> This really makes me wonder. How does it increase the gap, in comparison to B&W pictures? How is the difference not there already? And why is that bad?
It increases factual distance and reduces emotional distance. When just "distance" is used, some people assume one, some people assume the other, and everyone values each differently.
I don't know what you mean by factual distance. Those buildings and people were definitely not black, white or gray. Now they've got a color which is (in most cases) much closer to the original. The original recording was probably also distorted in other ways as well.
You might say you're not looking at the (probably) only reliable source of information for that particular scene, but that's an entirely different proposition.
It increases factual distance and reduces emotional distance. When just "distance" is used, some people assume one, some people assume the other, and everyone values each differently.