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Suspension of disbelief is an essential component in live theatre.
It is an essential ingredient in the enjoyment of many B-grade science fiction films and TV series such as Doctor Who, when the audience willingly ignores low-budget "cheesy" props, plot holes, and poor acting in order to engage fully in the enjoyable and outrageous story.
As budgets have risen and special effects have become more and more lifelike, audiences have become less inclined to engage in suspension of disbelief. It is not uncommon for movie-going audiences to compare modern-day Hollywood blockbusters to movies made several decades ago and pronounce the former superior because the computer-generated special effects are more impressive than the effects used in the past, rather than accepting that at the time these movies were made such techniques were not available. A similar attitude applies to color vs black and white films.
A related concept is a character's self-awareness. The example of this is where the character turns and addresses the audienceAn audience is the/a group of people who participate in and experience or encounter a work of art, literature, theatre, music or academics in any medium. Audience members participate in different ways in different kinds of art, with some kinds inviting ov directly (breaking the fourth wallSpecifically in a proscenium theater, the term fourth wall applies to the imaginary invisible wall at the front of the stage in a theater through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. In an arena theater, or theater-in-the-round all) or otherwise engages with a glance or look or does or says something to show that the character realises that they are playing a character. This action obviously challenges the audience's suspension of disbelief.