  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 beings. 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. 