional anecdotes. I think the majority of movies work the way Crash does. They present a problem that the audience is familiar with, and then the characters conquer it. Crash is certainly a movie that plays out exactly like this. They focus on a systemic problem, like racism, and bring it down to an individual level to tell a story. And in the end, racism is defeated! Now leave and be happy you’re better than those racists.
Another approach, which I think is more realistic and more effective is what we see in American History X (sticking with the theme of racism). American History X shrinks down the systemic problem to tell a story, and the main character overcomes their bigotry, but racism still wins in the end. It treats the problem of racism as a systemic problem, which it is, instead of an individual problem. Just because the main character has come around, does not mean the rest of the world has as well. As usual, no real conclusion here, just though those little differences were interesting.
