Moral education at the movies: on the cinematic treatment of morally significant story and narrative

Much contemporary social theory has emphasised the key role that cultural and other narrative plays in any human understanding of moral self and agency. However, in those modern social contexts in which literacy has been widespread, such access to narrative has also been largely via the written word: those significantly educated in cultural heritage have been the primarily well‐read. Still, in an age in which communication is most commonly prosecuted through the electronic media of radio, cinema, television and computer, it may be asked whether or to what extent traditional literary access to cultural narrative has been overtaken by more modern technological events. This paper sets out to explore the potential and prospects of the technological art of cinema for enhanced understanding of morally and spiritually significant narrative.