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No, you need to read and comprehend. That was a THEORY. RugbyPlayingAshaman Send a noteboard - 02/12/2010 07:11:01 PM
Hence why other readers disagree with some of its' arguments. Notice how that section starts by stating this is a theory, not a fact.

Anyway, further down:

"Criticism of the theory:

As in the examples of Superman's powers and Gary Larson's cartoon, it is unclear that suspension of disbelief correctly describes an audience's perception of art. If the theory were to be true, the individual events of suspension would appear to be highly selective. (It would appear that one chooses to suspend disbelief for the ability to fly, but not to suspend it for myopic co-workers.)
Aesthetic philosophers generally reject claims that suspension of disbelief accurately characterizes the relationship between people and "fictions." Kendall Walton notes that, if viewers were to truly suspend disbelief at a horror movie and accept its images as true, they would have a true-to-life set of reactions. For instance, audience members would cry out, "Look behind you!" to an endangered on-screen character or call the police when they witnessed an on-screen murder.[10] Tolkien, in his essay "On Fairy-Stories", offers the alternative paradigm of subcreation based on inner consistency of reality and secondary belief. Tolkien says that indeed the reader should in order for the narrative to work, chose to believe in the fiction he is reading - not willingly suspend his disbelief, but believe that the events are possible within the "secondary" world (the fictional world of the story). By focusing on how to create an internally consistent secondary world, the author becomes a sub-creator.
However, many of these criticisms simply fail to notice that Coleridge's original statement came in a restrictive clause. The formulation "...that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment which constitutes poetic faith," of necessity implies that there are different sorts of suspension of disbelief and specifies that poetic faith is one instance of a larger class. One need not choose to believe that a character in a horror film is a real person in order, for example, to choose to believe that the character is looking at the building seen in the following reverse-shot. More often than not, both beliefs would be equally false."

Which brings me back to my initial point; not everyone needs to "suspend their disbelief" and in terms of fantasy stories, its' often not necessary unless you take it seriously.

Personally, I think you are over-thinking this. When I watch a Disney movie, complete with song-and-dance numbers and magic, I'm not suspending anything. My imagination allows me to enjoy the story, characters and images because I approach it as a form of entertainment and artwork. They are obviously in a fantasy world so I don't see the need to reconcile how the real world works and what happens in a Disney movie - it's not that deep.
"Those who think they have no time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness."
This message last edited by RugbyPlayingAshaman on 02/12/2010 at 07:38:33 PM
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Easy life of Lightside heroes and pathetic incompetence of the Shadow - so what's new in Wot... - 28/11/2010 03:38:14 PM 2910 Views
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Re: Easy life of Lightside heroes and pathetic incompetence of the Shadow - so what's new in Wot... - 29/11/2010 01:59:18 AM 1491 Views
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You are absolutely wrong. - 02/12/2010 04:53:52 AM 1265 Views
You are incorrect - you should read the definition you reference before posting it. - 02/12/2010 04:19:16 PM 1413 Views
No, I read the ENTIRE article, unlike you. You have to scroll down a bit. - 02/12/2010 05:47:13 PM 1188 Views
No, you need to read and comprehend. That was a THEORY. - 02/12/2010 07:11:01 PM 1117 Views
It's really very simple. - 04/12/2010 12:31:16 AM 1431 Views
mk, I think I understand more what you meant now after reading this exchange - 05/12/2010 05:42:47 AM 1300 Views
I still don't agree; sorry. I don't think this theory applies to everyone. - 06/12/2010 05:30:41 PM 1419 Views
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You have to feel the characters are somehow believable to empathize with them. - 02/12/2010 01:05:29 AM 1264 Views
I don't see how WoT's writing (Before, or now) prevents that - 02/12/2010 04:12:54 AM 1100 Views
I'm not arguing that it necessarily does for everyone, just that YOU HAVE TO SUSPEND DISBELIEF - 02/12/2010 04:48:51 AM 1295 Views
That's a load of crap... - 02/12/2010 06:03:13 AM 1436 Views
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Black Tower - 30/11/2010 01:50:29 AM 1213 Views
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Hopper wasn't that important, either, though. - 03/12/2010 02:32:10 PM 1162 Views
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