Empathy is an integral aspect for filmmakers to
consider during the process of producing a film. It involves various elements
of represented images in the aim of eliciting a mixture of emotional
experiences from the audience through visual, auditory and psychological
strategies employed by the filmmaker. In this context, the film Easy Rider (1969) directed by Dennis
Hopper will be examined in terms of its subscription to scenes of empathy and
how it communicates emotional experiences to the audience.
Scenes of empathy are often used in film as a
“summation of the film’s ideological project” and are normally associated with
close up shots that focus on the facial expression of actors. It is the aim of
scenes of empathy to elicit a primordial response from viewers with regard to
the six universal emotions that span across cultures. At this point, it becomes
imperative to differentiate between the concepts of sympathy, empathy and
sentimentality since the three can be observed in various movies in varying
degrees that often concern a mistake on the part of the filmmaker for not
setting up the appropriate conditions to elicit emotional contagion (Plantinga
254). Emotional contagion on the other hand is a term used to describe a
process wherein viewers experience an empathic experience with what the
character in the film appears to be feeling (Plantinga 253).
Scenes of empathy, aside from being closely
associated with close up shots can be filmed by taking into consideration the
concepts of attention, duration, allegiance, narrative context and affective
congruence (Plantinga, 249-251). Attention pertains to an element of film that
uses technical camera skills to direct the attention of viewers towards an
object or a certain character in the scene. Attention is an important set up
for the entire feat to work and emotional contagion to spill over (Platinga
249). Duration on the other hand refers to the amount of time spent in focusing
on the character. An appropriate duration to focus on the character usually
depends on the part of the film where such scenes are necessary. Durations are
most effective in scenes of empathy that are located in the latter parts of the
film when the narrative context has already been laid out (Plantinga 249).
Narrative context is valuable for filmmakers as it is entirely embedded in the
plot and the way the story progresses. An insufficient amount or inappropriate
narrative development counteracts tendencies toward emotional contagion and
mimicry among the audience. Allegiance is also important since it essentially
determines the empathic contagion and the duration it stays effective to
viewers (Plantinga 251). Lastly, affective congruence refers to the combination
of all the mentioned elements of film producing effective scenes of empathy in
the process (Plantinga 254).
The film Easy
Rider depicts the story of two bikers on a journey to find the meaning of
their lives after selling drugs and pocketing all their money on their bikes.
During their odyssey, they encounter different characters altogether and
communities that essentially disgusted their non-conformism to the status quo.
The two hippies eventually get jailed for some minor pretext and meets a
drunkard lawyer that helps them get out of prison just in time for the Mardi
Gras.
In the scene wherein Wyatt and Billy together with
the girls of the community decided to go skinny dipping, enjoyment is portrayed
as the camera focuses on Wyatt’s face ending with a close up that appears to
share a feeling of contentment and temporary happiness. The shot is
complemented by a point/object shot of his friends Billy and the girls also
having fun. The musical score also played an important role in establishing a
scene of empathy particularly concentrated on a temporary sense of joy,
happiness, contentment. The narrative context is also present in the form of a
fresh breath of air as the group finally gets some time to enjoy themselves
after enduring the weirdness of the theatre group they stayed in.
There are many aspects of film that contribute in
creating the perfect scene of empathy but one of the most important factors is
the represented face. The represented face is shown via a close up shot
(point/glance shot) of the character’s face together with a congruent
point/object shot to show the object of emotional experience without which no
proper narrative context shall be established. The object in which the
character is directing his/her emotion is also important since it avoids the
unjustified solicitation of emotion from viewers. In film, a character’s facial
expression is usually shown followed by the object in which the character’s
emotion is directed at. This setting with the point/glance shot coming in first
before the point/object shot allows the empathic condition to occur because
seeing the object contextualizes the emotion of the character. The unjustified
solicitation of emotion as seen in the aforementioned scene in the film is
otherwise characterized by the concept of sentimentality. Sentimentality occurs
when a character is shown to be eliciting an inappropriate emotion from the
audience simply because such character does not deserve empathy or the viewer’s
allegiance does not side with that actor at all (Plantinga 252). Essentially,
the scene can be summarized as eliciting an unearned emotional response from
the audience especially at a moment when viewers are at a certain emotional
distance from the character attempting to provide emotional contagion.
