one new thread post

Write a 150 word reply to another classmate's post responding to the his/her ideas.

How has what your classmate said about empathy or performance deepened or challenged your own ideas and understanding about these topics?

Jake Pitstick：

For prompt 1: In the movie Goodfellas, the main character Henry Hill gets caught up in the New York mafia. The movie shows how glamorous his life is despite a poor childhood, and then it turns horribly wrong midway through the movie with a horrific murder in which Henry is an accomplice. The movie ends with his entire life falling apart. Through my entire life I always empathized with individuals in scenarios that are of complete accidents or no fault of their own. Its much easier to feel for “the hero” than it is to feel for someone that has made mistakes and is suffering from the consequences as a result. Despite being a career criminal, he shows signs that he is completely disgusted with the life he built for himself. Even at the beginning of the movie he brings aprons to stop the bleeding of a man who was shot and is stunned when he is scolded for wasting so many perfectly good aprons. This sympathetic trait continues through the movie. One of the other individuals named Tommy in the mob is a complete psychopath who kills based on his temper. After a string of killings by Tommy, Henry is continually seen distraught and even vomiting when forced to bury one of the victims. This trauma leads to heavy drug use and the deterioration of his life. Seeing Hank in such a state made me reconsider my thoughts on who deserves empathy. He was tricked at a young age to become a criminal and suffers from it. While he made mistakes through his life his actions do not necessitate stripping him of his humanity and considering him an animal. The film made me consider the concept of “deserving” empathy after seeing the deterioration of Hank. While people may make mistakes, it does not mean that we can completely disregard them as humans. After re-watching the film with my newfound thoughts on empathy the movie took on a completely different tone. There were numerous little gestures and scenes I missed because of my unwillingness to see them.