Empathy and Sympathy in the movies The Intouchables and The Miracle Worker.
投稿類別：英文寫作類
篇名：
Empathy and Sympathy in the movies The Intouchables and The Miracle Worker
作者：
蔡文蔚
國立新竹高中 二年 18 班
指導老師：
蔡翠玟老師
1
Empathy and Sympathy in the movies The Intouchables and The Miracle Worker.
I.
Introduction
When watching The Intouchables, I feel impressed because of the interaction
between Philippe, a sick paralyzed entrepreneur, and Driss, a black help. Driss uses
ways others cannot imagine to spice up Philippe’s hopeless life. Although all Philippe's
friends or his other servants in the movie think what they do is good for Philippe, in fact,
it is not. Their behavior and overprotection causes Philippe to lead a boring life. And
this situation reminds me of The Miracle Worker. It's a daja vu of the interaction
between Helen's parents and Helen Keller. The same things that echo The Intouchables
in The Miracle Worker is that Helen's parents are always ready to forgive her no matter
how rude she is and pamper her by giving her whatever she wants. They think what
they do is good to the poor Helen. However, it is Helen's teacher, Sullivan, who
Helen’s parents think harsh and merciless that instills hope in Helen’s life. Sullivan
teaches Helen how to behave in ways that look brutal to her parents and motivates her
to further explore the world with the magic of words, which her parents never think
possible.
In both movies, different ways of treating the disabled, namely Philippe and Helen,
lead to contrasting results. Empathy and sympathy people around them show, I believe,
are the keys to the differences. In this, empathy represents the interaction between
Driss and Philippe in The Intouchables and Helen and Sullivan in The Miracle Worker.
Sympathy represents others' interaction with Philippe in The Intouchables and Helen's
parents' with Helen.
II.
Thesis
1. What Is Empathy, and What Is Sympathy?
1.1. Empathy
1.1.1. Origin
Empathy comes from a Germany word “Einfühilung,” which was used in
aesthetics. It means the tendency to project oneself “into” what one observes. And it
was used in psychological contexts more in the earliest 20th century. Titchener, a British
psychologist who is best known for expanding structuralism, was the first one that used
the English word “empathy,” into which he himself translated from “Einfühilung.” 1
1 Adapted from
Davis, Mark H. (1996). Empathy: A Social Psychological Approach. Colorado:
Westview Press
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Empathy and Sympathy in the movies The Intouchables and The Miracle Worker.
1.1.2. Definition
According to Oxford Online Dictionaries, empathy is "The ability to
understand and share the feelings of another." Empathy emphasizes emotional
sharing. People can be in others’ shoes through the process of empathizing others.
Furthermore, they would feel as if they were going through others’ experiences or being
in the same situation as others. In that way, they can imagine what others will do or why
others have reacted in a certain way.
1.2. Sympathy
1.2.1. Origin
Adam Smith (1723-1790), a great economist and moral philosopher, thought we
may experience a fellow- feeling—fellowship exists between people based on shared
experiences or feelings—when observing others. A fellow-feeling can take many terms
like pity for the sorrowful. And this concept is under the heading of sympathy. It is one
of the earliest and best-known origins of sympathy.2
1.2.2. Definition
Sympathy means we may agree with others’ feelings and give others help and
support but we don’t put ourselves in their positions: We don’t try picturing ourselves
experiencing their sufferings, grief or happiness. In a word, showing our sympathy
does not require the sharing of the same emotional state.
"Sympathy: Feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune."
"Pity: The feeling of sorrow and compassion caused by the sufferings and
misfortunes of others."(Oxford Online Dictionaries) The meanings of sympathy and
pity are almost the same as each other. When we show pity or sympathy to someone, we
might simply say, “I am sorry to hear that” without thinking about why he or she
becomes what they are now.
2. In the Movies
2.1. The Intouchables
2.1.1. A Brief Summary
2 Adapted from
Davis, Mark H. (1996). Empathy: A Social Psychological Approach. Colorado:
Westview Press
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Empathy and Sympathy in the movies The Intouchables and The Miracle Worker.
Philippe is a rich man who liked to do a lot of exciting outdoor activities. But he
hurt his vertebral column in a paragliding accident. Now, he cannot move any muscle of
his body under his neck and has to depend on others all the time. So he has to employ a
team of servants to do all the household chores for him. Among them, he especially
needs a personal attendant to take care of him: feed him, bathe him and give him
massage.
