CINEMATIC EMPATHY

And 27 Days

Gareth Higgins on CINEMATIC EMPATHY

There’s a dangerous idea doing the rounds these days - that empathy is weakness, or even suicidal. It’s the latest iteration of cultural chauvinism and the kind of nationalism that confuses separatism with seeing patriotism as a cherishing of the gifts of a nation - which gifts are supposed to be shared with others.

I’ve grown up with the Irish capacity to not take ourselves too seriously, I’ve benefitted from rural Italian welcome tables, Burkino Faso rites of passage among the Dagaaba people, and US American visionary thinking; I’ve received gentleness and humility from Canadians, witnessed resilience in South Africa, and a sense of awe mingling with community in Aotearoa New Zealand. This all happened because the people I met from those places were willing to share what they had. They were willing to empathize with me.