Is the Importance of Movies Unhealthy?

Joseph Piroutek asks: How do we all feel about the large role film plays in society?  I am fascinated by film, and the messages that are presented through it. I draw a great deal from movies, and maybe read too much into them. I'm not the only one, but is this unhealthy or normal?

My answer:
I think that film is a way of expanding our potential experience.  Most of us have never been in war, but the right war movie can give us a hint of it, like Saving Private Ryan or Full Metal Jacket.  Most of us have never been homeless, but a movie like Wendy and Lucy can give us a sense of what it might be like.  Thus, rightly done, film can increase our empathy.

Of course, it depends on why we watch film.  Film as escape is important and for some of us, necessary.  What's funny is that films such as Sullivan's Travels and Purple Rose of Cairo can cause us to reflect on what that escape really means and why it is important or not.

Film is just another means of communication, like novels.