People not getting involved in Fiction??

I know a few people who won't even read fiction and can't see the merit in it because, "It's not real." If everyone were wired the same way, the world would be awfully dull.
Don't worry; you're not abnormal. Personally, I think we can understand a lot about people and our world from fiction, and I get sucked into good books and movies as do millions of others.

Anyway, don't resent those people, because if we try to change them all and they all go away, who's going to serve me my pancakes at Perkins?

Yeah, I know people like that. One has a reason: he's a filmmaker and so he knows everything there is to know about what is fake... so when he watches horror films, he doesn't get scared because he knows how they make fake blood and guts and latex heads, etc. He still gets entertained but in the back of his mind he knows he's just watching special effects or actors acting (ironically, he faints at the sight of blood in real life).

I'm the opposite. Even as an actor I get totally absorbed, and that's why I don't watch horror much and I got really upset by something like Grindhouse: Death Proof. At the moment I could separate fiction with reality and I got emotionally involved. I couldn't say "these are just actors and that's Kurt Russell and he didn't really just kill people.. it's all special effects." To me, what's the point of seeing a movie if you can't experience that world the filmmakers so painstakingly created for us?

As a writer though, I find it harder and harder to get into a book. A lot of times, at least at the beginning, they ARE just words to me. And I keep reminding myself these are not real people, that world doesn't exist, they are just figment of the author's imagination. But there are times when a book really grips me, and suddenly, like being hypnotized, I let myself go and I'm experiencing the story.

I think that's when the author really succeeds. When I am not reading words anymore...

And that's how I prefer to write... when I'm not stressing out and so self-aware of my words, I could get to a point when I'm just in a trance -- sort of a self-hypnotic state when I the writer am actually inside the story instead of outside writing it... (if that makes sense...)

My husband straddles the line between being a good audience member and having no concept of the willing suspension of disbelief. Sometimes, he gets into a movie and will say things like, "That was so sad" or "Oh, man. I can't get that out of my head!" (The ending of Open Water garnered both reactions from him.)

On the other hand, I'll cry during some movies and he'll look at me like I'm crazy. "It's just a movie, you know." He does this particularly with animal movies which will make me cry from the opening credits. I think he believes he's 'comforting' me on some level, but he doesn't understand tthat sometimes, crying is showing appreciation for the movie or book.

My wife is one of the absorbers.

I convinced her to watch "The Legend of 1900" starring Tim Roth.

It had such a staggering impact on her that she didn't talk to me for three days. When she did, she got all angry about why I made her watch that movie.

It really is an awesome little movie that deserves way more exposure than it got. I highly recommend it.

Unless you don't get into the non-real stuff. Then it's dull, dull, dull.

These people are inbred goons who need to be taken outside every so often whereupon someone with ice-cubes for hands should administer a sulphuric acid enema through a hosepipe.

Good lord, you must hang out with my brother in law.

He's a zombie, and I have proof!

I have to be careful what I read. I have been traumatized for months sometimes.

Strangely enough, I find it easier to detach myself from a movie or TV show. I do it quite deliberately if the subject matter is disturbing. Since I've been actively writing, this has actually got worse. "No, you dummy, that is a totally absurd plot twist. Aaargh!" But I still have to make a conscious effort to read analytically, watching for the author's techniques. And I usually get sucked into the story and completely forget. Then I have to hope I'm acquiring them by osmosis...

Judg said:

But I still have to make a conscious effort to read analytically, watching for the author's techniques. And I usually get sucked into the story and completely forget.

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One of the best compliments is when an editor tells you: "I so totally forgot to edit the ms. while reading it." That's when you know you've hit gold.

maestrowork said:

Yeah, I know people like that. One has a reason: he's a filmmaker and so he knows everything there is to know about what is fake... so when he watches horror films, he doesn't get scared because he knows how they make fake blood and guts and latex heads, etc. He still gets entertained but in the back of his mind he knows he's just watching special effects or actors acting (ironically, he faints at the sight of blood in real life).

I'm the opposite. Even as an actor I get totally absorbed, and that's why I don't watch horror much and I got really upset by something like Grindhouse: Death Proof. At the moment I could separate fiction with reality and I got emotionally involved. I couldn't say "these are just actors and that's Kurt Russell and he didn't really just kill people.. it's all special effects." To me, what's the point of seeing a movie if you can't experience that world the filmmakers so painstakingly created for us?

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I can relate to you and your friend. Blood and guts is less scary for me now, because I watch it, and I can see how they did it in my head. On the other hand, when the characters are well written and acted, I get very involved. I always have, even when the special effects were obviously fake.

