Willing Suspension of Disbelief

as told to Sam Koskela

by Fred Kuretski

“Willing Suspension of Disbelief”

The choice, on the part of an art viewer, to suspend or disregard the normal criticism for unbelievable events,

occurrences, or content taking place within the context of the art itself.

The theory of “Willing Suspension of Disbelief” has

TWO major elements:

• An audience “lowers its standards”

(THRESHOLD OF ACCEPTABILITY),

tolerating things in art that would be

unacceptable in “real-life”

• An audience is vulnerable to take in

attitudes, ideas, feelings that they

would not normally be empathetic to

CATHARSIS

• By lowering their “threshold of acceptability”, according to Aristotle, human beings entertain themselves as CATHARSIS

• This means that human beings should be able to analyze all the CONTEXTS of an action or event and act in the best interest of society as a whole

In essence, according to Aristotle, ‘ART’ should be able to purge society of anti-

social behavior by providing a safe outlet.

EMULATION THEORY

• It is argued, however, that the vulnerability of an audience during the art experience permits recognition of other “real world” possibilities.

• A “see violence, do violence” or “see peace, do peace” connection

• ART, therefore, is also argued to have the possibility of transmitting to a society exactly what society “should be”.

• By suspending disbelief, ART opens viewer to potential possibility

• Teaches society “how to be”

• The possibility of inducing “Willing Suspension of Disbelief” is a powerful tool in the hands of a filmmaker.

• But an audience will only suspend their disbelief if a filmmaker follows certain conventions, or “rules”.

• In the next lesson, we’ll begin learning about these “rules”.

NERVOUS MAN IN A FOUR DOLLAR ROOM

• As we watch the Twilight Zone episode Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room, think about the theory of “Willing Suspension of Disbelief”

• Be ready to discuss how this theory applies (or does not apply) to this episode