Yes, suspension of disbelief, exactly. (I'm gonna link Sholio to your reply because I'm curious where she falls on this spectrum of fanning :) )
It's also exactly as you say, why I find it difficult to enjoy actor stuff without it impacting my mental version of the "real"/"idealized" story. Essentially if actor stuff lines up with that story it's fine, I don't mind it, but if it clashes I have this "double-vision" problem and as I'm re-watching the "real" show I can't help thinking about the fact that these are actors acting, and people filming etc. (Like kissing especially, I read an actor talking about what filming a kissing scene is like for them and suddenly couldn't watch ANY kissing scenes because I'd be wondering where the camera was at that moment.) So if the actor is super sweet and happy and they're playing someone somber and stoic, I can't help sensing that the sadness is faked? I know it's ALL acting, but I can't pretend I don't know, in that case.
I like analyzing things a lot and generally tend to integrate all my knowledge into one coherent picture, and so in this scenario knowing the technical aspects (or paying attention to them) means I'm no longer as involved in it as something "real" in my head. It's just how it's always worked for me, and so I manage this by basically death-of-an-author-ing everything for myself by not looking at things :-)
And it's truly fascinating to read how it works for you! I'm glad you wrote it down, because it's a different look at it for me. I'll think about it more and see if I ever feel that way about other things. I think fanfic works that way for me, because I enjoy creating writing as much as I enjoy consuming it. So I can read it as this idealized story, and then read it as a writer trying to learn tips&tricks from it, and one does not interfere with the other. The "craft" of the story doesn't interfere with the idealized version playing out in my head. I've never thought about it in context of the difference with watching something, for me. (I think part of it is that I have a strong visual memory so I can't "unsee" the image of it, such as an expression or emotion... Anyhow.)
no subject
It's also exactly as you say, why I find it difficult to enjoy actor stuff without it impacting my mental version of the "real"/"idealized" story. Essentially if actor stuff lines up with that story it's fine, I don't mind it, but if it clashes I have this "double-vision" problem and as I'm re-watching the "real" show I can't help thinking about the fact that these are actors acting, and people filming etc. (Like kissing especially, I read an actor talking about what filming a kissing scene is like for them and suddenly couldn't watch ANY kissing scenes because I'd be wondering where the camera was at that moment.) So if the actor is super sweet and happy and they're playing someone somber and stoic, I can't help sensing that the sadness is faked? I know it's ALL acting, but I can't pretend I don't know, in that case.
I like analyzing things a lot and generally tend to integrate all my knowledge into one coherent picture, and so in this scenario knowing the technical aspects (or paying attention to them) means I'm no longer as involved in it as something "real" in my head. It's just how it's always worked for me, and so I manage this by basically death-of-an-author-ing everything for myself by not looking at things :-)
And it's truly fascinating to read how it works for you! I'm glad you wrote it down, because it's a different look at it for me. I'll think about it more and see if I ever feel that way about other things. I think fanfic works that way for me, because I enjoy creating writing as much as I enjoy consuming it. So I can read it as this idealized story, and then read it as a writer trying to learn tips&tricks from it, and one does not interfere with the other. The "craft" of the story doesn't interfere with the idealized version playing out in my head. I've never thought about it in context of the difference with watching something, for me. (I think part of it is that I have a strong visual memory so I can't "unsee" the image of it, such as an expression or emotion... Anyhow.)