The amount of bullshit a story expects you to just accept to be able to follow its logic and plot points.
For example, Harry Potter expects its readers to just ignore that magic is physically impossible and that a world like what Rowling describes would have WILD implications for the course of human history that would render notions like “The United Kingdom” and “Trains” and the like probably non-existent in favor of a society that better reflects what those forces would shape the world as.
The biggest suspension of disbelief that HP expects of us is that racism, slavery, antisemitism, torture, ableism, poverty and much, much more are all things we should just accept from a society filled with people that can literally play god.
Accepting that the reality of a story is as described. Magic is real? Sure. FTL? Sure. The colour red makes you fart? Yeah why not? For the sake of the story, I Believe.
BUT the term often gets hijacked by rabid fans trying to justify plot holes, self-contradictions, and nonsensical gobilygook. Suspension of disbelief doesn’t mean I should also suspend all semblance of reason, unless of course there’s a clearly established in-universe justification for doing so.
What’s “suspension of disbelief”?
The amount of bullshit a story expects you to just accept to be able to follow its logic and plot points.
For example, Harry Potter expects its readers to just ignore that magic is physically impossible and that a world like what Rowling describes would have WILD implications for the course of human history that would render notions like “The United Kingdom” and “Trains” and the like probably non-existent in favor of a society that better reflects what those forces would shape the world as.
The biggest suspension of disbelief that HP expects of us is that racism, slavery, antisemitism, torture, ableism, poverty and much, much more are all things we should just accept from a society filled with people that can literally play god.
Accepting that the reality of a story is as described. Magic is real? Sure. FTL? Sure. The colour red makes you fart? Yeah why not? For the sake of the story, I Believe.
BUT the term often gets hijacked by rabid fans trying to justify plot holes, self-contradictions, and nonsensical gobilygook. Suspension of disbelief doesn’t mean I should also suspend all semblance of reason, unless of course there’s a clearly established in-universe justification for doing so.