"Philosophic discussion of viewer involvement with films starts out
with a puzzle that has been raised about many artforms: Why should we
care what happens to fictional characters? After all, since they are
fictional, their fates shouldn't matter to us in the way that the
fates of real people do. But, of course, we do get involved in the
destinies of these imaginary being. The question is why. Because so
many films that attract our interest are fictional, this question is
an important one for philosophers of film to answer.

One answer, common in the film theory tradition, is that the reason
that we care about what happens to some fictional characters is
because we identify with them. Although or, perhaps, because these
characters...