Willing suspension
of disbelief is a term coined in 1817 by the poet and
aesthetic philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge who suggested that if a
writer could infuse a "human interest and a semblance of truth"
into a fantastic tale, the reader would suspend judgment concerning
the implausibility of the narrative. [Wikipedia]
Sheldon is a collection
of strange behaviours. To enjoy the work of art, namely Sheldon, the
audience practices the attitude which Coleridge called as Willing
suspension of disbelief.
We all very well remember the incident in which Sheldon
throws away the food just because Penny has touched it. Now will
such a person take someone else's cookie even if it is to show off
the importance he gained after he made a great discovery?
We are OK with Sheldon's that
habit (thanks to our capacity to suspend disbelief) but now he
behaves the opposite as he snatches a cookie from Leonard. That too
is OK. Again thanks to our capacity to suspend disbelief.
We watch TBBT to laugh. Therefore
we keep aside our reasoning and laugh when Sheldon says,“Now
give me that cookie I discovered an element”. But here we are
suspending our disbelief for the second time. I would like to call
it DOUBLE SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF.
However “reason” is the
substratum. TBBT had to introduce a new character named Lucy to make
Raj to talk in front of women without the help of alcohol. Raj's
cure is made possible without the willing suspension of disbelief
from the part of the audience.
I LOVE THE BIG BANG THEORY!!!!
