Captain Edmund Blackadder: George, may of the realities of war neither we nor the Hun choose to go to battle au naturel.
Lieutenant George St. Barleigh: Oh come on sir... It's people's willing suspension of disbelief.
Captain Edmund Blackadder: Well I'm not having people stare at my willy suspension in disbelief!
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the poet and author, called drama "that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith ..."
Any creative endeavor, certainly any written creative endeavor, is only successful to the extent that the audience offers this willing suspension as they read, listen, or watch.
An author's work, in other words, does not
have to be realistic, only believable and internally consistent (see
Magic A Is Magic A). When the author pushes the audience too far, the work becomes a
Wall Banger. As far as science fiction is concerned, geeks are usually happy with all sorts of
"inverted polaron flux"-type nonsense unless the show tries to use real science, at which point it's fair game.
Most action movies push this trope almost to the breaking point; for the sake of action, the
Big Damn Heroes can do virtually
anything, given enough
Phlebotinum.
As always, the
Rule Of Cool,
Rule Of Funny, and
Rule Of Scary override nearly all other considerations.
Compare
Emotional Torque.
See also:
