Entertainment

(Un)willing Suspensions of Disbelief

Entertainment. The opium of the masses, if you wanna get realistic about it. Movies. TV. Even Al Gore's InterWeb. They're all filled with moving pictures that allow us to escape from our very own realities for a few precious minutes, and wallow about in someone else's idea of a good time. Like most of the rest of humanity, I enjoy some escapist fare from time to time. And like a lot of other guys, I'm partial to action movies, thrillers, cop shows, and detective stories. But something happened a couple of years ago, and it changed the way I watch - and the way I appreciate (or don't appreciate) what I see. In short, I learned something about guns. And in the process, my willing suspension of disbelief became not quite so willing.