The Benefit of Disbelief

[kokopelle]

There is a benefit to disbelief. The benefit is an incredible one, allowing for sanity and peaceful living. I am once again drawn to both movie and real(er) life examples.

My lovely mate happened to watch about two minutes of "Dawn of the Dead". The scene was peaceful enough as a man looked out a glass door/window. A bloody zombie suddenly lunged into the picture and my mate jumped about a foot in her chair. We promptly changed the channel. She is also keen (enough) to see "Resident Evil : Extinction" with me. What gives? They are both zombie movies. The catch is that the Dawn of the Dead movie is too close to reality. She is cannot distance herself enough from the movie. The thread here is that she does not like to see the possible reality twisted into a horrific reality. The movies are "too real" even though their premises are fantastic. The things off two bubbles, like vampire inhabited realities, are OK. Just don't get too close to real. The new Resident Evil movie is fantastic enough - post-apocalyptic Las Vegas with zombies - that my mate can "keep her distance" from the movie.

I have the same reaction when people project their beliefs on me. I'm affected by those beliefs that are similar enough to my reality. My belief in the returning afterlife deters my desire to remove myself from this life. There are also beliefs that I just don't buy into at all. There are religious systems in my nation that would have me believe that I am damned as I consort with demons, etc. My disbelief in their systems allows me to turn aside their preaching with a light heart. This is just an example. There are other belief systems that I acknowledge and then choose not to embrace in my disbelief. The move is one of survival. I believe that we would fly apart if we attempted to embrace each and every belief system that existed. We must choose our own way and find a degree of peace with that choice. Disbelief is the balm for those horrors that others project at me.

Comments

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

I'm the same way as your mate. I cannot handle horror films that touch too close to a possible reality. Even ghost movies like The Grudge series (since I believe in an afterlife). But if I know that it is purely fantastical and there's no chance if it happening, I'll feel okay about it.
I think my desire to write and read mostly science fiction and fantasy novels stems from that line of thinking.

In Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, the character Granny Weatherwax says essentially that if you start believing in everything, they won't leave you alone (like gods and spirits). You may know that they exist, but it doesn't mean you have to believe.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

I agree with your last statement. There is another wrinkle to this. I've "seen" things that aren't normally seen and had the impression that they did not appreciate it. I believe that some spirits/beings don't always want to be seen. Doing so is at the viewer's risk.

[odyssey-spirit.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine studied of the Uncanny Valley last year, and applied it beyond robotics to things like zombies:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_Valley

"Mori's hypothesis states that as a robot [or ZOMBIE] is made more humanlike in its appearance and motion, the emotional response from a human being to the robot will become increasingly positive and empathic, until a point is reached beyond which the response quickly becomes that of strong repulsion. However, as the appearance and motion continue to become less distinguishable from a human being's, the emotional response becomes positive once more and approaches human-to-human empathy levels."