[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:02.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[light piano music]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.20,0:00:09.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I often discuss the negative impacts that pop culture media can have on people's attitudes and opinions.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.28,0:00:19.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, if entertainment can propagate harmful ideas, then it stands to reason that it can also have positive effects on our lives.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.54,0:00:26.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So in this video, I want to focus on media that fosters empathy and solidarity.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.86,0:00:30.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now admittedly, that's a pretty broad category, so to narrow it down,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.06,0:00:37.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'll be highlighting a handful of my favorite movies from my most formative years: the 1980s.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.90,0:00:46.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Looking at Hollywood today, it's pretty clear that the 1980s are back in a big way.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.84,0:00:51.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The current nostalgia craze is largely driven by Hollywood's obsession with remakes,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.96,0:00:56.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,reboots, sequels, and loving limoges to popular 80's franchises.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.68,0:01:04.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The apex of this wave of nostalgia comes in the form of the novel turned blockbuster Ready Player One.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.14,0:01:06.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I was born in 2025.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.32,0:01:09.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I wish I'd grown up in the 1980s."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.86,0:01:12.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ernest Cline's book, and by extension the film,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.70,0:01:17.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is built around a long list of superficial and rather ostentatious references
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.08,0:01:20.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to geeky pop culture entertainment.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.10,0:01:23.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As a boy who grew up in the 1980s,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.86,0:01:27.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,most of the media that's name-dropped in Ready Player One I remember well.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.96,0:01:30.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Goonies, Gremlins,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.94,0:01:35.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Weird Science, Tron, Back to the Future; I watched them all.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.22,0:01:38.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But thinking back to my childhood,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.52,0:01:43.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the cinematic moments that had the most profound impact on me and my emotional development
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.16,0:01:47.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,weren't necessarily from the most popular or iconic movies.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.78,0:01:52.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The movie scenes that left the biggest impression on my young mind
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.16,0:01:54.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were unapologetically sappy and sentimental.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.32,0:01:59.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Goodbye Charlie. I love you."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.22,0:02:06.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They're the moments that still put a lump in my throat; the ones that make my eyes water and my heart swell.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.56,0:02:15.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"They look like big, good, strong hands, don't they?"
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.98,0:02:21.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Movie critic Roger Ebert once said that movies are empathy-generating machines.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.52,0:02:25.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By which he meant that we as viewers identify with the characters on the screen,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.18,0:02:30.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that helps us understand experiences and perspectives other than our own.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.66,0:02:39.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Movies can also affirm the human spirit by showing us examples of what empathy and solidarity look like.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.00,0:02:44.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings or emotions of others.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.02,0:02:46.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, it's important to note that empathy
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.90,0:02:53.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,isn't just feeling bad for the misfortunes of other people; empathy is about feeling what others are feeling.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.02,0:02:59.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Solidarity is when people from diverse backgrounds find a common cause,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.80,0:03:02.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then work together to achieve social change.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.50,0:03:07.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can think of solidarity as empathy put into collective action.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.10,0:03:13.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So with those two definitions in mind here's my personal list of 5
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.96,0:03:17.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,lesser-known movies from the 1980s that helped shape our humanity
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.17,0:03:25.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The journey of natty Gann
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.91,0:03:31.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,chronicles the adventures of a young woman and her canine companion as they hopped freight trains from Chicago to
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.18,0:03:34.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Washington State in a quest to find her father
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.47,0:03:41.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, this is a quiet film with beautiful cinematography
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.23,0:03:46.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That shows us the world through the eyes of characters living in poverty
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.57,0:03:53.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The filmmakers deliberately place us as the audience firmly on the side of the downtrodden as
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.99,0:04:00.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We see police evicting impoverished families and company bosses treating workers with heartless and difference
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.99,0:04:08.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But while this depression-era world is harsh, it's not defined by cynicism
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.37,0:04:16.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Acts of kindness and solidarity between economically oppressed people are highlighted throughout the movie
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.86,0:04:29.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The journey of natty Gann is also reminiscent of the classic a boy
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.20,0:04:35.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And his dog adventure story genre except here. The boy is a girl and the dog is a wolf
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.75,0:04:41.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's especially important for young women to be represented as leads in their own adventure stories and
