What If You Can't Suspend Disbelief?

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DwayneA

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Too often in movies, television, and in books I see something that makes me think "that couldn't happen," or "yeah, right," or even "that's impossible." After all, I am the "Fact Guy" here.

We all know animals can't talk, yet there are stories that have talking animals. There's also no such thing as ghosts, vampires, magic, or werewolves, yet there are stories that have it. And often in television I see something that defies all explaination and could never happen. For example, in one episode of "The Red Green Show", Bill is working with a woodchipper, but then he gets pulled in and spit out. His clothes are shredded but he's not even hurt! That could never happen in real life! Trust me, I've seen a man get shredded in a wood chipper in "1000 Ways To Die".

I'm the kind of guy who can't suspend disbelief? Is this normal?
 

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I can't help but feel we've had this discussion before. But either way, I don't think it's abnormal necessarily. You just don't go in for the fanciful. Some people do, some people don't.

And it's not like the people who do don't realize that these things are in conflict with physics and sundry laws of nature.

ETA - ah yes, we have talked about this before -

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175355

DwayneA said:
Let me put it this way, I'm a fact-guy. That is, I don't believe in anything that isn't real: ghosts and spirits,, alternate dimensions, aliens, magic, mythical creatures and beings, talking animals, angels and demons, heaven and hell, souls, landmarks and cities on Earth that don't exist, or even reincarnation.

Yet I see a lot of this in fiction, television, videogames, and music videos. I even see fictional books, videogames, movies, and tv shows in fiction, television, videogames, and music videos.

Why do the producers and authors of fiction incorporate this stuff into their works if it isn't real in real life? What's the point?
 
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Cyia

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I'm the kind of guy who can't suspend disbelief? Is this normal?

For someone with Asperger's, yes, it is.

The easiest way to explain it is to say that when you write a book or watch a movie, you choose to ignore the facts and physics of the world as it truly exists. You choose to accept that there are different rules at play inside the book or during the movie, just like there would be if you were physically on another planet.

Physics is a constant - on Earth, but if you leave Earth, then the calculations are different because the new planet doesn't have the same atmosphere or core or rotation, whatever.

With fiction, the book is your planet.

If you have a man who can't die, then yes, he can go through a woodchipper and come out unscathed.

If you have a species that's allergic to water, then sure, they'll bubble up like blisters in a swimming pool.

If you have "realistic" vampires, and give a set of rules governing their behavior and weaknesses, then those are the constants for your world.

If you've ever seen The Truman Show, look at the main character. He's living in a fictional world created by people around him. The true rules of physics and biology are no different, but he still accepts the things he's told - like that his dad drowned. They manufactured a fear of water, and he accepts it. Other created rules are no different.

Whoever reads your book agrees to accept your rules so long as they're reading. That's why people have such trouble with plot holes. Some things shouldn't happen because of the rules established by a writer, but the writer screws up and lets them happen anyway.
 

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this sort of seems like a cry for attention, especially after last month's "I could never do anything bad" thread that got shut down and seeing you apparently started the same sort of thread sometime in the past and someone already dug it out.

as for the question, you either choose to suspend disbelief or you do not. if you choose not to, then you know you are likely a very poor fit for fantasy, but considering how popular things like Star Trek, the Aliens movies, and the Hobbit are, i find it more than a little suspicious that you actually need to ask about this in the first place, as though you're unaware these markets exist.....
 

Jamesaritchie

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Too often in movies, television, and in books I see something that makes me think "that couldn't happen," or "yeah, right," or even "that's impossible." After all, I am the "Fact Guy" here.

We all know animals can't talk, yet there are stories that have talking animals. There's also no such thing as ghosts, vampires, magic, or werewolves, yet there are stories that have it. And often in television I see something that defies all explaination and could never happen. For example, in one episode of "The Red Green Show", Bill is working with a woodchipper, but then he gets pulled in and spit out. His clothes are shredded but he's not even hurt! That could never happen in real life! Trust me, I've seen a man get shredded in a wood chipper in "1000 Ways To Die".

I'm the kind of guy who can't suspend disbelief? Is this normal?

I don't know if it's normal, but it sure doesn't sound like much fun. And how do you know there's no such thing as ghosts or magic? Millions believe in both, and just because you haven't seen either does not mean they do not exist.

I think maybe you're just missing the point. The man going through the wood chipper isn't about a man going trough a wood chipper (And if you believe anything you see on 1000 ways to die, you have no problem at all believing things that didn't happen. Some of the things they show on there never happened, and couldn't happen) it's about personality and the human condition.

Vampire shows are NOT about vampires, either. Vampires are simply a way to reveal one aspect of humanity. Vampires may not exist, but fear of the unknown is real, and how people react in such situations is real. All such stories reveal truth, and simply use props such as vampires, zombies, etc., to get that truth across.

You aren't supposed to believe vampires are real. You are supposed to believe what such stories say about people, and that is real.
 

DwayneA

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Is this thread about the suspension of disbelief applied to fiction in general, or is it a(nother) thread about your particular problems/issues?

it's both

this discussion is supposed to be different from the other discussion about fantasy in fiction. This is supposed to be about the inability to suspend disbelief. I'm sure there are some other people here on this forum with the same problem.
 

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There is apt to be a smaller percentage of people with this issue on a writers' board than in the general population, by the very nature of composing fiction. You have to make stuff up. Atticus Finch no more roused a courtroom than The Vampire Lestat terrorized New Orleans.
 

DwayneA

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this sort of seems like a cry for attention, especially after last month's "I could never do anything bad" thread that got shut down and seeing you apparently started the same sort of thread sometime in the past and someone already dug it out.

Why is it everytime I start a thread on this forum, people accuse me of being an attention seeker?
 

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this sort of seems like a cry for attention, especially after last month's "I could never do anything bad" thread that got shut down and seeing you apparently started the same sort of thread sometime in the past and someone already dug it out.

Why is it everytime I start a thread on this forum, people accuse me of being an attention seeker?

It's because all your threads start with "I". We've already had this discussion. If you are unable to suspend disbelief or if you don't choose to, it's okay. Others choose to. That's okay too.

Locking now before this becomes a pile on.
 
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