All his relatives and servants think he is a graceful gentleman who indulges
himself in the world of classical music, art and literature. But deep in his heart, he is a
lonely person who has no friends to share his true feelings with but a pen pal he secretly
adores. His servants and relatives always treat him like a fragile piece of porcelain. That
is to say, everyone seems to forget that he is a man who loves adventures and is willing
to take risks when necessary even though he is now confined to a motionless body.
Because of his isolated and confined life, he lives in unhappiness. So when he
needs to hire a new help, to everyone's surprise, he chooses Driss, who has little
knowledge and no experience of taking care of a patient. Sure he has a good reason:
Driss is the only one among the job seekers that treats him as a normal person. After
employing Driss, Philippe starts a new life because Driss takes care of him in ways
people least expect, like driving Philippe out at full speeds in a fancy sports car or
taking him out to play in the snow. Philippe becomes happy again because Driss helps
him regain the excitement of life he used to enjoy before hurting his vertebral column.
However, one day, Driss's brother gets into a serious trouble and Driss has no
choice but to leave Philippe to take care of it. Philippe has a new personal attendant.
Before long, Driss receives a message from Philippe’s housekeeper telling him that
Philippe is not good both emotionally and mentally, and Philippe needs him. Driss
dashes to Philippe’s place and takes him out immediately. After Driss comes back to his
life, Philippe enjoys a happy, exciting life again and never feels bored or uneasy.
2.1.2. Main Characters
2.1.2.1.
Driss
Driss comes from a poor family in which there are a lot of children. His family is
supported by his aunt and the welfare benefits. Under such circumstance, he was used
to stealing, and so is his brother. He never landed a job and was in jail for six months
because of robbery. The only reason he goes to Philippe’s interview is to get Philippe's
signature to prove to his parole officer that he tries to get a job. After knowing that he is
employed, he is surprised and annoyed. Taking care of a rich man who needs others'
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Empathy and Sympathy in the movies The Intouchables and The Miracle Worker.
help all the time is simply too much for him. But when shown the beautiful room he is
going to stay in and a beautiful secretary he is going to work with, he is charmed and
decides to stay. In short, he is a bandit who likes beauties and luxuries rather than a
nurse who is ready to help and good at taking care of the sick.
However, he learns things quickly and knows what Philippe wants. As it turns out,
he is in fact a thoughtful and intelligent person. What's more, he is pretty childlike and
straightforward. On these trips he has with Philippe, he always tries to arrange
something fun for Philippe. Gradually, his humor and behavior change the atmosphere
at Philippe's home and most servants' view of him. In brief, he is the most important
character in this movie. He changes the life of Philippe and himself and brings
happiness to others.
2.1.2.2.
Philippe
Philippe is a rich man who likes adventures and art. After a paragliding accident,
only his head can still function, so the thrill he used to seek in various extreme sports
is all gone. The only comfort left is in the aesthetic world. What he does everyday is
listening to music or contemplating in front of a painting.
To make matters worse, his beloved wife died of dystocia. To him, his true
disability is not being restricted to a wheelchair but having to live without his wife. In
order to ease the sorrow from the loss of his wife, he spends most of his time on art and
in writing letters to his female pen pal. To fill the empty hole in his heart, he spoils his
foster daughter by satisfying all her material desires. He feels better by compensating
the girl for the lack of a mother with tons of gifts, believing that it will help.
On top of that, he has few close friends. No one dares to play jokes on him and
shares inner feelings or thoughts with him. Most people around him don’t bother to
realize what he has in mind. To them, the moment his body is paralyzed, his mind is
paralyzed, too. That is certainly not true. To sum up, he is a rich but lonely man.
2.1.3. The interaction between characters in the movie.
2.1.3.1.
Driss vs. Philippe
Driss treats Philippe as a normal person and even plays tricks on him. It brings
Philippe a lot of pleasure which he has long lost. It is more proper to describe their
relationship as friends instead an employee and an employer.
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Empathy and Sympathy in the movies The Intouchables and The Miracle Worker.
2.1.3.1.1. Their Interests
When Driss first drives Philippe out, he chooses a roadster instead of a regular car
which is considered much safer. After this trip, Driss knows that Philippe, like him,
enjoys high speeds and thrills on the road. So after that, whenever taking Philippe out,
he always tries to let Philippe experience the excitement again to spice up Philippe's
boring and changeless life. He even makes some adjustment to Philippe's electronic
wheelchair, which enables Philippe to enjoy high speeds by himself when they are
strolling outside.
