Former President Barack Obama watched an early screening of the 2019 drama Just Mercy starring Michael B. Jordan, which made him wonder aloud if movies could potentially change the human brain. This idea stuck with producer Scott Budnick, who pondered about the possibility of films like his legal drama having a greater impact on people’s psyche, before eventually talking about the topic with Stanford psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt. Who would’ve guessed that a curious thought from the mind of Obama would spark new studies on movies? Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter, it was no shock to the social psychologist Eberhardt, who carried out a scientific study after hearing the movie producer recount his interaction with the former president.
The Stanford professor, who studies the psychological link between race and crime, was intrigued by the idea and decided to create a study at Stanford to investigate the former president’s hypothesis. Now, Just Mercy is being used to uncover how narratives that inspire empathy can change your brain. The courtroom drama follows a lawyer played by Michael B. Jordan defending a wrongfully convicted southern black man, portrayed by Jamie Foxx, from the death penalty. The drama has proven useful in the study led by Eberhardt and her fellow Stanford psychology professor, Jamil Zaki.
The first study, consisting of 749 individuals, investigated “narrative transportation,” which is the idea that after people get lost in a story, their perspectives change, and “empathy accuracy.” Participants watched interviews with recently incarcerated men and attempted to pinpoint what emotions they were feeling. Based on the results published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, after viewing Just Mercy participants were more accurately able to detect the men’s emotions. People’s empathy also increased for those recently incarcerated and decreased their eagerness regarding the death penalty after watching the movie, proving that films have a tangible impact on the human mind.
For Films To Change People’s Minds, They Need An Audience
Obama, Budnick, Eberhardt, and Zaki have opened a door to the possibilities for impacting social change. By using the films Concussion and Moneyball, Eberhardt was able to cross-reference their results and found that they did not differ when shown a different race of incarcerated person. The political party that the subject aligned with also had a negligible impact on the changes in perspective.
“Liberals and conservatives started in a different place, but the movie had an impact on both regardless of where the baseline was. It speaks to the power of the story, and maybe that’s something that we should consider. We’re such a polarized country right now. I just wonder if narrative is a way to reach each other again.” – Jennifer Eberhardt via THR
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After the 2020 murder of George Floyd, Warner Bros. released Just Mercy for free on digital platforms and even aired it in conjunction with other race-focused stories to further racial justice. Now, as Eberhardt and Zaki continue their research to prove narratives’ effects on the human mind, filmmakers have an extra layer of responsibility, knowing that their work might be the most influential tool we have to create societal change.
Viewers can conduct their own research by streaming
Just Mercy
from Amazon Prime, Google Play, Apple TV, or Fandango.
