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

[nmg.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Have a look at this poll from three years ago.

[meihua.livejournal.com]

Revealing the end of Empire would be a spoiler; but it would be a spoiler that I am certain everyone would already have heard due to the ubiquity of the phrase in question. So, I don't consider mentioning it in an unfiltered post to be a problem, which I think was the spirit of your question?

[likeneontubing.livejournal.com]

I think they are all spoilers, but there comes a point when you can't discuss anything you've seen or heard without a warning, which seems daft. I tend to cut things just for simplicity anyway, but it should always be apparent that if you are reading someone's review/thoughts of something - it may be a spoiler! I think it's down to the person avoiding spoilers to not click on cuts etc containing that title.

I also think people who deliberately spoil people are horrible.

[interactiveleaf.livejournal.com]

Han and Chewie are lovers?

That's not sarcasm. I've never seen the movie. I didn't know. :/

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

I tend to have a ten year rule about spoilers, even though I know what happens in Harry Potter despite the fact that I have never read a single book and only watched the first two movies. If it's been more than ten years old, I probably should be spoiled...

[erindubitably.livejournal.com]

I agree, to a point, but then it gets to the place where you can't read anything for fear of being spoiled, and that can ruin your search for discussion/speculation/whatever, which is part of the fun of watching new media and stuff. I think putting spoiler warnings for things is just polite, and not that much of a hassle, so why not?

[andrewducker]

If I hadn't seen the movie then I would be very upset with you. And the fact that you hang out with SF geeks who quote old movies a lot doesn't mean that everyone has been thus spoiled...

[andrewducker]

No. I deliberately chose an example that wasn't even slightly true.

[andrewducker]

Well, if they are it's entirely off-camera :->

[andrewducker]

you can't discuss anything you've seen or heard without a warning, which seems daft.

Why does this seem daft?

If I was about to talk about Empire at a party I'd ask first if anyone hadn't seen it and cared if I spoiled it.

[likeneontubing.livejournal.com]

Because if I'm going to talk about a play I've scene or a book I've read, I expect the other people to speak up upon hearing the name mentioned, and say 'I'm going to see that... Don't tell me', or something similar, at which point I would censor my conversation to make sure it didn't contain spoilers.

The onus is on the one not wanting to be spoiled imo.

[likeneontubing.livejournal.com]

If you go searching for discussion and speculation and get spoiled, I reckon that's pretty much your own fault hehe. You must *hide* hide from these things if you want to remain unspoiled hehe.

You certainly shouldn't be reading reviews and things if you don't want to be spoiled - just seems like the easiest way to spoil yourself.

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

Han/Chewie is true on the Internets.

[andrewducker]

It depends on how quickly I'm going to get into spoiler territory. I'd be fine to start with "I saw Terminator 4 last week, I liked it." and see if anyone said "Aieee! I'm off!".

But that's frequently not the case with spoilers online, where people will suddenly say "I was thinking today that my life is like The Sixth Sense, where Bruce Willis is an alien spy plotting to take over the world." - by which point it's too late to do anything.

[andrewducker]

Rule 34: No exceptions.

[meihua.livejournal.com]

I don't consider mentioning it in an unfiltered post to be a problem. I didn't say I'd put up a billboard.

"you hang out with SF geeks who quote old movies a lot" <-- I think that this phrase also accurately describes anybody who might read my post.

[andlosers.livejournal.com]

Empire and Hamlet are pop culture common knowledge - Rosebud less so (for some reason), but I think all are acceptable spoilers. The others are specialised knowledge and so forbidden spoilers. (I think explaining the identity of Rosebud is kind of mean though.)

[andrewducker]

This is true - and it's something you can probably judge reasonably well if your friends list is small.

But there's already someone on this post who hasn't seen the movies (see below), so mentioning it in a comment on _my_ journal is clearly bad.

[likeneontubing.livejournal.com]

This is true of course, real life is much easier.

[andrewducker]

Julie hasn't seen Hamlet. I didn't cover it in school, and didn't know the ending until I was in my mid/late twenties, when I finally saw it.

[meihua.livejournal.com]

Er, I haven't mentioned it in a comment on your journal. If you think I have, please screen the relevant comment.

[nmg.livejournal.com]

My yardstick for possible spoilers is that if they're things that are referenced as in-jokes in The Simpsons or Family Guy (or contemporary with or earlier than things that are referenced as in-jokes), then it's reasonable not to give spoiler warnings.

[andrewducker]

Oh - that wasn't me telling you off, just saying that I'm happy enough for you to decide that on your journal everyone knows the end, but sadly I can't do that.

[andrewducker]

An attitude that would have lead to me knowing the ending of various films that I'm rather glad I got to see unspoiled.

[cdave]

I'd hope not. I'd hope that someone writing a review would refrain from mentioning a major twist as far as possible.