Suspension of disbelief

**Suspension of disbelief** refers to the willingness of a reader or viewer to accept as true the premises of a work of fiction, even if they are fantastic, impossible, or otherwise contradictory to "reality". It also refers to the willingness of the audience to overlook the limitations of a medium, so that these do not interfere with the acceptance of those premises. Suspension of disbelief is a quid pro quo: the audience tacitly agrees to provisionally suspend their judgment in exchange for the promise of entertainment.

 Although audience members suspend their disbelief they are nevertheless fully aware that they are suspending their disbelief which is why audience members don't cry out, "Look behind you!" to an endangered on-screen character or call the police when they witness an on-screen murder.

In the world of fiction you are often required to believe a premise which you would never accept in the real world. Regardless of the genre, some times things happen in a story which goes beyond the boundaries of what you think could really happen. Therefore, and in order to enjoy such stories, the audience is engaged in a phenomenon known as "*suspension of disbelief*" This is a semi-conscious decision in which the spectator puts aside their rational thinking and accepts the premises as facts for the duration of the story, just for the sake of entertainment.

“A literary term of art referring to one of Aristotle’s principles of theater in which the audience accepts fiction as reality so as to experience a *catharsis*, or a releasing of tensions to purify the soul”

## Examples in literature

Suspension of disbelief is sometimes said to be an essential component of live theatre, where it was recognised by Shakespeare, who refers to it in the Prologue to *Henry V*:

"*[...] make imaginary puissance [...] 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings [...] turning th'accomplishment of many years into an hourglass.*"
## Examples in modern forms of entertainment

Suspension of disbelief is an essential ingredient in the enjoyment of many B-grade science fiction films and television series such as the early series of *Doctor Who*, where the audience willingly ignores low-budget "cheesy" props and occasional plot holes, in order to fully engage with the enjoyable story — which may be the more so for those additions to its inherent outrageousness.

Suspension of disbelief is also supposed to be essential for the enjoyment of many movies and TV shows involving complex stunts, special effects, and seemingly "unrealistic" plots, characterizations, etc. The theory professes to explain why action movie fans are willing to accept the idea that the good guy can get away with shooting guns in public places, or never running out of ammunition, or that cars will explode with a well-placed shot to the gas tank.

### Superman and other examples

One defending suspension of disbelief might say that flying, along with the rest of Superman's abilities, is a foundational premise regarding the character, which the audience accepted as part of the deal at the beginning.

Video games are also said to require suspension of disbelief. Often, realism is compromised even in games set out to be realistic either intentionally to not overcomplicate game mechanics or due to technical limitations.

* Some games based on Spider-Man have the comic hero swinging around a city with his webs sticking to nothing but the sky.
* Another example is of Solid Snake's performance of near impossible acrobatic stunts in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes remake as opposed to his more down to earth style of combat (due to graphical limitations during the time) in the original Metal Gear Solid.
* Others feature instant death upon falling into water instead of giving the player a chance to swim out before drowning.
* Also, in many video games, a character will say the same phrase over and over indefinitely when repeatedly talked to.
* Some video games begin with a tutorial in which the player is taught how to play. These are often woven into the story, so a character in the game might say to the hero, "Press the triangle button to jump! Walk up to a crystal to save your game!" and so forth. In the fictional context of the game world, such sequences make no sense — the hero is being told to push a button which (from his perspective) does not exist, in order to perform normal activities such as jumping and running. According to the proponent of the theory, it's up to the player to reconcile this problem by suspending his or her disbelief.

Yet another example where suspended disbelief is said to be necessary is kayfabe in professional wrestling, wherein the characters (that is, the professional wrestlers) somehow manage to keep their violent exchanges to the confines of the wrestling arena. They do not follow each other home, assault each other between TV episodes, bring guns to the ring and shoot each other if they are losing a match, etc.

Another major example of suspended disbelief was The Flintstones cartoon series. The characters have televisions, cars, telephones, and various appliances that would be powered by electricity in modern society. The "prehistoric" characters were even shown to celebrate Christmas and travel into the future.

A further example can be found in *Star Wars* and other films which include a space setting, where sounds caused by spacecraft (e.g. engines, gunfire) can be heard despite the scenes being viewed from within space itself (i.e., sound does not travel in the vacuum of space). Such sound effects are often vital for creating the atmosphere of a scene, such as space battles (which, in all fairness, would be far less exciting without them).

## References

1. ↑ "Suspension of Disbelief". https://www.mediacollege.com/glossary/s/suspension-of-disbelief.html.
2. ↑ catharsis