On one point of the story wherein
the drunkard lawyer is introduced into smoking marijuana, George (Jack
Nicholson) is shown as responding with genuine curiosity with the drug through
another scene of empathy. His companions stare at him expectantly which serves
as items for the point/object shot. When George reacts nonchalantly after
smoking pot, Wyatt argues that he should take the smoke into his lungs for it
to have an effect. This response elicited an apparent sense of disappointment,
shame and shyness on George. Additionally, when the trio gets high over
marijuana and Billy starts to hallucinate claiming that he saw a UFO hover over
the sky. George’s reaction to this is an image of shock and bewilderment
followed by unintelligent slurs and incredibly leads to a focus on one of the
ideological projects of the film. George talked about the cracks of their
antiquated society and how the government keeps certain information secret from
laypeople like themselves.
After the gang’s road trip while
high, they arrive at a diner in a nearby town with the locals eating their
lunch. George’s public display of emotion appears to be different to what his
lines are generally implying. As they sit in their respective table, the girls
in an adjacent booth check them out one by one. George smiles at the girl
showing a rather flirtatious image while speaking of the nearby police officers
that might detect the presence of marijuana in their systems. This scene
illustrates the difference between the public and private display of emotions.
While George publicly portrays himself as having a good time flirting with the
girls, the inner emotion however contradicts by showing a sense of panic and
nervousness over the police officer’s presence.
Most film theorists argue that women
are more effective in scenes of empathy and that they are more capable of
connecting with the audience in pursuit of emotional contagion. However, this
particular movie utilizes male characters in conveying the emotion the director
wants the audience the feel (Plantinga 240). The efference hypothesis on the
other hand shows no bias to gender in relation to a character’s capability of
connecting with the audience. Efference hypothesis states that emotion can be
elicited from the audience through the use of facial feedbacks in response to
an object. Facial feedback in turn contributes to the emotional experience if
and only if it complements emotion processes that are already in place
(Plantinga 241).
The last few scenes after their hilarious trip at
the Mardi Gras shows a moment featuring Wyatt and Billy over a campfire. They
succeeded in selling their drugs for a big amount of money which supposedly
would make the two protagonists happy. However, Wyatt appears to be upset
saying that they “blew it” and Billy shows a genuine feeling of disappointment
towards Wyatt’s reaction. This scene can be analysed as a failure to elicit any
form of empathic reaction from the audience as the feeling of disappointment
shown by Wyatt has no proper precedent and is not explained soon after the
scene has ended. Essentially, the scene is a scene of sentimentality whose
value can only be realized by the end of the film. The ending of the story
features the two easy riders biking innocently as two truck drivers pass them
by. The two characters turn out to possess a shot gun that they jokingly point
at Billy eventually shooting him. Wyatt sees this and runs his bike to get the
two suspects. As he reaches them however, the two shot his bike ricocheting to
the air with the scene implying Wyatt’s death without really showing him die.
Overall, the film is seen to be capable of
effectively utilizing scenes of empathy throughout the duration of the movie.
While some scenes fail at eliciting the appropriate emotion, other scenes
nonetheless compensate for this by being able to invoke affective congruence
and fulfilling the promise of film as an effective medium of communication to
the audience.
Works Cited
Plantinga,
Carl. “The Scene of Empathy and the Human Face on Film,” in Carl Plantinga
& Greg M. Smith (eds.) Passionate
Views: Film, Cognition, and Emotion. The John Hopkins University Press, pp.
239-255. PDF
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