Real life influences film and theatre on many levels. Many plays and movies are based on historical events that are dramatized for entertainment purposes. One example I can think of off the top of my head is the movie Schindler's List, directed by Stephen Spielberg. This movie has many stylistic elements that produce dramatic effects, such as the whole movie being in black and white except for the color red in a little girl's dress, but it is based on a true story of a man who was in charge of a work camp during the holocaust and actually tried to help the Jews. When the word holocaust enters an American's mind, many incomprehensible thoughts run through our heads. How could someone have done something so terrible? Do these people have no feelings? Why were the Jews so hated? We automatically stereotype any German of the time as a Nazi, and any Nazi as having a hand in killing the Jews. This movie shows that there was at least one influential person that had the morality to stand up to these atrocities and sacrifice himself for people that were supposed to be at the bottom of the food chain in Nazi society. It is a moving movie that causes Americans to think about the moral question of the Holocaust in a different light and show how the blame goes beyond just one person. It was not only a moving story, but also and educational experience. I think it is important for film, theatre, and music to realate to reality because they have the power to influence people in meaningful ways. All of these artistic mediums try to mimick reality in one sense or another, providing important ways for us to relate what is going on in our personal lives to our cultural experience.