I was learning to be casually racist by being around my parents and their friends. They called the Newsagents 'the paki shop' and when we went out for a family meal at a Chinese restaurant we were 'going out for a 'chinky'. In fact, my use of the word 'paki' lost me my best friend when I was 10 (Gotham, I'm sorry) and I didn't understand why.
Then I saw the movie Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home. "This is fun, I've got to see more of this" I thought. So I saw all the Star Trek movies that were out, then I found The Next Generation on TV. To say it deprogrammed me would be an understatement. It widened my perceptions and fed my mind brand-new concepts that made me understand how truly awesome (in the original sense of the word) the universe is and could be.
Off-Topic, but related: Shortly before my mother died, I saw her reading a book called 'Reaper Man'. At the time as a child (11), I thought it must be a horror, there's damn 'skellington' on the cover. Shortly after she was gone, I realised I didn't know her all that well, so 12-year-old me got on the bus to Richmond, went in Waterstones and bought a copy of that book. At least I could know what sort of thing she enjoyed.
I'd never laughed so much in my life, and I noticed the same broadening of my perspective as I'd gotten from Star Trek. So I worked my way through every available Discworld book, starting of course with those featuring Death and going back to the beginning after Soul Music.
I'm a better man today thanks to both of these things. I once got to meet Sir Terry at a book signing and intended to tell him how monumental he had been in my life, all I managed to get out was 'Love the books'. He responded with 'Love the money' and it was funny, so I laughed, and then I got ushered to move on, I was so disappointed with myself.
So many people underestimate the impact any kind of art can have on someone's life, because they haven't shared the same revelations. All you can do, in the end, is hope they have the same kind of experience themselves at some point.