As we can see, both Driss and Philippe enjoy high speeds and are always ready
for some excitement in life. If Philippe chooses a professional help other than Driss,
the help will never let any of these crazy things happen because his professional
training makes him believe that these thrills are not good for the sick, let alone the
paralyzed. But in performing his duty of helping Philippe in professional ways,
Philippe's feelings and needs are largely neglected.
When Driss comes back to Philippe again and brings Philippe out. Driss has great
fun exceeding the speed limit and doing dangerous lane changes. However, this makes
Philippe much at ease and he even has a bet with Driss on whether he will be caught by
the police or not. In these scenes, we learn that they know each well and trust each
other deeply. They have empathy for each other.
2.1.3.1.2. Their Inner World
In the middle of the movie, Philippe feels uncomfortable and is in panic. Driss
treats him gently and tries his best to calm him down. He pushes Philippe's wheelchair
around Paris to give Philippe some fresh air. In comparison with what he does at the
beginning, Driss is an entirely changed man. At first, he sees the work of taking care of
Philippe as disgusting and he even pours a lot of hot water Philippe's motionless body
out of curiosity and just for fun.
During this stroll, Philippe and Driss share a lot of their life stories. Driss thus
gets to know all about Philippe’s dreams and desires. He knows Philippe is eager for
love but is afraid to be hurt. That’s why after writing letters to his lovely pen pal for
such a long time, Philippe refuses to send his photo to her and never dares to ask her
out. Driss knows Philippe’s timidity will keep him from pursuing love, which he
knows is essential for Philippe’s happiness, so he secretly arranges Philippe to meet his
pen pal. And as he expects, everything turns out great because Philippe is such a fun
and charming guy, which he believes, if the pen pal who Philippe thinks is really “the
one,” she can definite see.
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Empathy and Sympathy in the movies The Intouchables and The Miracle Worker.
2.1.3.2.
Others vs. Philippe
After Driss leaves, Philippe employs a new personal attendant, one with much
patience and experience. However, the new one does not know nor try to know what
Philippe thinks. He does what he should do and does it well. Yet sadly, it makes
Philippe’s life miserable again.
Take smoking for example. All the people around Philippe except Driss think
smoking is bad for Philippe. But smoking in moderation in fact helps Philippe relax.
People around Philippe all take great sympathy for what was happened to him and
strive hard to do what they believe is good for Philippe. They do find that Philippe
often looks down and uneasy but none of them bother to dig into the reasons why.
Since they know Philippe likes classical music, there is always chamber music
accompanied Philippe’s birthday party. What they don’t know is that Philippe always
longs for a wild, exciting birthday party. So when Driss starts to dance to the music at
the party and amuse the guests with his funny moves, they are all surprised to see how
happy Philippe is. As we can see, Driss usually manages to figure out what Philippe
really wants, while others seldom spare time on it since it is not important to them.
With empathy, Driss easily puts himself in Philippe’s shoes; with sympathy, others
show great concern without thinking over what the receiver really wants.
2.2. The Miracle Worker
2.2.1. A Brief Summary
Arthur and Kate live on their own farm with their three children, James, Helen
and a baby. Helen is deaf and blind and thus dumb. Regarded as unable to learn by
people around her, she has nothing to do, but fool around every day. From time to time,
out of boredom, she does something rude or harmful to attract attention. Thus, a lot of
servants don’t want to get near her. Her unexpected ill-mannered behavior, like
grabbing a servant’s scissors, throwing objects around, and taking food from others’
plates forces her parents to more time watching her, preventing her from hurting others
or herself. Thus, they don’t have much time to take care of their new-born baby and
Helen’s elder brother, James. This makes their aunt thinks it better for all to send Helen
away to an asylum if they can’t find a doctor who can really heal her.
Just at that time, Sullivan, who has grown up in an asylum herself, is arranged to
be Helen’s governess. Upon her arrival, she starts to teach Helen to learn words through
sign language. Soon, she finds that if Helen can always get her way, she can’t teach her
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Empathy and Sympathy in the movies The Intouchables and The Miracle Worker.
anything. When eating breakfast, Sullivan tries to start her lessons by making Helen eat
from her own plate with spoon and fork. She succeeds, with Helen practically breaking
all the plates set on the table and putting the whole dining room in a mess. After that,
Helen is so afraid of Sullivan and always stays away from her. So, though Sullivan has
made Helen more civilized, Helen’s father still wants to fire her.
