Brian63
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2001
- Messages
- 1,639
- Location
- Michigan
- Gender
- Male
- Basic Beliefs
- Freethinker/atheist/humanist
As I have gotten older and more into adulthood (currently in my mid 30s), I have learned that one area of life that has actually gotten much more difficult for me is in being able to suspend my disbelief whenever I watch a fictional movie or T.V. show. As a result, I am not able to enjoy them as much either, unfortunately. It always remains in the back of my mind that what I am watching are not real events with real people, but rather are people pretending to be someone they are not, and pretending to be experiencing things that are not really happening, and oftentimes are even getting paid millions of dollars to do so. In real life, they are very different from the characters they are pretending to be in front of a camera. Numerous other people are also taking part in the pretense, such as directors, producers, camera operators, script writers, etc. that we just cannot see, but are very much there. I do not at all mean to imply that they have any kind of sinister motives of course; just explaining that being aware of the facade can make it more difficult to enjoy the experience, because to do that requires a bit of a “suspension of disbelief” temporarily in your own mind.
It becomes more difficult especially when I watch various celebrity filmmakers who also appear as their real selves and give interviews on talk shows, news programs, etc. Then I see them as they truly are and their real personalities, and so later watching them pretend to be some other person in a film or show is even more challenging. (Partly) as a result of all this, I do watch less movies and T.V. shows than I had when I was younger.
Has anyone else ever had any similar experiences, and if so were you able to find any tricks to beating the habit? Have you found it easier or more difficult with particular filmmakers? Not just asking who you think is a good or bad actor/actress. Sometimes a very good filmmaker can still be very difficult to suspend disbelief on, for various other reasons (personal scandals, particularly notable real-life personalities, etc.)
I would like to be able to enjoy watching entertaining films of various kinds moreso than I currently do, but I just find it difficult to consciously “suspend disbelief” in my own mind for that purpose. How do others manage to do so?
Thanks,
Brian
It becomes more difficult especially when I watch various celebrity filmmakers who also appear as their real selves and give interviews on talk shows, news programs, etc. Then I see them as they truly are and their real personalities, and so later watching them pretend to be some other person in a film or show is even more challenging. (Partly) as a result of all this, I do watch less movies and T.V. shows than I had when I was younger.
Has anyone else ever had any similar experiences, and if so were you able to find any tricks to beating the habit? Have you found it easier or more difficult with particular filmmakers? Not just asking who you think is a good or bad actor/actress. Sometimes a very good filmmaker can still be very difficult to suspend disbelief on, for various other reasons (personal scandals, particularly notable real-life personalities, etc.)
I would like to be able to enjoy watching entertaining films of various kinds moreso than I currently do, but I just find it difficult to consciously “suspend disbelief” in my own mind for that purpose. How do others manage to do so?
Thanks,
Brian