In one of the posts to the "Mr. Rodgers" thread, uselessness mentioned how Sesame Street and other children's shows seemed fake, while Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was real to him. This got me to thinking about the concept of suspension of disbelief, how it's accomplished, and how critical it can be to the success of a TV show or film.

Obviously it's easier to create in children, who in their inexperience tend to interpret what they see on the screen as real. Even when the concept of make-believe is explained to a child, I think it's easier for them, in their childish simplicity, to forget that what they are watching isn't real.

The reason I got to thinking about this is that even though I know that Jim Henson's Muppet characters are just bits of foam, plastic, and clothe, animated and given voice by actors, I've always thought of them as "real" characters. uselessness's statement that Mr. Rogers' house was more real to him than Sesame Street sort of irked me, just because the opposite was true for me, and I guess still is.

Part of it is likely the campaign by Jim Henson Studios to present its Muppet characters as real people. You see them in advertising, you see them in TV commercials and hear them in radio advertising. In some of the more recent movies, they're seen as "actors" playing a role. And with the exception of Jim Henson himself, the human actors who characterize the Muppets are never seen. I had no idea what Frank Oz looked like until this year when I watched a documentary on one of my Star Wars DVDs that showed him working the Yoda puppet. And the other guys? I can't even tell you their names.

Then there's the opposite concept... suspension of belief. This is what makes Bad Bad Bad Bad Movies funny. The higher the suspension of belief, the funnier the bad movie is. And this is why Sinbad of the Seven Seas, the most unbelievable motion picture ever made, is the bestest bad movie ever.

Gri"Bork, bork, bork... HAAA!"shny