These days, I get less and less absorbed in movies and books. With books, I keep "editing" it, think that certain sentences could have been written better.

With movies, I keep asking myself, "I wonder how many takes it took to get that?" Or, "I wonder if these actors are friends in real life?" Things like that. I think DVD Extras have tainted my movie-watching experience a tad.

If the movie is just plain bad, I can't do anything but MST it. There have been several like that, but on the whole, I'm more than willing to suspend disbelief and be entertained.

As for books, I have trouble reading some, but it's the same: if I like the characters and they're doing interesting things and I want to know what happens next, I can ignore the head hopping (which I happily ignored until I came here) and grammar errors.

A good, interesting story is what I look for first in my reading/ movie watching.

There are people at all points on the spectrum-- those who aren't affected at all, and those who are affected (IMO) WAY TOO MUCH. I knew a lady who literally couldn't watch a movie where someone got killed because it was so traumatizing for her. She would feel physically sick and just be all upset.

As usual, moderation is key.

With some people who can't get involved with or pulled into a story, it may be a lack of empathy. It's not a lack of imagination, though it may seem that way, because, given a starting point, they can expand on it marvelously. Often, though, they have little or no sense of metaphor. They think very concretely and seem literal-minded. Several members of my extended family are like this.

On the other hand, I can't read certain books because I find them too upsetting. I've never been able to get past the first third of Anna Karenina, for instance, and not just because I know how it ends. You can tell, "These people are doomed."

I don't analyze readers or reading.

They could just be saying those things because they know it gets to you.

My mother wouldn't read fiction because it wasn't real, and I guess she couldn't connect with anything that wasn't real. Instead she read biographies of the rich and famous - Elvis Presley, Aristotle Onassis and so on. I have a feeling that if I'd been published in her lifetime, she would have been pleased and proud, but she still wouldn't have been able to read my books.

My father won't read fiction and is quite often sneers at it if asked. He reads a lot of factual books, gazeteers, local history books. He prefers facts and numbers to human stories. He reacts as if fiction is somehow something 'silly', and is sort of the same with TV and film. If anyone else wants to watch something he acts like it's a waste of time, kind of like, 'why would anyone want to sit through this frivolous stuff?'

My uncle, though is the opposite and has a kind of childlike attitude to fiction. He won't read or watch anything where people are hurt or put into a mildly unpleasant situation, and acts like anyone who wants to watch / read that sort of thing is a potential serial killer. I've yet to discover what sort of thing he would like to watch. Even 'My Little Pony' cartoons have a bit of conflict here and there in the story.

Me, when I watch a horror film I only get upset if I actually relate to the characters, which tends to be if the film is a little different from the standard 'a group of people get caught in an enclosed space and are picked off one by one'. 'Open Water' really affected me after I watched it too, same with the French film 'Ils' / 'They'.

Your uncle's name is Miles, isn't it?

Just kidding.

wordmonkey said:

My wife is one of the absorbers.

I convinced her to watch "The Legend of 1900" starring Tim Roth.

It had such a staggering impact on her that she didn't talk to me for three days. When she did, she got all angry about why I made her watch that movie.

It really is an awesome little movie that deserves way more exposure than it got. I highly recommend it.

Unless you don't get into the non-real stuff. Then it's dull, dull, dull.

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I stumbled across that little film, too. Fantastic. The 'rolling piano at sea' sequence alone was worth the cost of rental.

I typically find books like that (character driven, low action) tough to get into, but I can get caught up in a movie easily.

JessRamage said:

My father won't read fiction and is quite often sneers at it if asked. He reads a lot of factual books, gazeteers, local history books. He prefers facts and numbers to human stories. He reacts as if fiction is somehow something 'silly',

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One of my good friends is like this, non-fiction all the way and science-based. He's the only person I see on a regular basis who doesn't ask me what I'm working on -- because he truly doesn't care for anything that I write.

He's definitely not on my beta-reader list.

PeeDee said:

These people have no imagination and usually work middle-management jobs at your local food place. They are soulless and should be set on fire at all costs.​

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I have no idea. Some people are just boring and unimaginative, no matter what.​

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That applies to all middle management.

Perhaps the solution to help the fiction challenge cannot be implemented -- growing up listening to radio is great basic training for the "little grey cells".

www.donaldmichaelplatt.com

I absorb too much at times. I hate going to the theater because when the movie ends, the lights go up, and I step out into the cold harsh light of reality I'm thrown into this melancholy-like depression. I hate that.

But I do know people who don't enjoy fiction or movies because "it's not real." They boggle my mind.