Thanks to Helen’s mother’s insistence, Sullivan holds her job and has a chance to
keep teaching Helen both how to spell and how to behave like a normal person. She
even takes Helen away from her parents in order to have total control and guidance
over her. Gradually she lets her know that destroying things and being irrational are
never good ways to express her anger and helplessness. She further makes Helen
understand that as long as she can master a language, she can make herself understood
and understand the outside world.
Despite the fact that there are a lot of conflicts and misunderstandings between
Helen’s parents and Sullivan, eventually Sullivan succeeds in letting Helen come to
know how to spell and the importance lying in spelling, or language, which is a bridge
between her colorless inner world and the colorful outer world.
2.2.2. Main Characters
2.2.2.1.
Anne Sullivan
Anne Sullivan is an orphan who has long suffered from an eye disease.
Throughout her childhood, she lives in an asylum with her brother, who she tries to
protect but dies. There she learns that life is never easy. Thus, she grows up into a
tough woman. Her direct remarks often make Helen’s father Arthur think her rude and
that she is unqualified to be Helen’s teacher.
Because of the horrible environment in the asylum and her worsening eyesight,
learning is very difficult for her. Nevertheless, she works hard to receive good
education and becomes a teacher. The memory and experience in the asylum makes her
know how important it is to teach a disabled child like Helen to be independent. Any
help of out of sympathy won’t last long and thus can never be countable. So even
when Helen uses violence against her, she never gives in because she knows she is the
only one in the house that can help this poor child. She demonstrates great enthusiasm,
determination and teaching techniques in achieving her goal.
2.2.2.2.
Helen Keller
Helen Keller goes blind and deaf when she is eighteen months old. As a smart
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Empathy and Sympathy in the movies The Intouchables and The Miracle Worker.
girl, she still keeps vague memories about what she once heard or saw within the one
and a half years. For example, after touching a doll’s mouth, she touches her own.
However, before Sullivan’s coming, she doesn’t have chance to learn how to express
herself. Thus, what she can do is trying to catch others’ attention by throwing things and
being naughty. And most people just give her a piece of candy to soothe her
temporarily. This makes her behavior become worse and worse.
On the other hand, though she is naughty and seems unable to learn anything, she
is in fact a very smart kid. She plays tricks on Sullivan by locking her up in the room
and carefully hides the key. Besides, she knows how to behave in front of different
people to get what she wants. Near Sullivan, she will act as a lady but near her parents,
her behavior is childish and naughty. At the end, through her hard work and Sullivan’s
efforts, she overcomes her handicaps and successfully get the key to open up the big
magical world outside—the language.
2.2.2.3.
Helen Keller’s parents
Arthur and Kate have three children but they spend most of their time on Helen.
They love Helen deeply and wish her to recover, so they look for doctors around the
country. But no one can help them. They dismiss the suggestions of sending Helen
away because they cannot bear being separated from her. In conclusion, they are
devoted parents who give Helen their unconditional love, but not in the right way. So
quite opposite to their expectation, Helen gets more and more violent as she grows up.
To their wits’ end, they seek help from Anne Sullivan.
2.2.3. The Interaction between Characters in the Movie
2.2.3.1. Anne Sullivan vs. Helen Keller
Sullivan knows the only hope Helen has is to receive education. So when she first
meets Helen, she tries to teach her spelling through touching objects and then spelling
them out with sign language on her hands. However, there are a lot more obstacles in
the process than she can imagine, including Helen’s parents’ misunderstandings and
Helen’s repeated offensive behavior. But she never gives up, and eventually succeeds
in teaching Helen a lot more than what she needs to survive.
She once says to Helen’s parents, “Pity is one thing Helen doesn’t need.” (The
Miracle Worker, 2001, 00:28:32) Through her miserable childhood and her own
experience, she knows what such a disabled person as Helen would have in mind. And
thus she knows Helen’s limits and potentials. She knows Helen is rude and behaves
like a crazy animal because nobody is determined to educate her or believes that she
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Empathy and Sympathy in the movies The Intouchables and The Miracle Worker.
can be educated. Yet, she knows Helen is smart and can learn well. So she does all she
can to make Helen learn manners and knowledge instead of giving in to Helen’s
rudeness, like other sympathetic adults.
