A thought....

It's just one of those moments when you're either dead on with a really good point/observation, or just plain delusional. This, I hope, leans more to the former. I cannot recall exactly what conversation me and my dear Shanny-Poo (as I like to call her) were exchanging which lead me to this thought, but this is more or less what came out:
Me - You know, it's weird..
Shanny Poo - What?
Me (not sure how to phrase it) - You know how it's like when we look at movies, and go "Oh my goodness! That's so real!"
SP - Uh huh
Me - And when it comes to our lives, we sometimes say "Oh my goodness! This is just like the movies!"
SP - Okay, if I was high on pot right now, you'd be scaring me...
Me (laughing) - Hahahaha!
SP (laughs)
Me - It's just so strange that we have movies that depict reality so well that we have now confused the two.
After that point, I made some comment which mirrored the "which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg" analysis which, when discussing real life vs art, shouldn't even be a question. While there is a symbiotic relationship between life and art (what is art without life/what is life without art?), there is no doubt that artistic expression stems out of our life's experiences. So, why the confusion?
I primarily (but not totally) blame the phenomenon of "suspension of belief" - the attitude you assume prior to watching a movie. This suspension is almost automatic, because it is a mentality that has been developed throughout our lifetime. We know we are going to view a fictional tale of whatever genre, be it romance, comedy, fantasy, horror, etc, and not to fully accept what we see as "truth", or better yet, "real." The trouble is that in so many ways, we are already disconnected to what is happening around us, so that suspension of belief has become a constant state of mind. As a result, we tend to equate certain troubling/traumatizing events to the "fake". Even sweet, sincere moments are labeled as such. Maybe I'm making much ado about nothing. Like I said, it's just a thought.....