Spoiler Discussion - (spoiler free)

[andrewducker]

In the last couple of days I've been in discussion with a couple of different people about spoilers. One of them about BSG season 2 (now two years old) and the other about HP:Half Blood Prince (now four years old), with them considering that as they'd experienced them years ago, they couldn't possibly be considered spoilers.

Which is the exact opposite of how I feel about it. Because there are movies I still haven't seen fronm the 1950s, where discussion of the twist in the tale would spoil the movie for me. And I'm very aware that the majority of people who go to see the new HP movie won't have read the book.

To me, spoilers are all about politeness. If you tell someone the end/twist of something they didn't know, and will possibly experience in the future, when they didn't want to know, then you've spoiled that experience for them. I remember the feeling of watching Empire Strikes Back and discovering that Han and Chewied were lovers. The shock and surprise at the moment of reveal was an integral part of the experience for me, and taking it away from people that haven't seen the movie yet is just plain rude.

Now, you can argue that it being years old, the chances that people on your friends list haven't seen Empire Strikes Back is low. Which is true if you're posting friends-only and have nobody under the age of 20 on your friends list. But it's not like the olden days, when a movie would appear, and then vanish again, when TV that had made the rounds was lost. Nowadays I can go out and buy box sets for TV made before I was born, and watch it entirely fresh. There are more hours of TV and movies out there than I have time to watch in my whole life, and the chances are that some will be watched years out of synch with their original release. And I'd really appreciate you not telling me the details before I do!

Obviously I consider all of the following to be spoilers. I'm curious whether you do too. If you don't then I'd love to know why...

[Poll #1430090]

Also: NO SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS!

Comments

[kurosau.livejournal.com]

Be born earlier if you don't want spoilers, otherwise, tough luck. Failing that, I live by no particular rule, although the 10 year rule sounds good. Spoilers are such a minor part of films (usually) that in general, I don't think they're really worth the hide, especially since they actively create barriers to discussing just how awesome something was. Casablanca isn't about its spoilers, it's about just how awesome Rick, Ilsa, Sam, and Renault are.

Beyond the fact that some spoilers should be spoiled so that you can warn your friends away from the crap that is some modern movies.

I actually (barely) consider this to be a growing problem. I want to be able to talk about stuff with my friends, and maybe they haven't experienced it. Maybe they will, or maybe my friend is not so into movies, so he might get around to it in a year. Given how much of our gaming environment comes from being exposed to new media?

Yeah, spoilers aren't anything of import in my book. Especially where Empire is concerned. That wasn't awesome because it was a shocker, it was awesome because it made the story that much more awesome.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure any of them are spoilers, due to the fact that they are all (more or less) publicly known. Well, the ones that I know, at least - I've never seen Battlestar Galactica nor Babylon 5.

I kept away from LJ during the week Torchwood was on to avoid spoilers, though - I was recording it to watch later.

[kimberly-a.livejournal.com]

The arguments in comments on this post have convinced me that I was wrong. I now agree with you.

[johncoxon.livejournal.com]

Harry Potter isn't spoilers. There has been widespread and extremely public discussion about those books since the day after they were released, in each case - if you didn't want to be spoiled you should have hurried up and read the damn things.

[mb2u]

I have a "reasonable time" rule: if something has been around long enough for those who are interested to have read/seen/heard it, then spoilers are allowed.

For example, I consider Torchwood: Children of Man to be a spoiler dangerous thing. While it's been broadcast in the UK already, it won't be shown in the US until next Monday, and I imagine other parts of the world have not seen it yet, either. There has not been enough of a reasonable amount of time to have passed for people who would want to see it to do so. So, don't spoil it for the rest of us.

Now, the finale of BSG broadcast months ago. You could argue that people who wanted to see it have by now. It has also been commented on in the press, in public forums, and I think anyone who wanted to know what happened already does. So, spoilers are acceptable.

Also, if something has been around long enough to where the spoiler is part of popular culture (like the ending of Citizen Kane, the "secret" of The Crying Game, or the end of Empire Strikes Back), then it's ridiculous to consider it a spoiler anymore.

[johncoxon.livejournal.com]

If you're going to start fucking censoring me you can take your argument and shove it, Andy. :)

sheridan is a cylon

[joexnz.livejournal.com]

i don't mind spoilers, if i get really geeky and in depth i'll try to stop and ask, but B5, i'd consider it public knowledge.

but then i watched star wars 4 & 6 and didn't discover for another 10 years there was a number 5. Also i read books and forget how they end, or in the case of the half blood prince remembered the end but not the book. i have a rock, its big enough for me to live under

[mair_in_grenderich]

"I remember the feeling of watching Empire Strikes Back and discovering that Han and Chewied were lovers. The shock and surprise at the moment of reveal was an integral part of the experience for me, and taking it away from people that haven't seen the movie yet is just plain rude."

bah! you've spoilt it for me now!