DSC 301. Willing Suspension of Disbelief. 26

According to Wikipedia:

“Aristotle first explored the idea of the concept in its relation to the principles of theater; the audience ignores the unreality of fiction in order to experience catharsis.”

And later:

“The poet and aesthetic philosophe S. T. Coleridge introduced the term suspension of disbelief in 1817 and suggested that if a writer could infuse a human interest and a semblance of truth into a fantastic tale, the reader would suspend judgement concerning the implausibility of the narrative.

Besides being a supreme poet in his own right, Coleridge is also well-known for ushering in the Romantic age of poetry in England. Along with his friend William Wordsworth, Coleridge wrote and published Lyrical Ballads, a work that not only contained many of the two poets' poetic works, but also included essays on the nature and craft of poetry. When creating or reading poetry, Coleridge called for "That willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith." By this he meant that the reader will accept the poem on its own terms, temporarily giving over to the author's vision of the world long enough to appreciate the work.

A fine example of this is Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", in which the reader (along with the targeted Wedding Guest of the poem) must accept the Ancient Mariner's tale at face value and assume the old man is telling the truth about his experiences. Coleridge builds this "willing suspension of disbelief" by beginning the Mariner's tale in familiar territory--a ship exploring the frozen wastes of the ocean--and slowly but inexorably drawing the reader into the Mariner's more supernatural encounters.

"Christabel" follows the same pattern, beginning with the allegedly violated woman being rescued by the title character, but eventually giving way to the so-called victim's malignant supernatural identity. A similar "suspension of disbelief" occurs in modern literary genres such as "magical realism" and horror, where the supernatural or unbelievable elements are framed in mundane terms and possess their own internal logic.

Suspension of disbelief film examples

Movies often ask audiences to suspend disbelief when it comes to unbelievable circumstances. The repetitive use of unbelievable circumstances is regarded as a movie trope.

Some examples include:

    Enemies who are way less powerful than the protagonist(s) – AKA cannon-fodder: Star Wars’ stormtroopers, opposing military forces, etc.

    Technology that doesn’t (and may never never) exist: “the enhance mode” in police procedurals/court dramas

    Elements of deus ex machina: some savior arrives at the perfect time.

To suspend disbelief is to accept such conditions as natural parts of the movie’s diegesis. That doesn’t mean the usage of these conditions are immune to criticism. Many movie critics often say that if one is “willing to suspend disbelief, they will find enjoyment” in certain movies.

However, it’s generally agreed upon that filmmakers must take responsibility for how much they ask the audience to suspend their disbelief. For a realist movie, such as Pather Panchali, there’s little lee-way.