It's amazing how fictional stories can seem so real

If you ever wonder how religious stories -- Adam and Eve, Krishna, Moses, so many others -- are believed by billions of people, go into a movie theater. (Or remember doing this, if theaters are closed where you are because of the Covid crisis.)

If it's a horror film, likely you'll hear shrieks of terror. If a thriller, gasps of surprise. If a romance, tears being wiped away.

We humans have no problem being drawn into a fictional story to such an extent it arouses much the same emotions as if the drama was happening to us in real life. Yet part of us recognizes that we're watching something made-up.

So we embrace a "willing suspension of disbelief."

This has been on my mind lately because a few days ago I re-discovered a series on Netflix that I watched a single episode of years ago, "Designated Survivor."

I've become addicted to the show, having watched about half of the first season. It features Kiefer Sutherland, who I loved in "24," though he plays a very different character this time. I love politics, mysteries, thrillers, and intelligence agency intrigue -- all of which feature prominently in Designated Survivor.

The strange thing is, and given what I said above, actually it isn't really very strange, I get so immersed in the engrossing plot lines that I become worried about what will happen to the main characters who are heroes, not villains. 

"No, Hannah, don't trust him," I'll scream inside my mind, "likely he's part of the scheme to kill the President." (Hannah being a FBI agent.)

Yet I'm watching the plot play out on our TV or my laptop. I'm perfectly aware that I'm streaming a Netflix show. I know that I'm seeing actors speak scripted lines. I can tell the difference between reality and this bit of fiction.

But I still worry that the good guys will be fooled by the bad guys. I agonize if there's a cliff-hanger at the end of one episode, being eager to find the time to fire up Netflix again and see what happens in the next episode. 

In short, I'm acting almost exactly like religious believers do when they feel deep emotions upon, say, hearing a moving sermon about how Jesus' love for humanity was so great, he died for our sins. 

I don't think this is true, of course.

And I strongly suspect that if pressed, a large percentage of Christians would admit that they aren't sure this is true either. They simply love the story as told in the New Testament, which I readily admit is a compelling piece of fiction -- in my atheist opinion.

A big difference between my devotion to Designated Survivor and the devotion of people to religious stories is how serious we are about the object of our attention.

I have minimal interest in converting people to become a Designated Survivor fan. When I've watched every episode I'll move on to viewing or reading other works of fiction. If someone tells me they can't stand Designated Survivor, I wouldn't argue with them. I completely understand that what I'm fixated on is made-up, not an inherent aspect of reality.

Still, there's a common element between me and religious people. We both love a good fictional story.

Comments

[um]

Four poles in the ground, steel wire to connect the poles and there we have it, the meadow for the animals. In nature there are no meadows, they are only real in the minds of people.

Like the movie all cultural things are games ... democracy, and dying for the national flag, honour
All things that are alive in human minds but do not exist in nature.

In order to live a cultural life in a cultural way, you have to believe it is real.

[Not reel]

The worst is when you get really into a binge worthy TV series and all of the sudden you see the characters as just actors. You can imagine the directors, sound guys and cinematographers running around. Then you realize it’s not real. Total buzz kill.

[Sage]

I wrote a personal blog recently(11 days before you posted) just for my friends, which slightly touched this topic. I talked about people thinking ghost stories are based on reality and the "spiritual" people who exploit them using their made up theology.
I'd rather mail it to you than post it here out of embarrassment(I didn't even proof read the blog) but you haven't responded to my last mail since around 5 years now. The blog name is based on a joke about how I'd be able to punch mountains into the sun if I encountered Ghosts for real, ignore it.
https://dualpetalsage.wordpress.com/2020/08/19/faith-of-apotheosis/