Pity is worthless for Sullivan. “To have pity on someone is waste for energy
and feeling sorry for ourselves is even worse.” (The Miracle Worker, 2001, 00:45:50)
When facing Helen, she shows no pity, but her empathy prevails.
2.2.3.2. Helen’s Parents vs. Helen Keller
Helen parents love her dearly. They feel sorry for her defects so whenever Helen
throws into a tantrum, they tolerate her or even give her a piece of candy in exchange
for some peace. They show great sympathy for Helen, but soon they find as Helen
grows older, it becomes impossible for them to teach their blind and deaf child any
manners. At first, they feel Helen is so pitiful that they should just pamper her to ease
their own sense of guilt. They even ask Sullivan to show some sympathy and leaves
Helen alone sometimes. Showing sympathy is much easier than having empathy, but in
the long run, only the latter is truly helpful to the receiver. And the former may do
more harm than good. One typical example is when Helen stabs her teacher, Sullivan,
she gets a reward—a piece of candy—from her mother and her mother fails to offer a
good reason for that. Sullivan says to them, “If you are not willing to stand up to one
tantrum, I cannot teach her anything.” (The Miracle Worker, 2001, 00:41:28)
Helen wants to be able to see, listen and talk, but she cannot do it. And therefore
she feels depressed and angry constantly. Gradually, she finds out that when she is rude
or naughty, her parents will give her candy to stop her from doing it. So it can be
concluded that Helen’s deviation behavior comes mostly form her parents’ sympathy
and love. “I am afraid your love for Helen is a grander handicap to her than her
blindness or her deafness.” (The Miracle Worker, 2001, 00:42:07) What Sullivan
says to Helen’s parents wakes them up and makes them realize that love alone won’t
be able to fix everything, let alone sympathy.
III.
Conclusion
As we can see in The Intouchables and The Miracle Worker, what we think is
good for others, is not always so. Philippe’s servants and relatives do a lot of things
which they think are good for Philippe. But in fact, they cause Philippe to look upon
himself as helpless, hopeless and pathetic, which leads him to despair and boredom,
and they don't know why. Likewise, Helen’s parents’ sympathy only makes Helen’s
behavior go from bad and worse. And they also have no clues that it is their sympathy
and love that cause the horrible consequences until Anne Sullivan tells them so.
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Empathy and Sympathy in the movies The Intouchables and The Miracle Worker.
Similarly, when we’ re ready to give people in need a helping hand, have we
ever stopped to think twice about what those needy people have in their mind and try
to figure out what is really good for them. If we fail to do that, our good intentions
may end up doing more harm than good.
On the other hand, if we are willing to take the time to put on others’ shoes, we
may be able to find out what they really need and fill out the best prescription for them.
Driss prescribes the best medicine for Philippe, which helps Philippe regain happiness
and find new meanings in his life. In pretty much the same way, Sullivan’s
determination and perseverance help Helen overcome her handicaps and learn how to
approach the outside world. To sum up, with empathy, rather than sympathy, Driss and
Sullivan give Philippe and Helen back their dignity of being a free, independent
human being with all kinds of possibility.
So when we want to help others, it is essential for us to think about what others
really need instead of pouring down what we think they need upon them. It is empathy,
not sympathy or pity, that adds vitality to a withering soul. That’s what I learn in The
Intouchables and The Miracle Worker. It is easy to show sympathy by lend a helping
hand with a brilliant smile to those we think inferior to us in some respects. But this is
nothing but a deed of self-satisfaction, which do little good, or even more harm, in the
long run. If we really want to help, we should carefully put on their shoes and walk
around for a while. Only after that can we figure out what is truly best for them.
IV.
Reference
1. Davis, Mark H. (1996). Empathy: A Social Psychological Approach. Colorado:
Westview Press.
2. Scheler, Max. & Heath, Peter B.A. (1970). The Nature of Sympathy. Brooklyn,
United Stats: The Shoe String Press.
3. 艾立克多倫達諾、奧立佛那卡契(導演)。
《逆轉人生 The Intouchables》
。(2012)。
台灣：飛擎國際。
4. David Parker, & Nadia Tass. (2001). The Miracle Worker. U.S.A.: Disney.
5. Difference Between. Retrieved December 19th , 2014. From
http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-empathy-and-vs-sympathy/
6. Psychology Dictionary. Retrieved December 19th , 2014. From
http://psychologydictionary.org/sympathy/
7. Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved December 19th , 2014. From
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/pity
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/sympathy
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