Loving/Forgiving fictional characters

[Cannon]

I'm aware of the bizarre nature of this thread subject. Please be merciful.

Anyway, it recently occurred to me that when one is engaged in a story, whether it be from a movie or book, one is in some way meeting the characters therein on an emotional level, despite their not being real. The reader/viewer is, to some degree, hallucinating that they are interacting with these (fictional) people in a way to the point that they feel in some way real during the book or movie. (This is of course only in my experience, not necessarily anyone else's.) Now, if a service-to-others oriented individual watches a movie with a hateful villain in it, like a murderer, would the person's 'forgiving' the unforgivable character of their fictional atrocities further polarize the individual in their spiritual path? Can a movie alone provide someone some minor emotional catalyst and, if so, how should one react to this phenomenon as it occurs when watching one? Can someone become a more loving person by forgiving, for example, the Joker or Hannibal Lecter? I would be very interested in anyone's thoughts in the matter.