I've certainly been informed by watching certain documentaries, but as for Tom Hanks changing my thoughts on homos.... yeah, nah.
You raise an interesting point though, especially in today's climate where everyone reacts against anything in movies that could be seen as promoting some sort of agenda. I really wonder if people are as influenced by themes in movies as some people suggest. I don't think they are. I think most people can recognise a message in a film, but few would take that on and change their way of thinking. Most would just react against being lectured.
"I really wonder if people are as influenced by themes in movies as some people suggest. I don't think they are. I think most people can recognise a message in a film, but few would take that on and change their way of thinking. Most would just react against being lectured."
Yes to all of this.
People can learn to see something from a different POV than their own through movies. Sometimes. That's about it.
Not really, but the "Black Kkklansman" movie which came out a couple of years ago made me even more open to the issue of racial injustice that minorities face.
The movie Loving (2016) really drove home how stupid anti-miscegenation laws were in the US. The cops were hiding outside the house trying to catch mix race couples having sex.