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.02,0:04:47.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'd argue that it's just as important for young male audiences to see these kind of representations
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.97,0:04:54.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's a wolf
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.55,0:05:03.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Boys need to learn to identify with female characters and see women and girls as fully human equals with their own stories
Dialogue: 0,0:05:07.43,0:05:12.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nausicaa of the valley of the wind is set 1,000 years after humans have destroyed
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.65,0:05:15.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,civilization and the planet in a great apocalyptic war
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.11,0:05:21.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We follow the adventures of a young woman named Nausicaa
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.32,0:05:29.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,princess of one of the few remaining human kingdoms as she struggles to understand and heal a world that's been overrun by mutant creatures and
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.33,0:05:31.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,toxic forests
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.97,0:05:40.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The story centers on Nausicaa struggle to restore
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.15,0:05:47.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,equilibrium to the environment and to end the violent conflicts between human tribes and the giant insects of the jungle
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.87,0:05:50.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are not your enemies. We mean you no harm
Dialogue: 0,0:05:52.13,0:05:58.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In group depictions of empathy for friends teammates and family members are relatively common in pop culture media
Dialogue: 0,0:05:59.63,0:06:06.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Stories, built around expressions of out-group empathy that is empathy for strangers or Outsiders to your own group are more unusual
Dialogue: 0,0:06:07.25,0:06:09.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.35,0:06:12.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Expressions of empathy for one's enemies are especially rare
Dialogue: 0,0:06:17.35,0:06:22.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And empathy for the enemy is really the guiding principle of this film
Dialogue: 0,0:06:28.73,0:06:30.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's so badly
Dialogue: 0,0:06:32.51,0:06:39.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nausicaa remains acutely aware of the danger posed by the gigantic bug like creatures, but she nonetheless
Dialogue: 0,0:06:39.62,0:06:45.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Extends her empathy to these mutant beasts, and it's that act of empathy that ultimately saves humanity
Dialogue: 0,0:06:52.82,0:06:55.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It has a range of 7,000 miles
Dialogue: 0,0:06:57.20,0:06:59.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And a twenty Megaton warhead
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.92,0:07:05.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Amazing Grace and Chuck is about a small-town boy. Who refuses to keep playing Little League baseball
Dialogue: 0,0:07:06.23,0:07:09.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because of the existence of nuclear weapons and what the hell is this about
Dialogue: 0,0:07:12.35,0:07:14.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Just can't play
Dialogue: 0,0:07:14.12,0:07:16.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Can't play because there's nuclear weapons
Dialogue: 0,0:07:17.09,0:07:19.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,SEC had to do with baseball
Dialogue: 0,0:07:19.19,0:07:22.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nothing, what's my best thing? I have to give up something I
Dialogue: 0,0:07:23.15,0:07:25.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Feel real bad about this. You know that
Dialogue: 0,0:07:27.92,0:07:29.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Game
Dialogue: 0,0:07:31.07,0:07:38.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His protest inspires the professional basketball star amazing grace to join his strike and together they organize a global
Dialogue: 0,0:07:38.66,0:07:40.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,movement for nuclear disarmament
Dialogue: 0,0:07:42.80,0:07:50.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hollywood very rarely gets political activism right the depiction of activism in most movies is limited to raising awareness or
Dialogue: 0,0:07:50.96,0:07:52.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,personal acts of defiance
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.54,0:07:59.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Amazing grace and Chuck on the other hand manages to show how social change actually happens
Dialogue: 0,0:08:01.15,0:08:08.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Social change is brought about when organizers raise social costs higher and higher until it becomes more advantageous
Dialogue: 0,0:08:09.13,0:08:10.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the powers-that-be
Dialogue: 0,0:08:10.66,0:08:14.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To give in to people's demands than to keep opposing their cause
Dialogue: 0,0:08:15.49,0:08:21.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the movie we see this play out when so many athletes joined Chuck's strike that it forces all
Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.55,0:08:24.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,professional sporting leagues to cancel their seasons
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.51,0:08:32.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,destroy professional sports most college athletics high school scores resume even such things as Little League
Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.56,0:08:38.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So far it has made a shambles of the World Cup Wimbledon and events as far away as India and mainland, China
Dialogue: 0,0:08:39.28,0:08:46.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These protests raise social costs to the point where the public the media and world leaders have to pay attention
Dialogue: 0,0:08:47.65,0:08:50.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hello, Chuck, and then bruh grudgingly take action
Dialogue: 0,0:08:52.15,0:08:54.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the end the world has radically changed
Dialogue: 0,0:08:55.63,0:08:58.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But unlike most Hollywood movies this social
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.11,0:09:04.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Transformation is not brought about by defeating the bad guys or through the actions of benevolent leaders
Dialogue: 0,0:09:06.04,0:09:13.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This social change comes from the bottom up it comes from people organizing and standing in solidarity together
Dialogue: 0,0:09:19.00,0:09:26.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Harry and the Hendersons is about a typical white American family who accidentally hit Bigfoot with their station wagon
Dialogue: 0,0:09:29.14,0:09:31.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The
Dialogue: 0,0:09:31.84,0:09:37.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Family's relationship with this gentle giant who they named Harry ultimately changes their lives forever
Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.57,0:09:45.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This one really is better than a campy Bigfoot movie has any right to be
Dialogue: 0,0:09:47.11,0:09:55.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over the course of the film the empathy that Harry demonstrates towards other living creatures inspires the family to rethink their worldview
Dialogue: 0,0:09:56.11,0:09:58.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,especially in regards to hunting and guns
Dialogue: 0,0:09:59.14,0:10:03.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the father played by John Lithgow undergoes an especially striking
Dialogue: 0,0:10:03.70,0:10:10.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,transformation from avid hunter and firearms dealer to someone who over the objections of his own father learns to value
Dialogue: 0,0:10:11.05,0:10:14.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Non-violence and embrace his creative side. Did you dress?
