According to Wikipedia, suspension of disbelief is defined as the “willingness to suspend one’s critical faculties and believe something surreal; sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment. A literary term of art referring to one of Aristotle’s principles of theater in which the audience accepts fiction as reality so as to experience a catharsis, or a releasing of tensions to purify the soul.”
In almost all forms of entertainment, whether it be a book, film or television show, the audience must either completely or in part suspend their disbelief, and I believe that in most part we willingly accept this. We know that Scooby-Doo isn’t real and that dogs don’t speak English or solve mysteries. We know that NCIS does actually exist in real life, but they don’t solve murders in less than an hour. While most people wish that with a flick of a wand, we could travel cross-country or turn our arch-nemesis into a frog, we know that Harry Potter isn’t real.
Audiences have come a long way since Dragnet (1951) and Perry Mason (1957). With the advent of shows like DATELINE and The First 48, viewers have gotten an education in police procedures and the law, so our expectations from these procedurals have increased. We know that cops wear gloves and booties to avoid contaminating crime scenes. We know that once a suspect asks for an attorney that the police can no longer question them. Unfortunately, some shows have fallen short in their delivery.
I sometimes think that the writers don’t give their audiences enough credit. When the original CSI: Crime Scene Investigations began in 2000, the investigators wore the disposable jumpsuits, booties and gloves. They would place the little square platforms throughout the crime scene to allow the police and the CSI’s to walk through without destroying evidence. Sadly, as the show went on, style replaced substance. By the end, the jumpsuits and booties were gone, and the CSI’s were tromping through the crime scenes in stiletto heels destroying evidence. Did the writers think that we wouldn’t notice these missing details? Did the studio decide at some point that they didn’t need a police consultant to verify the accuracy of what they were portraying?
Viewers continued to watch despite the inconsistencies, choosing entertainment over realism. The problem is that some writers ask too much of their audiences. A prime example recently is the 2010 reboot of HAWAII FIVE-O.
I grew up on the original show starring Jack Lord, so I looked forward to the new incarnation with Alex O’Loughlin. With villains like Wo Fat, I was ready to suspend my disbelief at some of the storylines, but I was hoping that the rest of the series would be more realistic. I was once again disappointed.
One of my issues is that no matter where there is a problem in the world, for some reason only McGarrett and Five-O can solve the problem. You have a terrorist problem in Afghanistan, call in Five-O. You have a drug cartel problem in Mexico, call in Five-O. You have a problem with the Yakuza in Japan, you guessed it…call in Five-O. And they aren’t coming in to advise, they are leading the investigations or raids. Ask any police department or federal agency, there is no way they would let a commander from an out-of-state/country police department lead an inquiry.
My biggest problem with HAWAII FIVE-O, is the staffing. In 2013, the character of Jerry Ortega, (Jorge Garcia) was introduced. While he was entertaining, as a consultant he would not carry a badge.
After Chin Ho Kelly (Daniel Dae Kim) and Kono (Grace Park) exited the show, the characters of Junior Reigns (Beulah Koale) and Tani Rey (Meaghan Rath) were brought in as replacements. Like McGarrett, Junior has no police training. He is an ex-Navy Seal and at one-point McGarrett says that he will hire him if he goes to the police academy to train, but next thing you know, he has a badge. If he did go to the academy for training, how long was it? Was it a weekend crash course? Tani Rey was kicked out of the police academy for supposedly cheating. We never really learn how long she was in the academy. Neither of these characters ever walked a beat, so what qualified them to become detectives? Five-O isn’t The Mod Squad, where the officers need to go undercover and must be young enough to blend in. Detectives earn their gold shields with years of hard work. Wouldn’t Duke Lukela have been a better choice with his years of experience?
That brings us to the latest member of the task force, Adam Noshimuri (Ian Anthony Dale), Kono’s ex-husband. Former Yakuza and felon, he had acted as a confidential informant to Five-O. There is suspension of disbelief and then there is the ridiculous. There is no way he would ever be allowed to work as a police officer. Once again, we have another member of the task force that hasn’t gone through the police academy, yet he is allowed to process crime scenes and run investigations. Who’s going to be the next member of Five-O, Kamekona?
I admit, I am as much to blame for this as any other viewer. I can’t stop watching it. HAWAII FIVE-O has become that train wreck you can’t help but slow down and stare at the carnage. I keep hoping it will get better, but week after week, it gets more ludicrous.
Everything & Nothing 