Mental Elasticity

As I get older, many parts of my body have started to lose their elasticity. I've seen it in my eyes, as I now suffer from presbyopia (the lens of the eye loses its elasticity over time resulting in the decreased focusing ability for near objects), and my muscles (it takes longer to recover from physical exertion than it used to).

Today, I realized that I've lost some mental elasticity as well. It seems that my brain can no longer willingly suspend as much disbelief as it used to.

I've always been a fan of the crime/thriller/spy/mystery genre. It was nothing for me to sit through a James Bond movie and think, "That could happen." Lately, however, I've become one of those cranky old guys that sits there and says, "Phhh, that could never happen that way."

For example, I have a friend who loves the TNT TV show "Leverage." I just can't get into it as the plot activities are just so "out there."

Similarly, I was absolutely riveted to the pages of Stieg Larsson's first book, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," until I came to a point where a key plot revelation relied on a bit of computer hackery that I just don't believe is possible.

There are still things I like, however. The other night I watched the brilliant movie "Fargo" for the hundredth time. There's a movie that has a bunch of weird stuff going on in it, but all of it is plausible.

Similarly, I recently read (well, listened to the audiobook) of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" and was completely captivated. (I realize that's not quite the same as the "true crime" genre is defined as a non-fiction genre.)

So, I guess I'll just go back to annoying the people "lucky" enough to sit near me in the movie theater with my constant refrain of "that's not possible."