Dialogue: 0,0:10:17.47,0:10:19.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Beautiful
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.47,0:10:28.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Depictions of men and boys who reject guns and violence as markers of their manhood are critically important in our current culture I
Dialogue: 0,0:10:29.02,0:10:34.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wanted King Kong you brought me a god damn giant gerbil. I told you exactly what to do
Dialogue: 0,0:10:35.41,0:10:39.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe it's right on the nose. I mean how do we know maybe it's not vicious at all
Dialogue: 0,0:10:40.03,0:10:44.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe it's gentle even has feelings. Where'd you dream of that shit?
Dialogue: 0,0:10:46.18,0:10:52.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As this movie illustrates, there's no reason Hollywood can't present empathy as a defining feature of masculinity
Dialogue: 0,0:10:57.67,0:10:59.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Batteries not included
Dialogue: 0,0:10:59.05,0:11:05.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,centers on the tenants of an old New York City apartment building who are resisting a real estate tycoons efforts to evict them in order
Dialogue: 0,0:11:05.76,0:11:07.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To build a skyscraper
Dialogue: 0,0:11:11.02,0:11:13.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The residents are a band of down on their luck
Dialogue: 0,0:11:13.62,0:11:20.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But kind-hearted misfits who find unlikely allies in a group of mechanical aliens looking for a place to recharge
Dialogue: 0,0:11:22.03,0:11:25.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,our group of humans embrace their strange
Dialogue: 0,0:11:25.75,0:11:26.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,extraterrestrial visitors
Dialogue: 0,0:11:26.67,0:11:34.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they all work together to help their new friends by providing fuel and energy for the aliens reproductive process
Dialogue: 0,0:11:41.21,0:11:48.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In return the mechanical life-forms help the residents by repairing damage done to their building by the tycoons henchmen
Dialogue: 0,0:11:54.86,0:11:58.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This story is really built around solidarity on all sides
Dialogue: 0,0:11:59.03,0:12:05.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The human tenants and the alien creatures come from very different backgrounds and have very different needs
Dialogue: 0,0:12:05.14,0:12:09.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But they still feel for each other and work to provide mutual aid and support
Dialogue: 0,0:12:11.93,0:12:13.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Going back and re watching these
Dialogue: 0,0:12:14.57,0:12:19.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,unapologetically sincere and sentimental movies feels like an antidote to the superficial or
Dialogue: 0,0:12:20.15,0:12:23.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ironic appeals to nostalgia that saturates much of Hollywood today
Dialogue: 0,0:12:26.96,0:12:33.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now I should say that none of the movies on my list are without their flaws like a lot of pop culture in the 1980s
Dialogue: 0,0:12:33.95,0:12:39.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some include racial stereotypes and the stories mostly focus on the experiences of white people
Dialogue: 0,0:12:40.25,0:12:46.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Still the core themes of empathy and solidarity had a profound impact on me and my values growing up
Dialogue: 0,0:12:47.99,0:12:53.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My list is of course a personal one and therefore specific to my identity and my upbringing
Dialogue: 0,0:12:55.19,0:12:58.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Depending on your age your gender and your cultural background
Dialogue: 0,0:12:59.09,0:13:02.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Your own list of movies will likely look quite a bit different
Dialogue: 0,0:13:03.22,0:13:10.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If I were making a list like this one but for media from this decade there are a handful of excellent movies that I definitely
Dialogue: 0,0:13:10.27,0:13:17.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Include I have made video essay is discussing a few of them like wall-e and fantastic beasts, which you can find elsewhere on this channel
Dialogue: 0,0:13:18.61,0:13:25.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But entertainment, built around empathy and solidarity is still relatively uncommon in 2018
Dialogue: 0,0:13:26.56,0:13:33.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which is too bad because we really need more movies that embrace their role as empathy generating machines I
Dialogue: 0,0:13:35.35,0:13:41.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hope you enjoyed this look back at some of my favorite movies from the 1980s if you'd like to see more of these long form
Dialogue: 0,0:13:41.64,0:13:47.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,video essays that examine the messages in our media then please consider going over to patreon and helping to fund this project there
Dialogue: 0,0:13:48.04,0:13:52.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's also a link to PayPal in the description below next time
Dialogue: 0,0:13:52.02,0:13:56.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We'll be talking about a rather disturbing action movie trope called abduction as romance