Narrative EngagementFilm and the Moral Imagination

An interdisciplinary account of the formal and psychological means by which narrative films engage viewers and elicit the moral imagination

• Drawing from sources in film and media studies, philosophical aesthetics and media psychology
• Develops a model of narrative engagement in film, distinguishing between subtypes of engagement: smooth, complex and generative
• Discusses the moral imagining elicited by film in relation to a defense of aesthetic cognitivism
• Discusses how the film medium and various combinations of narrative form and content elicit moral imaginings in film viewing
• Illustrative case studies include Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, the “feel-good” film and rough hero narratives

This book distinguishes between 'smooth' and 'generative' engagement to show how film form and content can greatly impact the film viewer’s embodied imagination. Drawing from notable scholarship in film and media studies, aesthetics and media psychology, the book shows how these disciplines approach similar issues from varied perspectives. It develops a model of narrative engagement and its subtypes, showing how these can account for the moral imagination in relation to character engagement, the medium and its characteristics, film form, emotion, the 'feel-good' film and rough hero narratives. The book ends with a call to viewers, educators and institutions to find ways to encourage active moral imagining in engagement with films.